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#48: Alvin
“Seriously?” I asked. “He was a research scientist who never even intended to harm anyone, how big of a threat could he possibly be?”
“He had direct access to the head of Hive Politics’ apartment and its secure room,” Kareem said. “Just because he didn’t do as much harm with the fact as he could’ve doesn’t make him any less of a threat, and killing the head of Hive Politics would certainly be a threat to our Hive’s standing.”
“More importantly, he got into the same room as you, with a knife,” Lucas added.
I sighed. “I still think you all are biased.”
“Probably,” Gideon said cheerfully, “but it is part of our job to prioritize your safety. Naturally we’re going to consider that as part of our rankings.”
“I suppose.”
#31: Fran
“Fran did eventually end up being loyal to the Hive,” Hallie pointed out.
“Still a threat.”
I stayed silent. Given how terribly I had misjudged Fran in the past, I felt it was best to let the Tactical team debate this one on their own.
#22: Tobias
I winced. Lucas caught my eye, and I automatically linked to his thoughts.
We don’t have to discuss this if you don’t want to.
“It’s fine,” I said. Several of the Tactical team started to groan, then hastily covered it up.
“I don’t understand why he’s ranked lower than other Strike team members when he actually did attack people,” Beckett grumbled.
“He was skipping workouts and trainings for a while,” Emili said, “which made him marginally less dangerous.”
“That’s true,” Lucas said.
#21: Any of the Strike team members
“I still think all this is a bit silly,” I said. “Strike team members may know a lot about weapons and vital systems of the Hive, but that doesn’t make them a threat!”
Lucas laughed. “I prefer to think of this more as a rating of skill, knowledge, and destructive potential, with the actual desire to harm the Hive barely being considered at all.”
Thinking about it that way, it did make some sense, even if it was a bit disturbing to think about my Strike team members, who protected me with their lives, betraying the Hive. It was even more disturbing given that the Tobias incident hadn’t been all that long ago.
#20: Any of the Strike team leaders
“I think that Adika’s withering sarcasm should move him up a rank compared to the other Strike team leaders,” Telyn said. There was a burst of laughter.
“Where do you think he learned it from?” Emili asked.
I remembered how Adika had called Rothan up in front of everyone after we had recaptured Tobias. “Adika said he had been put through the fake public firing ritual before himself, didn’t he?”
“Yes, he did,” Lucas said.
“But can we still move him up a rank?”
Gideon hummed, considering. “No.”
#11: Bruce
“Shouldn’t he be lower on the list?” Gideon asked.
“No, remember how Buzz told us that Lucas was terrified of what Bruce might do to the Hive? He obviously can’t tell us about it, so we can’t be sure how high up the list we ought to put him, but he’s got to be in the top 15,” Hallie said.
“Right.”
Lucas and I remained carefully silent, but I took the risk of exchanging a brief glance with him. His lips twitched ruefully.
#9: Rose
I grimaced and nodded.
“Rose?” Beckett asked.
“She was the murderer in the sea farm case that our unit handled recently,” Lucas explained, “and she used her innocent appearance as a weapon. Her murders drove people into fleeing from the sea farm, which almost led to our Hive being sanctioned.”
Beckett nodded in acknowledgement.
“And those sanctions would have made it more difficult for Morton to have his surgery,” Emili concluded.
I glanced at her, startled. “Yes.” I wouldn’t have been able to work that out without having been at the team leader meeting where Gold Commander Melisande had ordered us to go to the sea farm, but there was a reason Emili had been imprinted for Deputy Tactical Commander.
#6: Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and Venus
“Why do they get to be all the way down at number 6 when Mercury almost killed Lucas and Rothan and Mars tried to destroy Green Zone?” I protested.
“Maybe we should move him up a rank…” agreed Emili.
“Well, you stopped him, didn’t you? That ought to count for something,” Telyn said.
“That’s true,” Lucas said. “It would be a lot harder to stop everyone above them on the list.”
“In fact, for some it would probably be impossible,” Gideon said smiling.
#5: Melisande Keith, or another rogue telepath
“Gold Commander Melisande?” Hallie suggested.
Everyone in the room turned to look at her skeptically. “I’m not sure she’s even capable of doing anything to harm the Hive intentionally,” Lucas said.
“ You were the one who had me read her mind to clear her.”
“Yes,” Lucas said, “and you did clear her.”
I supposed that was true.
“Anyway, I agree with Lucas. Gold Commander Melisande is totally dedicated to the Hive. She will act in its best interests no matter what, and she’s competent enough to be right most of the time.”
Personally, I found Melisande’s dedication to the Hive a little terrifying, because I knew just how far she would go to defend it. I couldn’t tell anyone that Melisande would sacrifice entire zones of the Hive to protect the rest of it, because that was both private information I had gotten from reading her thoughts and highly restricted, but I couldn’t stop myself from considering it.
“Keith then,” Hallie said.
