Incest/Taboo The Riders of Sirius Minor

"I think it's time we made up, husband. Don't you?"

Daniel was alone in his bedroom with his wife. The bedroom which had seen his wife make love to other men. The bedroom which at times had seen him making love to his daughter. But in recent weeks the bedroom had not been used what it had been intended for, for the expression of love between Daniel and his wife. When Joanna had gotten taken by the Hive, a rough wedge had been driven between them. But now that Daniel had also been taken and his rider was freshly mature, there was no longer any need for any animosity between them.

She kissed him lightly. "Do you want to make love to me, Daniel?" Her eyes sparkled. "This time, the choice is yours."

Daniel took a deep breath. Despite everything that had happened, all the ways she had tricked and deceived and lied and betrayed him, she was still his wife, and he loved her deeply.

"Yes," he said simply.

Daniel and Joanna made love. It felt like old times, except that they had riders on their backs.

"I love you so much, Daniel," she said, staring him in the eye as his penis moved lovingly inside her, back and forth, back and forth. His cockhead appeared surrounded by her cuntlips and disappeared again like a diver coming up for air.

"I love you too, Jo," he said sincerely, kissing her passionately even as the head of his penis rubbed her insides.

"We've been apart for so long," she said dearly.

"I know," said Daniel. "I missed you too."

"You did?"

"Yes!" said Daniel. "The only good thing about taking a rider is that we're together again."

"The only good thing?" Joanna teased. "What about Julie?"

"Aaaaahh," Daniel said, as the head of his penis was stimulated by her Hiveflesh. "Yes, Julie is a real doll. But... it's wrong. It's so wrong!"

"There is no wrong unless the Hive says there is. I love her too!" said Joanna firmly. "The Hive had removed all archaic barriers about love and affection."

Daniel thrusted inside his loving wife's cunt again and groaned. The Hiveflesh inside Jo's vagina stimulated the head of his penis wonderfully and cruelly. Suddenly he felt a bubbling up on his back.

"Jo, something's happening!" he cried.

"Your first reproduction!" she said excitedly.

"What?" said Daniel.

"You're about to make your first rider, husband." Her eyes shined with that alien light. "Fuck me harder!"

No! A part of Daniel still resisted. He didn't want to create more of these alien parasites! But while his mind said no!, his body said yes! Daniel found himself pumping harder inside of Joanna's vagina, grinding the head of his penis more vigorously against her. As his rider began to split on his back, he felt a wave of euphoria sweep over him. "Ooooh!" he said stiffening.

"Doesn't it feel wonderful, Daniel?" Joanna asked with a smile.

"Incredible!" said Daniel. "Is this what you feel every time you make a rider?"

"Yes!" she said, her eyes shining.

Daniel groaned again. If this is what it felt like, he wouldn't mind making a rider every fucking day!

He pounded his wife eagerly as his master stole precious life energy from his body. As Daniel's rider finished splitting, he gasped and released inside of her, pumping his wife with his precious seed. Joanna moaned and climaxed as her rider rewarded her as well.

Reproduction had occurred!

After taking a moment to recover, Joanna reached around him and gently cupped the baby rider in her hands. "Look darling! Look how yellow and soft and perfect it is!"

Daniel looked at the vibrating yellow-brown mass in his wife's hand.

"We did it, Daniel! We created Hivelife!" Jo's eye shone brighter than ever. Daniel felt a strong feeling even though his penis was deflated. They kissed again, passionately.

"I'm so proud of your father!" said Jo at dinner. "He made his first rider!"

"You did, Dad?" said Julie. She ran to him and gave him a big hug. "I'm so proud of you too!" She laughed and kissed him. He kissed her back. "Are you glad to be part of the Hive now, Daddy?"

"I... I don't know what to say," said Daniel.

"Soon you will," said Jo. "Soon you'll love it and want it more than anything." She gave a confident smile. But happy as he was, Daniel was still a bit unsettled. He and his wife had created Hivelife during a night of passion and love. What was wrong with that? Daniel felt he was missing something, but wasn't quite sure what.

Everyone was openly fucking at the Swim Club now as baby riders flew lazily through the air, searching for suitable hosts. All inhibitions were thrown to the wind. Men were fucking women, thrusting hard into their pussies while making riders on their backs. Women were fucking men, bouncing up and down on their penises while making riders on their backs. Men and women were fucking each other to strengthen their riders and help them grow on their backs and in their minds. It looked like one enormous fuckfest.

