THE HIVE
Chapter Fifteen The Doctor looked at the buzzing horde above them. "Okay, many things about this situation are not good," he said, "I think we might be in just a teensy bit of a fix here, Rose." What is your decision, Time Lord? Tell me quickly before I order my children to attack. The Doctor looked at her and looked at the wasps. Then, back at her, then at the wasps. Then, a grin split his face. "You know," he said, casually, "this whole hive mind thing you have going is awfully handy. I mean, I can see how it would be a right pain in the arse if all your subjects thought for themselves." He stuck his hand in his trouser pocket while he walked around in a circle. "Yup, having a mob of mindless minions has its advantages, alright. I mean, look at them. Every wasp in the hive in here at your beck and call. Ready to do your bidding, fulfill your slightest whim. Ready to die at your command. Pretty handy." He spun around towards the queen. "Course there are disadvantages to the hive mind system, as well," he said, "such as this!" Whipping out his sonic screwdriver, he aimed it at the queen and turned it on. The queen jerked her head back, and the Doctor could hear her screaming in his mind. Rose turned and stared at the wasps. All of them were writhing in pain and bumping into each other in the midst of their mutual agony. "See, queenie, this is what happens when you choose to think for everyone else!" the Doctor crowed. Get him, my children! The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand. They sprinted under the confused wasps who were still trying to recover from the Doctor's assault on their queen. "Rose! Get ahead of me while I keep my eyes on the wasps!" the Doctor yelled. Rose sped up and darted in front of him. The Doctor kept glancing behind him while both made a beeline for the entrance. After a moment, the Doctor heard angry buzzing and turned his head, noticing that a couple of the wasps had recovered enough to give chase. "Faster, Rose, faster!" he screamed. Rose felt her lungs burning, as she and the Doctor ran through the stone passageway towards the entrance. She glanced around and saw the Doctor was holding the wasps at bay with the screwdriver. Every time one got too close, the Doctor would use the screwdriver and send it flying away, disoriented. He was holding his own at the moment, but slowly, more and more wasps joined the chase and Rose knew they couldn't hold them off forever. Finally, they rounded a bend and saw moonlight streaming in from the front entrance. "Doctor, we made it!" Rose cried out, joyfully. Suddenly, a wasp flew in the front entrance trying to blindside them. Rose dropped to the ground, but the Doctor had his head turned in the other direction, focusing his attention on another wasp. By the time he turned his head back around, the wasp was on him. Rose screamed when she saw it thrust its stinger into his back. "Doctor!" The Doctor felt to the ground, his face scrunched up in agony. Rose looked up at the wasp who was preparing to sting him again. She lunged forward, grabbed the screwdriver, and with one fluid motion turned it on the wasp. She held it at the wasp's head while it buzzed angrily. Finally, it decided to give up, turned, and flew back down the passageway, leaving Rose alone with the Doctor. "No, oh God, no," Rose moaned, holding the injured Doctor in her arms. "Rose, you have to get out of here. They're gonna be back. Forget about me!" the Doctor grunted out. "No, Doctor, I can't leave you like this." "You have to, angel. Please, go. I don't want to see you end up the same way." He grabbed her hand, his eyes pleading and begging. "Please, Rose, go. I'm begging you; don't let them get you too." He put his hand against her cheek. Rose could hear faint buzzing coming down the passageway. "Go," the Doctor said gently. Rose gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "I'll find a way to save you, Doctor." He gave her a pained smile. "I know you will, now go!" Reluctantly, Rose forced herself to stand up. Taking one last look at the Doctor, she turned and ran out of the cave. The Doctor laid his head down on the ice-cold rock surface and waited calmly for the wasps to appear. Rose sobbed while she stumbled through the forest trying to find her way to safety. She couldn't believe that the Doctor had been stung only inches from the entrance. "Oh God, he can't turn into one of those things. He just can't," she sobbed. Her breath caught in her throat, when she heard buzzing behind her. She forced herself to move faster. She wanted nothing more than to let herself be stung and join the Doctor, but she knew he would never forgive her for that, so she pushed herself through the trees, looking for some sort of cover. She still had the screwdriver in her possession, but it would protect her for only so long, the Doctor was proof of that. Soon, she would be overwhelmed and possibly stung to death if she didn't find somewhere to hide. The Doctor could feel the poison coarsing through his veins. He could sense it affecting his body, changing him into a wasp. He gave an agonized look up at the wasp when it stopped and hovered over his injured body. The first few that had come down the passageway had flown past, presumably hunting for Rose. But, this one hadn't done that. He stared up at it silently, wondering if it was going to stab him through the hearts. Surely, after the stunt he just pulled, the queen wouldn't allow him to live. The wasps lowered its body to him, and the Doctor tensed, waiting for the stinger to pierce his body once more. But, to his surprise, the wasp picked him up, almost tenderly, and flew back into the hive. The Doctor groaned when the wasp opened its legs and deposited him on the ground in front of the queen. That was a foolish move on your part, Time Lord, and now you have been stung because of it. "Shut up," the Doctor hissed, "just kill me and get it over with." I do not wish to kill you. You will become one of my subjects. The Doctor gritted his teeth trying to fight the pain. "Why?" he gasped out. Why should I waste a life when it can be put to use for the good of the hive? You have been stung and the change has already started. Once that is finished, you will become one of us. "I'd rather die." I don't doubt that, but you have no choice. You will be put in an empty cell where you will change into one of my children. Then, after that, I will send you to find Rose, so she can join you. The Doctor's eyes widened in horror. "No, please, leave her alone. You have me, that's what you wanted in the first place. Let her go free!" Rose is a threat to the hive, she knows too much. She will bring others here to destroy us. She must not be allowed to go free. "Then, why wait until I'm changed before you go after her?" Because I think it will be fitting. The one that loves Rose will be the one that captures her. It will prove to me without a doubt that you are a part of Swarm. I know you have a more advanced mind than humans do. I want to be sure you are completely in my control, and the way to find out is to have you go after Rose and bring her back to me. "We had a deal!" Yes, we did, but you nullified that when you tried to escape and now, as punishment, not only will you be made to go after Rose, but you will be given no sedatives of any kind. You will transform in utter agony and misery, Doctor. That is what happens to those who defy me. "Rose will find others. You may think she is helpless, but she's smarter than you think. She'll be back, and she'll raze this hive to the ground if she finds I've become a wasp! She buzzed out a laugh. She cannot defeat us. If she does, my children will kill her and any others who are foolish enough to follow her. And, if your transformation is complete, you will be leading the attack. Now, my foolish Time Lord, we have finished our conversation. It is time for you to begin your conversion. And, with every moment of agony, remember that it was your own actions that led you to this point. She looked up. A few seconds later, the wasp returned, picked him up, and carried the Doctor off to a nearby cell.
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