In this chapter Nethania is only mentioned, but she is not actually in until the very end of the chapter. This idea came to me after coming across a large one inch long black beetle on a walk in Roseville, California. The buildings in the area had to be shut down and condemned because of them and very recently they have begun showing up at a Wal-Mart near my home. The facts about the Ladybird beetles (aka Ladybugs) are all true. In the month of July they can be seen in large droves of thousands of Ladybird beetles along the South Yuba River.
An Serious Epidemic
Deino-pack 18 was on patrol near Outpost 5.
"There's another one Lieutenant," replied a corporal to the Leader of the Pack who was one Lieutenant Clacker. He pointed at another large black beetle. This one was dead, but it happened to be the 18th one they found in less than 30 minutes.
"Let's check up closer to the outpost," Clacker ordered.
It was a species of ground burrowing beetle that could easily wreak havoc on the foundations of buildings as well as contaminate food and water sources with deadly toxins. The beetle was roughly two inches in length, jet black, thick antennae, large pincher like mandibles and large eyes that gave anyone the willies.
They neared the building up ahead, finding more of the beetles, both live ones and dead ones.
"This isn't good," replied another Deinonychus.
The numbers of beetles was piling up. Clacker punched in his security code and opened the gate and the door to the outpost. The Deinonychus walked in and looked around.
"Hello," Clacker called.
The pack searched the outpost.
"Lieutenant," called a corporal from the infirmary.
Clacker walked into the room and found the staff. All of them were dead.
"I think we better call Terra Nova," Clacker said.
Commander Taylor was at the outpost in minutes.
"What did this to them?" Nathaniel asked.
"It's a nasty species of burrowing beetle," Clacker said.
"The beetles must have contaminated the food rations," replied a Deinonychus Corporal.
"We found evidence of the beetles being near the food," said another Deinonychus.
"What kind of a beetle are we dealing with exactly," Dr. Wallace asked.
Clacker picked up one of the dead beetles with a pair of tweezers and showed it to Malcolm.
Malcolm shuddered when he saw the giant eyes.
"They are a beast to deal with. They burrow into the ground, damaging the foundation of the buildings and they secrete toxins through their bodies. They contaminate food and water supplies. In just half an hour we found over 30 of the beetles in this one area," Clacker said.
"So just how am I supposed to deal with these things?" Nathaniel asked.
"The best thing I can say is to quarantine this area; no one stays here until these beetles dissipate. It must be the breeding season for them, that's the only explanation I can think of for this explosion of this species in this area," Clacker said.
"So there's no way that I can exterminate them," Nathaniel said.
"That was one of the follies of mankind that Captain Taylor seeks to prevent happening here. Though small, these beetles do support an important role in the ecosystem here. If we don't let nature take its course we could disrupt the balance of that system. Spraying pesticides can endanger the local wildlife that isn't causing a problem. We could bring in dinosaurs that can eat the beetles but then when the beetles are gone we've got a problem with an influx of those dinosaurs. No you'll just have to wait for nature to thin the beetles out," Clacker said.
Nathaniel and Malcolm didn't like this.
"What if we found out how they were getting into the building?" Malcolm said.
"They'll find their way in. They are extremely strong and have you seen the mandibles on those beetles. They can chew their way into anything," Clacker said.
"Perhaps Nethania has some idea as to how to deal with these pests," Nathaniel said and walked out to the rover.
"I sure hope she does," Malcolm said.
"Saddle up, this area is under general quarantine. Everyone must vacate the area until further notice," Nathaniel yelled.
…^…^…
"I'm sorry Commander, but Captain Taylor is on a Quantum Leap Mission to the Triassic Time Period and is out of contact range," Steeldome said.
"Well when will she be back or at least in contact range?" Nathaniel asked.
"It is difficult to say. Our tight-beam radios are having some difficulty connecting with her comm in the Triassic Period. Captain Taylor may not be contactable for several days, even weeks," Steeldome said.
"Well what am I supposed to do about these confounded beetles that are invading my Outpost," Nathaniel asked.
"I suggest you follow Lieutenant Clacker's advice Commander," Steeldome said.
"So there's nothing else I can do," Nathaniel said, he sounded more and more peeved by the minute.
"Patience is a virtue and very good advice and it is something you humans seldom practice," Steeldome said.
Nathaniel growled at this. He disliked having his humanly faults being pointed out, especially by a Nanosaur.
"Alright, Terra Nova out," Nathaniel said. Ute closed the call and Nathaniel sat back.
"Captain Taylor failed to mention to me that she was planning a trip to the Triassic," Ute said.
"That doesn't help Ute," Nathaniel growled at the Utahraptor. He got up and stormed out of the Nanosaur Communications Room.
…^…^…
"Please tell me Captain Taylor has a plan," Malcolm said when Nathaniel walked into the command center.
"We're going it alone on this one. Captain Taylor is out of the office on a Quantum Leap Mission to the Triassic Time Period and is unreachable at this time," Nathaniel said.
