CHAPTER VIII: ROCK-TRAP BUILDING

'Wait a minute, said the Queen, 'did you just say that you had an idea for ending the hornet threat?'

'Yeah, I did,' I said. 'I've thought it through and I really think, saying everything goes according to plan, that it will pay off and we can defeat the hornets.'

The King and Queen looked delighted.

'Well, come on, let's hear it then,' said the King.

'Okay,' I began. 'You know the way any rock, pebble, or anything similar will bring any insects it falls on straight down to the ground?'

'Yeah...' said the King and Queen slowly.

'Well, we could set up a rock trap right next to the swamp. We would prepare many rocks to be unloaded in small groups. Then, we would get squads of soldiers to lure hornets there in small groups. Several earth moulders and workers would be waiting by the rocks. When the hornets were close enough, we would unload a few rocks on that group, sending them down into the swamp. If we could just finish off every group, more would keep coming. We could get rid of loads of hornets as long as they weren't able to bring the news of the trap back to their queen! They would keep sending more hornets, not knowing what's going on. But, it's going to take everyone's involvement to make this work,' I finished.

The King and Queen just stared at me for a few seconds, apparently slowly taking in what I had just said.

'Well,' I said. 'What do you think?'

'Brilliant, said the King and Queen simultaneously. 'We fully believe it could work.'

'Does that mean the colony's going to use it?' I questioned.

'Yes, that's right,' said the Queen, 'you've really pulled through, Dim. You done nothing wrong and everything right this time. If this plan works you're back in the colony for good. How would that feel?'

I didn't know how to put this into words. It would be the best feeling in my entire life!

'That would feel great,' I said happily. 'So, when does construction start?'

'As soon as possible,' said the Queen. 'In fact, we'll have a briefing to the whole colony about the matter later today. Since you've inspired this brilliant idea, you can have the day off work.

I was stunned. This way the first day off work I had even had, the first day I hadn't had to do the dignity-lacking job of fetching food for the colony over and over and over again – it was never any different! But, this was a lot different.

'Sure,' I said. I couldn't see what could go wrong now. Everything was going great!

The whole colony was outside the tunnel, in the clearing near the tunnels. We were all listening to the King and Queen giving the lecture on designing the upcoming plan against the hornets. I was near the front of the crowd. Cora was only a few paces from me; I felt extremely jumpy. However, I kept my attention on the King and Queen.

'...now, it's going to take everyone's work and determination to put this plan into effect,' said the Queen.

'I know it's not our tradition to do anything different, let alone have a battle as big as this...' stated the King.

'...but if our ancestors were able to build these tunnels, and establish this colony, then we can certainly work – as one – to build this rock-trap!' finished the Queen in a proud stance.

There was instant cheering at her words – the whole colony was giving applause. Weaver and several soldiers were stomping up and down as a response.

I smiled at Cora and she smiled back. What could go wrong now? Everything was going as perfect as could be, considering the situation!

We were doing the first part of construction. Several earth moulder beetles were reading huge mounds of earth to use as the support for the rocks.

'Wait a moment,' said the Queen. All the beetles froze and looked at her.

'Dim,' she said to me, 'bring me a leaf.'

I hastened to obey – I quickly scuttled off into the grass stalks. Within a few seconds, I had returned with a green leaf about half my body size. I brought it to her.

'Perfect,' she whispered. She then gestured the King forward.

The King used his horn [only male rhino beetles have horns] to cut a hole in the leaf.

The Queen then gestured four soldiers forward. They balanced the leaf between their horns carefully. They flew up into the air and held it in the sun's glare above the site for the rock-trap. It cast a mixture of shadow-and-light on the ground. Now I got it – it showed where the outline for the earth should go.

'Perfect!' yelled the King.

'Okay!' said the Queen, 'Lay the outline!'

Half of the earth moulder beetles waiting pushed their earth balls forward into position. They then quickly molded them into the ground. As soon as it was done, the soldier beetles holding the leaf in the air flew down.

The rest of the earth moulder beetles began rolling huge quantities of earth into place – the hill where the rocks would be stored was taking shape.

Next, while the earth moulder beetles continued their work, several dozen workers – me included – set about placing various twigs and grass sticks near the ground. We were building the "cover" that, when finished, would hide the trap from all visual angles.

