The Hive

Homestead is the last bastion of human civilisation.

Life in Homestead is dull, monotonous, and dominated by The Hive - the massive cryogenic facility in which half the population spends half the year, to preserve scant resources.

At sixteen years of age, every young man and woman is paired and told simply -

"You will grow to love each other; you will care for each other; you will produce children together."

Those on the outside serve The Hive, patiently waiting for the one day, every six months, when they are reunited with their partners, albeit briefly, before entering cryo themselves for the next six months. This cycle is all anyone has ever known.

Dull, monotonous, and harsh.

Except, not everyone follows the rules.

David and Peter have a secret - they're in love. Toby has a secret - he mates with anyone pining for their loved one. Management has a secret - a diabolical, immoral, and potential lethal secret. Should anyone find out what it is, all hell will break loose ...

Ronan, a maintenance operative and one of the very few that gets to go to the very top of The Hive, sees something beyond the city wall, and it poses a question, challenging the status quo ... Are we the lone survivors of the holocaust after all?

A chance discovery by Peter, allied with Ronan's suspicion, sets wheels in motion.

Born into servitude, believing there is nothing beyond the wall, accepting nothing will ever change, insurgence is the furthest thing from anyone's mind until, one day, a line is crossed, and the terrible truth is exposed, with catastrophic and far-reaching consequences for everyone.

It is nothing compared to what they find outside the wall.

The Hive is written by Alp Mortal and Chambers Mars, writing as Carter Seagrove (further titles produced by this collaboration include Dust Jacket and The Inspector Fenchurch Mysteries).

Also, look out for the accompanying story - Toby's Day.