Chapter Fifteen
Inside the nest, a combination of heat and exhaustion had taken its toll on Zenandra’s daughters. Hundreds of older wasps lay collapsed and dying among their fanning sisters. Others, desperately thirsty, drank the droplets of water scattered throughout the nest chambers, sabotaging the cooling system.
A tired Sabrina greeted her mother and then went to inspect the larvae. Rising heat caused them to extend their bodies out of their cells as far as possible, waving their head capsules to take advantage of any breeze created by the buzzing adults. Sabrina hurried to reassure the frightened babies, tapping them with her antennae, and communicating with soft click-click sounds.
Zenandra was failing, struggling to keep her wings in motion. But just as she thought her spiracles