Julie took Daniel's hand. "Does this give you any ideas, Daddy?" She was wearing a fabulous bright red one piece which tightly gripped the "v" shape between her legs in a very visible way. She pulled him down to a recliner. "Come on, Daddy. Come on."

Daniel didn't even try to resist as his daughter openly kissed and hugged him. She didn't use the musky pheromones on him because she no longer needed to. Daniel's immature rider pumped him with lust, stimulating his penis directly.

Julie pulled down the top of her bathing suit, revealing her small, firm teenage breasts. Then she pulled it off all the way, revealing her trim brown bush with the glowing upside down U Slave Mark above her vaginal lips. Made to be fucked. As Julie pulled down his swim trunks, Daniel found he couldn't resist. He didn't want to resist. It didn't matter if he was making love to his daughter. It didn't matter if all the eyes of the public was on them. He wanted to be rubbing inside Julie's cunt more than anything!

As Julie rubbed her cuntlips against his shaft, Daniel kissed her feverishly, saying, "Oh Julie, Julie, I want you so much!"

Her eyes sparkled with joy. "Do you really, Daddy?"

"Yes!"

"Then take me!" she cried.

Daniel aimed himself and entered his daughter in one smooth stroke.

"Oh, Daddy!" she cried, wrapping her arms around his neck. As Daniel started to move and out of her, Julie's eyes widened."Oh Daddy! You feel so good inside me, Daddy!"

"Ah, ah, ah, ah," Daniel panted, as he openly made love to his daughter. His rider started to sizzle on his back. He was about to make another rider. A new master to take over someone's mind. But Daniel didn't care. Julie just felt so good! He became peripherally aware of a crowd forming around them.

"Go Daniel!" said a voice he recognized as Joanna's.

"Go Daniel!" said another voice.

"Go Daniel!" said several voices at once. They started to clap and chant his name.

"Go Daniel! Go Daniel! Go go Daniel!"

"Go, Dad, go!" Julie cried, her eyes sparkling as her father pounded her pussy.

"Julie dear! You're exciting me so much! You make my body so excited that I have to make a rider!" Daniel cried.

"That's what nature intended, Daddy!" Julie said. "Fuck me, fuck me hard, Daddy! And make a new master for someone else who needs it!"

Daniel grunted as he pounded into his daughter while the crowd cheered. He heard a cracking noise and a line of yellow fluid dripped out of the bottom of his rider into his asshole. The chemical was a catalyst which made his pulse race and caused him to pump Julie's cunt even faster. His penis was so hard now that it was like a rod made of wood, his testacles hard and tight against it.

The thinking part of Daniel had long since fled. All he wanted to do now was to come inside of his daughter's moist, tight cunt and make a rider on his back. The Hive had successfully merged the two desires into one in his mind.

"I'm doing it, Honey! My master is splitting, I can feel it!" Daniel cried, as his ass cheeks rapidly clenched and unclenched.

"Oh Daddy, I love you so much!" Julie's eyes were shining and her smile was wide. She looked so sexy the way the sun illuminated the yellow highlights in her light brown hair.

"I love you too, Honey!" Daniel cried. "Oh, oh, oooooh!" He stiffened as the crowd clapped hysterically, and flooded his little girl with his sperm... his master's reward for a job well done.

Reproduction had occurred!

Where there had been one rider on his back there was now two. As they watched, the new rider absorbed sunlight for the first time. It launched itself in the air, and slowly flew away. The smaller remaining mature rider reasserted itself over a smaller space, a space filled with red rashes.

As Daniel pulled out of Julie, they both were mobbed by well wishers.

"Honey you did great, I'm so proud of you!" said Jo, hugging and kissing him. Then she turned to her daughter. "And you! Darling, you were incredible!" Mother and daughter shared a long, passionate kiss.

"You were really great, Daniel," said Tammy, eyeing Daniel's shrunken penis hungrily.

"Thanks, Tammy!" To his surprise, Daniel found himself pressing his lips against her. Tammy kissed him back hungrily.

"Maybe we can make a rider sometime," she said speculatively.

"Yeah. Maybe we can!" said Daniel, feeling a secret thrill. He felt now like he could--he could spend his time making riders. And he'd enjoy it too.

Clap, clap, clap.

They turned to see Nils Haverstrom standing there, slowly clapping.