“Keith isn’t really any stronger than other true telepaths though.”
“More malicious, maybe,” Beckett muttered.
“We’ll say that Keith or any other rogue telepath would be fifth most dangerous then,” said Gideon.
“That includes me, right?” I asked hopefully.
Lucas laughed. “I’m afraid not.”
“Just imagine how much more dangerous Keith would be if he knew how to shoot a gun,” Kareem added.
I felt that Keith was mostly a threat because of his telepathy and ability to manipulate others, but reluctantly agreed that he would be marginally more dangerous if he could shoot a gun himself the way I could.
#4: Elden/Hive Genex
“What about Elden? Or Hive Genex in general? I think they were the biggest threat to the Hive,” I said. “We should make them the highest rank.”
“If you’re comfortable including him, then I agree we should include him on the list,” Lucas said.
I frowned at him. “Of course I’m comfortable. Elden can’t possibly hurt me anymore.”
“Fears aren’t always rational,” Lucas said. I remembered that he had his own irrational insecurities, and decided he was right.
“That’s true, but I’m still fine with talking about him.”
“We should definitely include Elden on the list, but I don’t think he was enough of a threat to displace our current number one,” Gideon said with a teasing smile. “Number four, maybe.”
#3: Lucas
“Lucas would never betray the Hive!” I said, acting outraged. I knew the Tactical team was mostly joking, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t defend Lucas anyway.
“That’s what you think,” Lucas said. I linked to his thoughts, and found to my surprise that he was only mostly joking. He thought he would be willing to do something not in the Hive’s best interest in order to protect… me.
I knew Lucas loved me, of course. I saw it in his thoughts every day, felt it in his mind every day, but there were still times when the sheer depth of feeling almost overwhelmed me. Right now was one of those times. I snuggled closer into Lucas, trying to convey without words that I loved him too.
#2: Amber
I frowned. “Am I really that scary?”
Gideon laughed. “You scare Adika . I think that should make you terrifying by default.”
Lucas’s mind was full of racing thought trains, most of them about me. Adika, saying that I had landed a hit on him in a duel. My reflecting of Rose’s thoughts at the sea farm. My argument with Gold Commander Melisande. My own face, twisted with anger as I slapped Lucas while suffering from fragmentation.
I pulled guiltily out of Lucas’s mind. I still felt bad about that, and I wished that Lucas hadn’t excused it. Even though it wasn’t really me, it was my hands, my face, and I couldn’t help feeling it was also my responsibility.
I didn’t say anything, but Lucas must have noticed me growing tenser, because he said quickly, “Let’s move on.”
I didn’t have the heart to contradict him, so I just tried to be grateful that no one had brought up my telepathy as a reason to be scared of me. Even though I knew they would mean it in the best possible way, as a compliment to my skill and the work I did, I knew my subconscious would have taken it as disgust.
#1: Amber and Lucas
“We’re all thinking the same thing, right?” asked Telyn.
“Most likely, yes,” Lucas said, amused.
“ Are we all thinking the same thing, Amber?” Hallie asked.
“I’ve no idea,” I answered, startled. “I’m not reading anyone’s mind right now.”
“Well I’ll just say it then,” Telyn said. “Amber and Lucas would make a terrifying pair of targets.”
What?
“That would never happen,” I said, confused.
“I agree,” Emili said. “If Amber and Lucas both decided to turn on the Hive, it’s probably the Hive that’s in the wrong.”
My head snapped over to look at her. Weren’t all the members of the Tactical team meant to be loyal to the Hive?
“What?” Emili said defensively. “Everyone makes mistakes, why shouldn’t that include the Hive?”
“Make sure not to mention that to any of our Hiveist members from Claire’s unit,” Lucas said. Gideon laughed, breaking the tension.
“I still don’t understand. You all think I could go wild bee?”
“Usually when I’ve done this game in the past, it’s done with the assumption that almost anyone could go wild bee, even those we’re almost certain wouldn’t ,” Lucas explained. “It’s just meant to be fun to think about.”
I wasn’t sure I would ever get used to what the Tactical team considered “fun,” but that was fine. I didn’t need to understand, I just had to accept that it wasn’t hurting anyone.
“Do you want to leave?” Lucas added.
I shook my head. “No, I want to stay.”
The Tactical team seemed to move on quickly. “Imagine trying to catch them,” Kareem said. “A telepath who can find out your plans as you make them, a Tactical Commander who knows exactly what to do with that information, and they can both shoot a gun.”
“There’s also my information clearance and a telepath’s personal influence to consider,” Lucas put in.
“Lucas!” I said exasperatedly.
He shrugged. “You said it was okay.”
“So we’re in agreement?”
“Yes,” Lucas said.
I laughed. “I suppose I’m outvoted. I’ll just have to set you all to scrubbing slime vats in retaliation.”
Everyone laughed.
“Like I said, terrifying.”