Adam’s recurring dreams of Aaron and Isaac stopped, though he wished they might come back just once more. He wanted they to come and tell him that he was on the right path. They could tell him that he was finally finished being a destructive force and had created something beneficial. No such dream ever came, but neither did more stress dreams.

He was thinking about them when Gladys and Dante came to him.

“Hey,” said Gladys. “Got reports of something happening downtown that sounds maybe paranormal.”

“Well,” Adam said, “Let us go and look into it.”

So they did.

If a honeybee can be said to be excited for the future, this bee is.

The hive is noticeably healthier, the bees more productive, the general buzz warm and pleasant.

The city and the forest each offer vast territory in which to gather pollen.

The human, Adam Obianu, strives to keep the colony safe, and has allies to help do so.

New, strong drones, from some other place, have been mated with the queen and strong workers are being grown.

The bee looks forward to whatever the future has to bring, confident the colony will be able to handle it.