"Nils!" Jo immediately was in his arm, giving him a strong kiss, bending the back of her left leg upwards.

"Nice to see you too, Joanna," said Nils evenly. "Daniel, I caught the end of your performance. Most impressive. How do you feel about the Hive now?"

Daniel felt Jo's worried eyes on him. "I... I see some of the benefits of it," he said carefully.

"Good. Very good," said Nils approvingly. He turned to Jo. "Jo, who do you think is bigger, me or Daniel?"

"Oh... I don't know," said Jo, suddenly aware she was being put on the spot.

"You don't know?" he gave her a curious look.

"I... I suppose you are," she stammered, giving a nervous smile.

"Well, let's see," said Nils. He lowered his swim trunks. His long penis, even flaccid, hung down way below his testicles. Daniel's penis, which was also shrunken, was much smaller. It was no contest. "What do you think?" he asked her.

"You... you look bigger," said Jo, suddenly feeling anxious but not sure why.

"I think so too, but it's so hard to tell when we're not hard, isn't it? Jo, Julie, why don't you help us with that?"

And then, before Daniel could say a word, his daughter got on her knees and started to suck on his penis, while his wife obediently did the same for Nils. Daniel's eyes widened. as he saw the imprint of Nils' penis on his wife's right cheek as her mouth was stuffed full of penis.

"What do you think, Danny boy?" Nils. "Who's a better cocksucker, your wife or your daughter?"

"I... I don't know," said Daniel. He felt a wave of conflicting emotions. Julie looked so sexy as she sucked on her father's penis. But whereas making love to her a moment ago seemed so beautiful and pure (even if making a rider was involved), now it seemed tainted by the fact that another man had told her to suck him. And then there was Joanna. By now Daniel knew full well that Joanna was sleeping with other men. He had even been required to cook dinner for one of the many men she slept with. But to actually see it for the first time, to see Jo sucking on a man's penis mere inches away to him... it was a real slap in the face.

Which is probably what Nils intended.

"You don't know? How could you possibly not know?" Nils laughed. He looked down at Jo, who was obediently sucking on his penis. "He doesn't know!" He turned back to Daniel. "How can you possibly not know?"

"Jo... Jo never did that for me," said Daniel. He suddenly felt embarrassed.

"Why not?"

"She said... she said it felt dirty to her." Daniel's face turned red. He saw his wife giving him sympathetic eyes, even as the yellow-coated tip of Nils' penis moved in and out between her bright, thick, red lips. The small green emerald hanging from Nils' scrotum jangled on its short chain as Jo's lips moved back and forth.

Nils laughed. "Really? She did it for me plenty of times! Jo, tell the truth, did you ever think sucking my cock was dirty?"

Jo let his penis slide out with a pop. She looked very nervous. "Kind of," she said reluctantly. "But... I wanted to please you."

"There you go! Jo, I think you've been very unfair, most unfair to Daniel to deprive him of this! Girls, girls, switch off, please, and let Daniel have the chance to feel his wife's own lips on his cock for the very first time."

Julie obediently let her father's penis slide out of her mouth. She reached out to Nils' penis and looked at the size of it. "It's big!" she said.

"It will fit, dear. Try it," Nils said.

Julie tentatively put the enormous yellow coated cockhead in her mouth.

"That's it, dear. You've got it," said Nils, as she slowly started to press her lips against it back and forth.

Meanwhile Jo took her husband's in hand and slowly took him in her mouth. Her eyes were full of regret and apology. She didn't want to be the one to do this to him, she was being used to make a point.

"Ahhh!" said Daniel.

"Nice, eh?" said Nils, as Julie sucked his own cock. "Did you ever think that one of the many gifts the Hive would have to offer was your wife's lips on your own cock?"

"No," Daniel admitted. Jo felt so good! Suddenly he felt resentful, for all the years of cocksucking he had missed out on.

"Of course, the Hive has already rewarded you with your own sweet daughter. Are you grateful for that, Daniel?"

Daniel looked at his dear daughter sucking Nils off with her beautiful green eyes. "Yes," he said.

Nils smiled, as if they had shared a private joke. "Well, let's see where things stand now. That's enough, my dears."

Jo and Julie pulled out. It was immediately obvious that Nils' penis was longer, much longer than Daniel's, and somewhat thicker as well. Standing side by side, Nils' penis towered over Daniel's as if he had the penis of a barely mature adolescent.