As I worked, I passed close by Cora. I felt very jumpy – she could say anything! What she did do was the last thing I expected – she hugged me briefly before getting back to work.

I paused briefly, partially stunned by how so much was happening in such a short space of time. I shook the feeling off and continued with the job – it was more satisfying then my usual work.

The earth hill had been completely moulded. The earth moulder beetles were just carving out the tracks, on the earth hill, for the rocks to fall down when released and bring the hornets into the deathly swamp. We workers were gathering rocks to be used in the trap. We had them piled near the hill, ready to start pushing them up. The rest of the colony was continuing to construct the wall cover.

'Okay, more, more...' said the Queen, instructing several earth moulders on the precise shape of the rock tracks. The earth moulders were just doing the last details.

'And that's it!' said the Queen. She took in the scene of the earth hill – we all did. Even at this stage, it looked great. Any rocks rolling down the tracks would catch any insects in the way and roll them straight into the swamp – or simply crush them.

Now the rock placing could begin. This was where we truly needed the whole colony. It took at least six beetles to support a rock on their backs. In groups of six to twelve, beetles supported the rocks on their backs and carefully flew to the top of the earth hill. They would carefully lower them into the "bank" – a huge earth mould behind the tracks – where the rocks could be unloaded onto the tracks simply by moving the prop sticks open temporarily to release just a few at a time. All we needed to do was continue to put in more rocks – we would need at least 200, and each was about the size of ourselves, about 1.3 times the size of a hornet.

I could not actually put in any rocks myself, as my wings were still broken – but they were healing – so I continued to help with the construction of the cover.

Several beetles were now at the stick props, learning how to quickly – in groups of two – pull them out and push them back in, so as to only release a single rock at a time. Several beetles waited to catch the released rocks and fly them back into the rock "tank." Able to do this task, I was among the beetles learning the art of stick pushing and pulling – it wasn't as easy as it sounds, with no arms – and we were somewhat enjoying it. The rest of the colony was continuing on the "cover," which was starting to take shape and look realistic.

As I took a break from the stick pushing job – now having mastered it fully myself – I saw Weaver directing several beetles on filling in an uncovered corner of the cover. I walked up to him.

'Okay,' Weaver was saying, 'cut that leaf in three and spread the parts over the hole. Then, get some gummed-up-food to stick it together.' He really seemed to be enjoying acting as second-in-command – a position secured for him by me, due to my new contacts with the King and Queen. He had been very appreciative of that.

'Hey Weaver,' I said, making him jump, 'how's it going?'

'Wha?' said Weaver, looking around. He saw that it was me. 'Oh, hey Dim,' he said, 'it's going pretty good; we've almost finished the cover.'

'Yeah,' I said slowly. It was true – there was barley any holes left on it to fill. But there was something nagging at the back of my mind.

It must have showed on my face, because Weaver said, 'Is there something wrong? You don't look great...'

'Oh,' I stammered, anxious that he had noticed, 'it's nothing. I was just thinking that... the plan... I can't shake off the feeling that something is going to go terribly wrong...'

'You know something,' said Weaver, in a very caring manner, 'I was thinking that too. And do you know what I realized?'

'What?' I asked. What conclusion did he come to?

'I realized,' stated Weaver, 'that we can defeat those hornets NO. MATTER. WHAT. All we have to do is believe in ourselves,' he finished.

I paused momentarily, taking it what he had said. He was right. Courage was the key. It wasn't the only factor, of course, but it was the most important one.

The job was almost done. The "cover" had been completely finished, and ropes had been hooked around tree roots. We were going to use them to pull it up and hide the trap. Then it would be done.

We were all ready by the ropes. When pulled on, they would pull the "cover" up into place.

Weaver did a last-minute check that the ropes were secure. A few seconds later, he flew down to check that several beetles were ready by the movable bushes – they would cover the joints of the "cover" so it wouldn't look artificial.

Weaver then flew down to the tunnel entrance and turned around to all of us!

'Let it rip!' he yelled, raising his shell as a signal.

We all began cooperatively tugging at the rope (using our mouths, horns, and feet) to steadily raise the "cover". Slowly, it began to edge off the ground. We tugged even harder, and it began tilting its angle to 75 degrees.

