Delphi, at last, received a positive communication.

     "We've fortified ourselves in Contamination Sector," one of Delphi's officers told him. "The bees haven't gotten to us, yet."

     Delphi accessed a visual. Yes, there they were, four units of twelve guards apiece. No bees would be able to get to them through the heavy armor they'd donned, and Contamination Sector itself was completely sealed off.                                                                                                             "Instructions?" their leader asked Delphi. "The bees, they..."

     "Forget the bees," Delphi replied. "They are irrelevant. Do you have equipment designed to withstand offensive telepathic blasts?"

     "Experimentally, we have helmets that..."

     "Are there helmets for all of you there?"

     "Half of us."

     "Don them. Go after the Azurian child. All of you bring all the weapons you can carry."

     "Just how extreme..." 

     "I want you to perceive this as the strongest threat this facility has ever faced."

     "You seriously..."

     "This is how serious I am: If that child isn't dead within the next fifteen minutes, I intend to sonic blast every square inch of the Cellars below Hrrm's Hive. I might do it, anyway."

     "But you..."

​     "You have your orders."

CONTINUE