"Well, I think we have an answer now, don't we?" Nils smiled. "Tell me, Daniel, would you mind if I made love to your sexy wife on that recliner right over there?"

"I... no," said Daniel.

"Then invite me," said Nils.

"What?"

"Invite me to have sex with Joanna," said Nils.

Suddenly Daniel was very much aware that Nils was much larger than him, at least a foot taller, with broader shoulders and a more muscular chest. Nils' penis dwarfed his own but he was also larger in every other way that mattered. Jo shot him a fearful warning look.

"Nils...." Daniel swallowed heavily. "Would you... would you like to have sex with Jo?"

Nils gave a cold smile. "Why thank you, Daniel. I think I'd like that very much. Jo?" He extended his hand. She took it.

They went to the recliner. At first Jo thought that she was going to be on the bottom but Nils took that spot for himself. He wanted her on top. Jo's misgivings only grew as she mounted him.

"There we go. Comfy?"

"Yes," she gave a nervous smile.

"You may begin, my dear."

Jo reached down and kissed Nils passionately. She rubbed her breasts against him. Their bodies rubbed against each other lovingly.

Daniel bit his lip. This was no rider race. This was lovemaking.

Nils whispered something in Jo's ear, making her nod and laugh. She rubbed her cunt against his stiff erection.

Julie took Daniel's hand and gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm so sorry Daddy," she whispered.

Nils whispered again in Jo's ear and she nodded. She reached down and inserted Nils into her. Then she started to ride up and down on Nils' enormous shaft. Daniel watched as Nils' penis appeared and disappeared inside his wife's widely spread cuntlips. The green glowing upside down V above her cuntlips was especially prominent as her vagina was speared again and again by Nils' enormous one eyed monster with the bulbous Hiveflesh tip.

Jo started to perspire as her breasts bounced up and down. She had a worried smile on her face but was clearly gasping with pleasure.

"Are you enjoying yourself, Jo?" Nils asked.

"Yes, very much! Thank you for asking, Nils!" she said obediently. "Am I pleasing you?"

"Indeed you are," he said, his eyes glinting. He turned to Daniel. "And what of you, Daniel? You invited me to have sex with Jo, and here we are. Does this also please you?"

Daniel saw his wife's warning glance, saw her pleadingly mouth the word 'yes'.

"No," said Daniel.

But Nils only laughed. "The truth is always rewarded! Do not fear, Jo, he will not be punished for it. After all, your rider just matured what, a day or so ago? You still have a long journey to travel down the road, my dear Daniel. I have enjoyed your wife in every way, and I will continue to, and before long you will not only grudgingly permit it but even approve of it. And not long after that you will even beg for it." He saw Daniel's look of disbelief. "That's right. You may not believe it, but before long you'll want it. You'll be aroused by the idea of my taking Jo and beg me for it. Your rider will make it happen. With the Hive, all things are possible."

He smiled as he saw the look of horror on Daniel's face. It was at that moment that he truly realized that he was going to be turned into a mindless slave, who approved of whatever the Hive wanted, even if it was other men fucking his wife.

"But don't worry, Jo will always love you, won't you Jo?"

"Yes," she gasped as she rode another man's shaft. "I will."

"Jo, I think Daniel needs some reassurance. Tell him now that you love him."

"Dear... I love you," she gasped, as Nil's enormous erection slid between her enlarged vaginal lips.

"No, Jo!" Nils growled "Tell him convincingly!"

"I love you, Daniel!" she said, as she was impaled by Nils' cock once again. "Daniel I love you more than anything!" she cried, wiping sweat off her forehead as her breasts bounced up and down.

'That's better. I can believe that," Nils smirked. "Do you feel your rider starting to sizzle, darling?"

"Yes, I do!" said Jo.

"Let's see if we can accelerate the process. Think about my cock, Jo. Think about being speared by the largest cock you have ever felt. Think about my enormous cockhead rubbing your insides."

"Oooooh!" Jo gasped. She looked so sexy as her head rolled in a lazy circle as she bounced up and down on Nils' cock. Her nipples were hard and pointed. On her back, her rider started to bubble up furiously.

"Think about all the times you fucked me in the Hive," said Nils. "Think about how obediently you sucked me off."

"It did feel good to suck you off," said Jo, with a look of passion. "To be obedient. To be your slave!" She gasped, as her rider bubbled up enormous bubbles of flesh.

