There was movement beneath his feet, under the rough stone roof of the base, the “hive” as the Accileans called it. An accurate name, he had to admit. He’d seen beehives on Earth before. He did not know if bees were as mindless as the drones swarming beneath him, but bees were more placid, for certain.

A calling, a warning bell rang in the back of his mind. He stood automatically and jumped from the ledge. He sensed where the drones were all concentrated, reached out, and caught a ledge above a window. Had he truly been human, it would have been a dangerous maneuver, and there was still pain that jolted through his arm when he came to such a sudden stop. But at the moment they all needed to work on having any advantage they could get.