Aboard the Surprise, things were not going well and tempers were running very high. The mizzen mast had just fallen yet again and the pumps were seeing constant service from several leaks that had sprung up during the night. Then again, leaks were always springing up, so it wasn't that big of a deal. However, the mast was. It had created a sizable hole in the deck and had nearly decapitated Stephen when he was walking by. The crew was hard at work finding wood on a small, peaceful island where they had stopped.
"Because," as an annoyed Stephen so charmingly put it, "we tried refitting at sea once and it's never happening again, and some nice peace and quiet is just the thing for us right now."
But was he right? All ready, some of the crew had gotten drunk on stolen rum and were in their tents recovering from hangovers and beatings. According to a recent headcount, five of the crew including Mr. Mowett were missing, much to Blakeney's distress.. Also, several of Stephen's journals had been washed overboard in the storm and at the moment he was having a cross between a heart attack and a major tantrum. He stormed around his tent, snarling and growling at his own stupidity for not putting them away.
Suddenly, a large beetle crawled across the canvas on the ceiling of the tent. Stephen gently detached it and held it up to the light, examining it with an expert's eye. He pulled one of his remaining journals towards him and began feverishly making notes while holding the beetle still with the other hand.
It was a nice bug, with shiny green wings and a pair of small pincers like horns. It nipped Stephen with these and he rubbed the spot absently, then went back to his work. But another one of the same beetles crawled across his sketch pad, so Stephen then had to compare their sizes and markings. He weighed them carefully and recorded that.
Strange, Stephen thought, there seems to be a lot of these beetles tonight. Maybe they're nocturnal. There were about ten of them, all crawling slowly around his tent. Suddenly, a scream from outside made Stephen drop his beetle.
"Yaaaaaaa! Owowowow! Get'em off me! Get'em off! Bloody insects-aaaaarrrrrgg!!!!!!"
Stephen raced outside to find several of the crew who were sitting by the stream literally covered in beetles. He was fascinated by this and immediately began taking notes, muttering to himself, "Amazing. They must be flesh eaters, or perhaps they're just attracted to human skin. I've never heard of this before!"
Blakeney ran past him, followed by several other men. As he passed Stephen, he cried, "Come on, doctor! Help us get them off!"
Stephen seemed to snap back to reality and mumbled, "Oh, right, of course." He began brushing the insects off the nearest man, who was unrecognizable from his cover of beetles. Suddenly, a large cloud seemed to burst out of the bushes, buzzing ominously. Stephen stared at it and suddenly realized what it was-more beetles. "Run!" he yelled, but it was too late. The entire crew was fallen upon, including Stephen. Many men ran screaming for the water in hopes of drowning the insects, but others blundered blindly about that camp, swatting at themselves.
Somehow, Blakeney managed to stay calm through all of this. He called, "Everyone in the water. Swim back to the ship or stay in the shallows!" Everyone ran for it, cursing and yelping.
Several hours later, the Surprise's very bedraggled crew stumbled out of the water, moaning and covered in swollen bites. Stephen looked at the long line in front of the doctor's tent with the eye that wasn't swollen shut and called, "These are simple stings. Just slap some mud on them-it's the best thing for them."
Once everyone was covered in mud to his satisfaction, Stephen collapsed on his hammock and, after picking up a dead bug to save, he fell fast asleep. However, no one actually got any sleep but Stephen since his nose was swollen and he snored. Very loudly too, I might add.