"I loved every minute of it!" said Nils, driving his penis hard into her. "Fucking you!" Thrust! "Seeding you!" Thrust! "Making you mine!" Thrust!

"Ooooh!" Jo's head thrust back, sending her breasts thrusting outwards in a spectacular fashion. The rider on her back started to split.

Nils grabbed her face and inserted his tongue into her mouth, pressing his strong chest against her breasts. The combined sensations drove Jo over the edge. As Daniel watched Nils kissing Jo passionately while driving his penis deep inside her, something important was happening on her back. Jo's rider sizzled mightily and finished splitting into two.

Reproduction had occurred!

Jo panted heavily as she struggled to recover from the massive amount of energy that her rider had stolen from her. The newborn rider suddenly lifted off and flew into the air. Jo's back was a very angry patchwork of red rashes, which her now smaller double banded rider snuggled against.

As Jo recovered, still richly impaled, Nils kissed her on the lips.

"That was good," she whispered.

"Very good," said Nils.

Jo slowly got up. She hadn't been aware of it but at some point Nils had climaxed inside of her. She looked down and saw her very stretched pussy lips were glistening.

"Now go and kiss your husband and tell him again that you love him."

Jo slowly and delicately took her husband's face in her hands. "I do love you," she said, kissing him slowly. Despite everything that he had just seen, Daniel responded, hugging her tightly, feeling her wet cuntlips press against his testicles.

The next morning they reported to Nils at the Hive. "Everyone in the colony has been brought into Hive. The first stage of our work is complete. Now we must begin stage two."

Daniel, Ben, Joanna and Julie stood there in a line before him, all nude. All four of them had riders on their backs. All four of them had Slave Marks on their genitals. All four of them had small green rocks hanging by a chain between their legs. They were still a family unit, but a family unit whose relations had been redefined by the Hive. Daniel allowed his wife to have sex with other men while enjoying the pleasures of his daughter, and Ben's first and only lover was his mother.

Nils said, "Julie, you and your sexy mother will be given important work in the Rewards Room, which is now referred to as the Enrichment Room."

"The Enrichment Room?" Julie's face fell. "What will we be doing there?"

"I think you know," Nils grinned. "You will be offered as rewards to men who have served the Hive well, as you briefly did when your rider first mature. Men will use you to help their riders mature further, or to grow new riders we will need when we expand to other planets like Earth."

"The Hive is going to Earth?" Daniel asked.

"Yes," said Nils.

"So, this plague is going to strike Earth as well as Sirius Minor?"

"Unfortunately, yes," said Nils.

Daniel saw Jo and Julie nod. It was their civic duty to help make more riders and to save more lives!

"Your lovely, sexy bodies will be used by men to make many more riders. Not to mention giving hours of sexual pleasures to our leading servants," Nils grinned, as he stared at Jo's heavy tits.

"And what will we be doing?" Daniel asked, indicating him and Ben.

"You, Daniel will be given the most important work of all. Come, I will show you."

Nils led them into the presence of the Hive Mind. This was the first time that Daniel and Ben had seen it.

Ben gasped and grabbed his mother's hand tightly.

Daniel stiffened. He looked at the large, black oily ball and sensed nothing but pure malice. He saw those giant dark eyes roam around the auditorium and briefly lock onto him. He froze in pure fear.

"Come along, Daniel," said Nils, prodding him forward.

"What is it?" Daniel asked.

"The Hive Mind. The two of you are about to get much more acquainted," said Nils.

He took them to the base of the Hive Mind. There were human slaves clustered around it, humping it vigorously.

"What are they doing?" Daniel asked.

"They are fucking it," said Nils. "The Hive Mind feeds on sexual energy... among other things. This is what you and Ben have been assigned to."

Daniel struggled to understand. "You want us to fuck... that?"

"Exactly," said Nils. "I believe you may find a familiar face here." He tapped the shoulder of a red head who was busy fucking the Hive Mind. She turned around to reveal it was-

"Casey!" said Nils.

"Daniel," she said. Casey looked very, very tired, like she had just run a marathon.

"Daniel and his son will be joining you in servicing our master," Nils said.

"Oh, how wonderful!" said Casey. The double banded rider on her back inflated slowly.

"Perhaps you can show them what to do," said Nils.

