Episode Eight

   "Polis" said Lord Chill striding into his work room. The blue globe at the center illuminated.
   "Lord Chill' it replied
   "I wish to move several of the throne room attendants to the upper levels. We shall convert one of the large reception caves into a barracks"
   "To what purpose Lord Chill?"
   "I feel it is timely I begin training a personal guard to watch my chambers and attend my person"
   "I watch your chambers Lord Chill" said the Polis
   "Indeed I know that. However in the light of recent developments in Chamalon district and the fact that we have a fugitive on the loose, however unlikely to pose a serious threat, I wish to take extra precautions"
   "It is unnecessary but I will comply" said the Polis
   "Excellent" said Lord Chill. He supposed he should be grateful to the girl in Chamalon province. Her display of defiance provided an excellent pretext for the very undertaking Lord Chill had been hoping to begin.
   He busied himself about his workroom with the blue pulse of light at his back. He opened a cold box and withdrew a small vial. Into it he slipped a sliver of fingernail. His own.
   "More longevity experiments my Lord?" queried Polis
   "Quite so" said the man
   "The guards will also constitute a readily available group of test subjects" he added.
   The Polis was silently amused.

***

   Nefos was gathering his tools into his climbing basket at the end of a feeding day in his Queen Cluster. He was at the furthest reaches of his territory in a large Nika tree that swayed gently right beside Aditi's territory. He speculated how her holding would be divided now that she had disappeared. It was certain she could never return.  The heat was going out of the day and he could smell the village cook fire.
   A movement in the next tree caught his eye.  He shifted along the branch to look closer.
   One of Aditi's Queens was moving across her web. She used tiny claws on the tips of her front legs to sever first one then another of the spokes of her web. Nefos watched as she methodically detached each spoke. Next she began to bundle the web with swift movements of her legs. Nefos realized she was making an efficient bundle of all the prey caught in her web.
   Further movement in the tree showed him the scene repeated by other Queens in Aditi's territory. They were gathering their webs and as he watched the first Queen she gathered the complete bundle to her abdomen and stuck it there with a gobbet of sticking web. She then began to pick her way down the tree branch, and beyond that to the trunk. He watched with growing wonder as she reached the floor of the jungle and joined a mass of her fellows. They all began moving purposefully into the undergrowth and out of sight.
   Nefos had never seen, nor heard tell of such a thing before. The Cluster moved as one. Looking back at Aditi's trees he saw them empty of Queens, with a light breeze rustling the leaves.