Chapter 583: Time to burn
On that day, two weeks later, the sky was black and red.
As Precio-Us predicted, the ash cloud went nowhere in these two weeks. The ash began falling more slowly, but it didn’t dissipate on its own, and the ash kept clogging our infrastructure.
The dodo-carried ploughs cleaned the railways, and the electric power was restored in almost every place, but this didn’t fully prevent or stop the shortages. A lot of workers moved to cut or plant the usnea trees, while all the machinery that wasn’t working because of the ash… still wasn’t working.
There were even new malfunctions on the trains because of it. Although the train tracks were clear enough for trains to travel, ash still clogged various mechanisms inside the trains, forcing their crews to spend more time cleaning them.
But today, as I watched columns of smoke rise toward the sky, I hoped that it would be the last of the ash that I would see.
Then I turned away and walked inside the sound recording studio of Hive Supremo’s radio tower.
The electricity was flowing freely down the Bee Empire, and the radio was working in all sub-hives. Thus, I was about to make a statement for all the bees.
Amby was waiting for me near the microphone, surrounded by half a dozen Artist and Researchers Bees that dealt with the studio’s machinery.
“Repeat: the fires are under our control. Please, don’t panic and don’t go outside if you live near The Fields Region. Even if you were diagnosed with a smoke resistance gene, stay indoors unless your Foreman says otherwise,” an Artist Bee in one of the seats was speaking into the microphone.
‘Do you need more time to prepare, Father, Mother-Queen? Although this is a live transmission, we can make more time for you if necessary.’ the leader of the studio asked me telepathically. ‘We have already repeated the informational message twice, but we can go on a musical pause without breaking the schedule.’
‘I’m ready. Are you, Amby?’ I asked my wife.
She nodded, and the lead Artist gestured to the broadcaster.
“…And now, our glorious Father and Mother, the Emperor and the Empress of the Bee Empire, want to address their children,” the broadcaster said without skipping a beat, then moved away from the microphone.
I and Amby took her place. I cleared my throat and went first.
“My girls, you’ve heard already about what’s about to happen. It’s been on the radio ever since it went full online,” I chuckled at my own little joke and saw smiles on the faces of other bees present. “Many of you have been worried and unhappy because of the ash cloud over our heads, blocking the sun to you or your sisters. Soon, this will be over! Just like the fire destroys the enemies of the Bee Empire, it will chase the cloud away. So you don’t have to worry! Even more…”
I turned to Amby and passed her the microphone. She continued my words smoothly with the experience of dozens of speeches we have already given together over the radio in the past.
“You’ve all continued to do your jobs no matter what calamities went our way. For this, both of us thank you,” she said. “It might seem like a matter of course to many of you, but it’s not. Even bees can have their moments of weakness, and being above those deserves praise. So we, your parents and rulers, praise you.”
With the same calm face and regal demeanour, Amby passed the microphone back to me, like she didn’t just say some of the most touching speeches I’ve heard from her.
Especially when I thought about how far Amby went as a person since the time we first met… She wouldn’t even think to say that work deserves praise! Or anything at all, probably.
I realised that I got a bit distracted by being love-struck, so I focused on the microphone instead.
“Yes, we praise you. Please, keep being wonderful, girls, and don’t fear any disasters. Just be sensibly careful! I know the situation was bad last month, and there were a lot of things thrown your way, and things that are still thrown your way—like the need to be scroungy with some of the simple things you use daily—but you can get through it. And with you—the entire Bee Empire.”
I ended the speech, passed the microphone to the broadcaster, and glanced at the lead Artist. I knew that at this very moment, she was getting live reports from all over the Bee Empire that described the reactions of the listeners to this message.
‘Everybody is ecstatic to hear your voice again, Father, Mother-Queen!’ the Artist reported excitedly. ‘They swear that they will survive ten tsunamis and fifteen ash rains to listen to your next speech, and hope that both of you will return to the regular broadcasts now on. I’m sure that they will try to listen to the repeats of this broadcast when we run it later, too.’
In the background, the broadcaster resumed talking, repeating information about what to do and not do while the Fields Region was on fire.
I grinned, shaking my head.
‘There was no point in expecting anything different. Well, I’m glad that our girls are feeling better. Aren’t you, Amby?’ I turned to her, smiling.
‘Of course. I only hope that our promises weren’t empty,’ she replied telepathically and began to walk outside of the studio.
I sent and waved a brief goodbye to the Artists and followed her there, where we could speak aloud. Although Amby had the telepathy gene, it was the lowest possible tier, and she preferred to speak aloud when possible.
“You fear that the project will fail, Amby?” I asked after closing the door to the studio, when the microphone there wasn’t able to hear us anymore.
“It’s a possibility, isn’t it? Especially with how things turn against us one after another lately,” she said. “Who knows, maybe even on the Ashida continent things went bad and we just didn’t hear about it yet…”