"It's quite simple," said Casey. "For the women, there are phalluses all around the base of it." She pointed at one of them. "We use that to stimulate the master with our cunt energy." She pointed to holes in the side of the oily black surface. "And those are the holes for you and Ben to use."

Daniel turned to Nils. "You want us to fuck this creature... for how long?"

"Until further notice," said Nils. He turned to Jo and Julie. "Come along, dears." He was so confident that he didn't looks back.

Daniel felt a sinking feeling as the girls left. He turned to look at the giant oily black ball. It must have beem forty feet tall.

"You'd better get started," said Casey. "The Harem Guards will come for you if you don't, and you don't want that."

Daniel gingerly stood face to face with the dark, oily surface of the Hive Mind. It looked repellent. He raised his penis, which was erect, courtesy of his rider, and slowly inserted it into the hole. A surprised expression appeared on his face. The hole felt soft and lubricated, like a vagina. He started to pump in and out.

"Dad!" said Ben.

"Try it, son!" Daniel said.

Ben reluctantly stuck his penis into a hole. He started thrusting along with his father.

"That's good, very good," said Casey.

"How long do we keep this up for?" Daniel asked.

"Oh, the Harem Guards give us breaks every two hours or so. Unless they forget," said Casey.

"Two hours?" said Daniel. "I can't keep this up for two hours!"

"You have to," said Casey. Her heavy breasts flopped around as she raised and lowered herself on the black oily phallus. She lowered her voice. "You know what happens to those who don't."

Some time later (two hours? longer? It was impossible to tell) they were given a break. Daniel was exhausted. He slumped down on the ground next to Ben. Neither he nor Ben had been permitted to climax. That would have ended their erections. The Hive Mind seemed to derive energy from the slow trickle of sexual tension emitted from their bodies. Daniel forced himself up and went looking for Jo and Julie. He found them in a massive chamber where women were being fucked by the dozens. Jo and Julie were lying side by side on the spongy floor, being fucked by men who Daniel didn't know.

"Jo!"

"Oh, dear, it's you," said Jo, looking up even as an anonymous dark haired man fucked her. "You now Eric Schmidtt from Computing, don't you?"

"Hey Daniel," said the man fucking his wife. He had a single banded rider on his back which was bubbling up.

"Hi Eric," said Daniel automatically.

"You look tired, dear," she said.

"We've been fucking the Hive Mind for hours!" said Daniel.

"You poor dear!" she said, reaching out to squeeze his hand. "Well, it's all for the best."

"Is it?" said Daniel.

"Dad!" said Julie. "I think they're looking for you!" One of her hands, which had been wrapped around the back of the man fucking her, pointed to two Harem Guards which were heading towards them.

"You'd better go," said Jo. "We'll talk later."

"Jo-"

"Bye dear! Busy fucking!" she cried.

By the time they were released from the Hive they were exhausted. Only eight hours had passed but Daniel and Ben had been made to fuck the Hive Mind for hours with only a few short breaks. They were told to report back to the Hive the first thing in the morning. After dinner they went straight to bed and fell immediately asleep.

This routine continued for two weeks, making Daniel wonder exactly how long it was going to go on for. He recognized that Julie and Joanna weren't having fun either, but at least neither of them were required to move! He sensed that this assignment to serve the Hive Mind, rather than being a "great honor", as Nils put it, was probably one of the worst assignments one could have in the Hive.

He broached the subject with Jo over dinner one night. "Jo, it's been two weeks."

"So?" she said.

"We joined the Hive to protect us from the plague, right?"

"Right," she said, as she ate dinner.

"Well... where is it? When is it coming?"

"I asked Nils that a few days ago," said Julie, as she picked at her dinner.

"Really? Why didn't you tell us? What did he say?" Daniel asked.

"It was during one of our breaks. He was squeezing one of Mom's tits and seemed in a friendly mood. Remember, Mom?" said Julie. "Anyway, I asked him the same question you just did. When will the plague actually happen? Because when I joined the Hive I was told it would happen within a few weeks. Well, it's been a few weeks."

"And what did he say?" Daniel asked.

"He said, it's no longer your concern."

"That's it? It's no longer your concern?" said Daniel. She nodded. "Did you ask him anything else?"

"No." Julie squirmed in her chair. "He gave me one of those looks, know what I mean?"

Daniel knew. "We could be doing this for a long time, then."

Jo put her hand over his. "Dear, the Hive knows best."​