Weaver came down and assisted me as we worked. His determination was about three times that of any other beetle (except me, of course).

Mere seconds later, the cover reached the right height. We kept out feet firmly on the ropes, holding it in position.

Several beetles went behind the cover. They quickly secured ropes around the upper joints and then pinned them down with spare rocks.

Finally a dozen or so earth moulder beetles – including Cora – quickly stuck the lower joints of the cover to the ground with earth moulds. They then moved the small bushed to cover the joints. It was done!

'And that's it!' yelled the King and Queen. We all let go of the ropes – it was perfect. There was no telling there was even a trap there, unless you knew it was there – and none of the hornets knew, not even Queen Maula!

'Give me five, dude!' yelled Weaver, raising his three right feet. I raised my three right feet as well and slapped them against his. He was a pretty cool soldier, Weaver.

'Alright, well, that's it for the day. Everyone to their rooms except the lookouts!' yelled the King. Everyone cheered to these words and began filing back into the tunnels.

I was among the last to re-enter the tunnels; this time, for a whole new reason.

Then, out of nowhere – there was a blow horn. The hornets were attacking again! This was it!

We all quickly raced to out positions. We could only hope there weren't too many of them on this mission. I was pretty sure their orders were to capture me, but, even so, I wanted to participate in the defense.

I raced up to the earth hill. Into the gap went me and about 3 dozen others – including Weaver, Cora, Berry and Quick. They all readied themselves by the rocks. I acted as lookout.

I quickly bent out by the entrance. Everyone was in their position. Two soldiers waited behind a rock, ready to lure the hornets into the trap. I glanced the other way. There was a fuzzy blur approaching through the air from across the swamp. It was the hornets, all right, but something was strange. They seemed smaller than usual...

I kept looking anyways. The hornets were getting closer. It was only as they were almost across the swamp that I realized why they looked smaller – there was only one of them. I quickly ducked back inside.

'Guys, there's only one of them!' I whispered frantically. 'We can't use the trap on just one hornet – that would be a waste!'

They all nodded in agreement. I motioned for them to stay put, while I poked my head back out again.

The hornet had landed on the ground. She looked around carefully. I recognized her – she was the only hornet that had survived chasing me.

She appeared to be carrying something – it looked like a leaf for writing.

She walked forwards, looking around every few steps. I suddenly felt something beside me. Looking to my right, I saw that it was Cora. She looked anxious, just like me. We both watched the hornet as she walked up to the tunnel entrance.

She looked around one last time, and quickly dropped the leaf on the ground right next to the tunnel entrance. She then turned around and flew off, back over the swamp, towards the hornet's nest and out of sight.

It was a few, tense moments when nobody moved. Eventually, after what felt like an hour, some beetles came out of the tunnel entrance. We all followed suit. A huge crowd started to gather around the leaf, everyone afraid to get too close, as those it would bite.

Quick suddenly pushed her way through the crowd – she was her name. Within seconds, she was at the front. She moved in front of the leaf and squinted at it.

'It's a message!' said Quick. 'A message from the hornets!'

There were murmurings from the crowd at these words. What could this mean? Everyone looked very confused. Quick bent down close enough to the message to read it.

'"Dear coleopterans," it begins,' said Quick. '"We no longer mean any harm of any sort. We hornets are now planning on leaving Louisiana. We plan to seek out fortunes elsewhere.'"

There were quiet gasps and more murmurings from the crowd. Quick looked a little agitated.

'Is that it?' said the Queen.

'No,' said Quick slowly, 'there's more...'

'Continue...' said the King nervously.

Quick bent low to read the last part. Her eyes suddenly stretched wider then her abdomen – although she was thin as a twig.

'Well, what is it?' said the King and Queen together.

'"However,'" said Quick anxiously, '"before we go, we have a request. Please understand it is merely for negotiating purposes. If this request is not fulfilled, we will enslave your colony for eternity.'"

'What the request?' said Berry, shivering from wing to face.

With the air of saying something unpleasant, Quick finished the leaf-reading.

'"Give us Dim.'"

Approximate Chapter Running Time: 00:25-00:31