“What happened?”

Colin stared at his hands encircling the cup, felt the warmth of the tea spreading through his fingers, and tried to think of the least damaging way to describe what had happened. His reverie was interrupted by a scalding splash of tea on his clasped fingers. He looked up to see Graham with the tea pot, topping off his cup. Graham glanced at him sideways. “Sorry.” he said with utter calm, “I’m so clumsy.” He set the teapot down and stared at Colin with complete serenity. “Go on.”

“He suited up and went to talk to Lilith right away,” Colin blurted, reaching for a napkin to blot his burned fingers. “He didn’t say anything to us, but he was back down again a few minutes later. His suit was wet. He said that Lilith had splashed him. There was a lot more activity in the vats all of a sudden. We could hear the tetras swimming around up there. Suddenly there just seemed to be this tense atmosphere in the place.”

“You said he went to talk to Lilith. How do you know that if he didn’t speak to you?”

Colin was aware of his own eyes widening. “Just because that’s what he always did, in the morning, he’d check in with her,” he managed.

“I see. What did they talk about that morning, then?”

Colin shook his head. Graham leaned forward, giving him the full effect of his glare. “You heard them. What did they say?”

Colin swallowed, his eyes fluttering away from Graham’s like frightened birds. “She told him to get out of there,” he said stiffly.

Graham cocked his head, “Why did she do that?”

“She-she said he stank of her. She said there could only be one queen in a nest, and that he no longer belonged here.”

“She said he stank of her? Of who?”

“I’m not sure.”

“What did Martin do?”

“He tried to calm her. He told her that she didn’t have to worry. He said-” Colin broke off.

“He said what?” Graham prompted impatiently

“That she wouldn’t be back.” Colin gulped.

“Who?”

“I don’t know!” Colin shouted. People at other tables turned and looked. Graham poured himself more tea. “What did Martin say when he came back down?”

“He told us to continue what we were doing.”

“Didn’t you ask him what they were talking about?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“I see. And when you discussed it later, what did he say then?”

Colin set his jaw. “We didn’t discuss it. We never did.”

“You don’t have any idea what they might have been talking about? Do you have any idea how much money you owe ALIVE!? I do.”

Colin shook his head. “Look, I really don’t know. All I can think of is she might have been talking about the egg.”

“What? What egg?”

Colin closed his eyes. It was too late now, Graham had him. “Lilith laid another egg, a single, about six months after the drones hatched.”

“Yes?”

“She wouldn’t let anyone near it. The drones would mob us any time we got close.”

“It hatched.”

Colin's jaw worked. “There’s no way of knowing for sure. The tetras wouldn’t let us dive in to examine it. We had to rely on radar to detect its presence, and we didn’t get around to it, that day. Since then, it’s been impossible to determine what happened to it. The tetras destroyed the transceivers, after they kicked us out.”

“So you have no proof, but that is the hypothesis which fits the facts. We’ll go with it. What happened after Martin came back down?”

I was doing protein imaging on a polymer sample, and I looked up, and I saw the tetras climbing over the edge of the vat. They came at us, jumping off the platform and landing on the equipment. Dr. Martin yelled for us to get out of there. He didn’t have to tell me twice, they were dripping with growth medium. Greenfield and I got out ahead of them, but Dr. Martin, they picked him up, and threw him out the door.”

“Very interesting.” Graham dabbed at his mouth with a napkin. “I can see I need to have a talk with Martin, but first, I want you to procure a couple of dive suits. You can do that, can’t you?”

“I guess so.” Colin wrinkled his brow. “But why?”

“I want you to take me there,” he said, “to the facility. I want to meet this Lilith for myself.”

oOo

“I’m really not sure about this. It’s not safe,” said Slatermeyer at the door to the vat room.“I think you should reconsider.”

“I’m not going to reconsider,” said Graham, “and as far as it being dangerous is concerned, I’m prepared for that,” he patted the tranquilizer gun at his hip

“I wouldn’t take a weapon in there if I were you. They won’t like it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, I don’t care if they like it or not. If they attack us, I won’t be defenseless.”

“But you can’t get all of them with that thing.”

“So? You said they all follow Lilith, that she’s their queen. If I take her out, they won’t know what to do.”

“If you take her out, they may panic, there’s no telling what they’ll do.”

“Stop being a nelly, I don’t have all night. I’m supposed to meet some important people for dinner tonight.”

Slatermeyer pulled the hood of the divesuit over his head, tucking in stray wisps of hair. “Well, I hope you make it to that dinner, Mr. Graham.” He took a key out of the pouch slung around his hips, and unlocked the door.

They were in a long stretch of tiled corridor. Graham gagged on the steamy, pungent air. “Christ, what’s that smell?”

“It’s the vats, you get used to it,” whispered Slatermeyer, “now be quiet, please.”

They crept along the corridor, the air getting warmer and damper and more redolent with the yeasty odor of fermentation and rot. Graham tried to breathe through his mouth, but it was no use. The smell seemed to seep right through his pores. He was starting to sweat inside the divesuit, its rubber lining becoming slick against his skin. No wonder those vatdivers were always bitching about something, they were uncomfortable all the time. Well, screw them, anyway. They didn’t have to take the job, they could have started out in a mail room somewhere, barely making enough to eat once a day, and spent the next twenty years of their lives clawing their way up to a position of status and wealth. By the time they reached the end of the corridor, the walls were dripping with condensation, and they could only see about three feet in front of them because of the thick clouds of fog. The temperature had to be at least a hundred degrees. When he breathed he felt as if his lungs were filling with water. Slatermeyer tapped him on the arm, and motioned for him to put on his face mask and mouthpiece. He had a point. There was no telling what this mist was actually made of. Suiting up had its advantages. He could take long, deep breaths of air without being hampered either by the smell of the vats or the humidity, and he and Slatermeyer could communicate with each other over the built-in shortwaves in their face masks.

“It wasn’t like this when we were in here, they must have done something to the climate controls,” said Slatermeyer.

“They can do that?”

“I’m not sure about the others, but Lilith can, I have no doubt.”

Graham waved impatiently at the billowing clouds of steam, “We can’t see shit. They could be anywhere.”

“Yeah, they probably know we’re here by now. They may even be watching us.”

“Watching? Who could see in this?”

“I don’t know, they see really well through the growth medium.”

“Shit,” said Graham.

“Having second thoughts? We could go back, they might even let us leave.”

“No, look.” Figures emerged from the mist all around them, moving slowly and quietly. They were all naked, and they all had four arms. They weren’t very big, about five foot four and slender. They had long dark hair, and from beneath their lips emerged white, curving fangs. About their waists and necks some of them wore pulpy garlands of a substance he couldn’t immediately identify. They advanced on them with silent, almost placid deliberation. Graham backed away and then glanced behind him, but there were more in the hallway. They were surrounded. In panic he looked at Slatermeyer. “Relax, and go with the flow,” said the voice in his ear. “You’re fully suited, you’ll be alright.” But there was a tenseness in Slatermeyer’s voice that was far from reassuring. The creatures closed in on them. He saw one grab Slatermeyer by the forearm, and then the upper arm, and by the time she’d grasped his leg, Graham felt a hand on his shoulder. He saw four of them pick Slatermeyer up and carry him away, their bodies curling about him as they all disappeared in the billowing, engulfing mist. The rest of them surrounded him, but they did not pick him up. Thirty two hands — on his neck, his shoulders, his arms and back — gently but firmly guided him through the clouds.