Queen

XIV

“What's that?” Jean asked for the hundredth time, pointing to yet another spot on Phoebe's map.

Phoebe, who had an infinite amount of patience thanks to practically raising her sister, said, without even looking up, “That's the waterfall.”

“Huh...It doesn't look like the waterfall. It looks more like a cloud. With a blue tail.”

“It's an aerial view of the waterfall.”

Phoebe was going through some of her lists. The one of new warps that were appearing was getting shorter each day. It was still far too long for Wasp and Phoebe's comfort but reports were no longer coming in faster than warps were being fixed. Since Australia's gate hadn't needed to be collapsed, it would only continue to shorten. It was a big victory for them and the sigh of relief that had gone through the Nest at that gate still standing had been palatable.

Then there were the lists of people staying in Nest that were not supposed to be, and of that list which drones had started working towards worker status, and of that list those who had actually achieved it by her and Dorone's calculations. Wasp was going to want to begin inducting them into the Nest if only to be able to build a new house or two and lessen the burden on the palace.

She also had lists of supplies around the Nest that were running low. Everything they had came from Wasp. Things like water and food were automatically created by the palace. The honeycombs that they used in placed of currency and supplies like clothing and medicine came from Wasp. Normally no one got sick in the Nest but the sudden influx of people and Wasp's lack of free time to deal with it meant that some common sicknesses were spreading.

Phoebe's work was mostly clerical, she spent a great deal of her time simply telling Wasp where he needed to go and why. But it was an important job that needed doing. And, truth be told, she actually liked doing it.

Jean couldn't understand that and was busy picking around her office, bored and with nothing to do. All she saw was four boring walls filled with her sister's anal organization and lots of papers. However, Phoebe had asked her here today to help her out. Because they were siblings, Jean had agreed. Reluctantly, but she had agreed.

“Okay, here's what I need you to do.” Phoebe said at last, holding up the papers she had prepared for Jean. Then she frowned when Jean continued to look over her map of the valley. “Are you listening?”

“Yeah. Don't nag.” Jean turned from the map and folded her arms, waiting for her instructions.

Phoebe had a moment of doubt. Was she sure that she wanted to trust her sister with this? Immature moments like this made Phoebe not want to trust her at all. But she reminded herself that she had promised to try and treat Jean as an adult. And that meant trusting her with responsibilities. Even if Jean was looking at her now, wearing her grungiest grunge attire looking like she had been court ordered to show up.

So Phoebe passed the papers to her. “I just need you to tidy these a bit. There are a lot of cross outs and marks off and add ons. It's getting hard to read them and I don't have time to do it myself.”

“That's it?” Jean asked, turning the lists over in her hand, uninterested.

“It's very important. And don't mess it up. Especially the warps. There could be lives on the line if you-”

“Yeah, yeah. I got it. Just go. I can handle this.”

“Jean, this is important.”

“Pheobe, I can handle copying some lists.” Jean rolled her eyes. “Just go. Wasp is waiting for you, right?”