Malcolm groaned at this news. He wanted to get his research team back in the field.
"Commander, we have a problem," Alicia said walking in.
"What now?" Nathaniel groaned turning to his second.
"Outpost 3's scientists just came in, they had a…" Alicia started.
"Let me guess, a large black beetle infestation," Nathaniel said.
"Yeah," Alicia said.
"Could this get any worse?" Nathaniel said.
"Whoa whoa, if they are at Outpost 3 as well, that means…" Malcolm started.
"They're spreading," Nathaniel said.
"Where is Captain Taylor when you need her?" Malcolm said.
"In the Triassic of course," Nathaniel groaned.
…^…^…
Dr. Won looked at the dead beetle that Clacker brought in.
"Oh dear oh dear oh dear, this is very serious," Dr. Won said.
"Please tell me that we can give some good news to Commander Taylor," Clacker said.
"I'm afraid not. This sort of thing is not a strange occurrence. In the human's future time, there is a species of beetle called the Ladybird beetle. Every year they have an incredible gathering of them by the thousands. Captain Taylor showed me a very old human clip of humans just scooping them up by the handfuls. Captain Taylor was fortunate enough to collect a few samples of the Ladybird beetle. These large black beetles happen to be descendents of the Ladybird. The Ladybird beetle was toxic too, but it wasn't much of a burrower," Dr. Won said.
"So you mean to tell me that these beetles are having an annual migration…what for?" Clacker said.
"Well for mating mostly. These beetles obviously don't have an every year migration, unless of course they do just not in this large of scale," Dr. Won said.
"Well, I better go and deliver this news to the commander," Clacker said.
…^…^…
"Outposts 5, 4, and 3 have all been placed under quarantine because of those confounded beetles. Please tell me you have some good news," Malcolm said when the Deinonychus lieutenant walked into the lab.
"I'm afraid not," Clacker said. He explained to Dr. Wallace, Dr. Shannon, Commander Taylor and Lieutenant Taylor what Dr. Won told him.
"That makes a lot of sense actually. The ladybird beetles seemed to favor areas that had a lot of rocks, particularly rocky stream banks. They gather to those specific areas, mate and then they disappear. Years and years ago, garden centers used to go out and collect them by the bucket loads for plants since they not only eat the aphids but they also act as wonderful pollinators since it was discovered that they love nectar as much as bees do," Malcolm said.
"So just how long will we have to wait before these beetles decide to move on?" Nathaniel asked.
"Well the Ladybird beetles usually would show up in large gatherings for a couple weeks before moving on," Malcolm said.
"I guess we can wait for a couple weeks," Nathaniel said.
…^…^…
"Still nothing from the captain," replied a Gallimimus Communications Tech.
"Keep trying," Steeldome ordered.
The Gallimimus nodded and went back to his console.
…^…^…
"Two more Outposts have reported seeing an influx of Blackbird Beetles," Alicia reported.
"How many more Outposts must go under quarantine, before this is over," Malcolm groaned.
"Just got a response from Steeldome…they're going to keep trying to get a hold of the captain," Ute reported.
"I just hope they can contact her in time," Clacker said. Since he was the officer who discovered the beetle outbreak, he was to remain on the case until it was over.
Ute's comm beeped.
"Aw, perhaps they got in touch with her," Clacker said.
"Captain Taylor," Ute replied.
"Pah, I wish," Maxwell's voice was crisp and clear.
"How can I help you Sr. Dr. Taylor?" Ute said.
"Steeldome informed me of your outbreak. I've searched the captain's files and have found no record of those beetles," Maxwell said.
"That's impossible; we've seen these beetles before. Captain Taylor keeps files on all the creatures we've come across. Find that file Maxwell," Ute ordered.
"Unless of course…she's hiding the file from us," Clacker said.
"That's ridiculous, she has no reason to hide that file from us," Ute said.
"Unless the beetles are her own making that went sideways," Clacker said.
"The Baryonyx…Captain Taylor created them but they are not tame like we are and are extremely wild and aggressive. They live in the western parts of the plateau. She's removed their file and placed it in a secret folder that only she can access," Ute said.
"That doesn't help us Ute," Nathaniel barked at the Utahraptor.
"If anything it makes the situation worse. If Nethania created these beetles, then they are more dangerous than if they were normal beetles," Clacker said.
"Why would Captain Taylor create these beetles? What is their purpose?" Malcolm said.
"Only she can answer that," Ute said.
"What are we going to do now?" Nathaniel asked looking at the raptors.
"We'll need to wait until either Captain Taylor comes back into contact range or Maxwell finds her file on those beetles," Ute said.
…^…^…
Maxwell ran several searches on the Blackbird Beetles.
"What kind of search are you running exactly?" Lucas asked.
"Searching in the section on beetles," Maxwell said.
"So in the search engine you're searching beetles," Lucas said.
"Yes…why do you have another suggestion," Maxwell said looking up at him.
"Yeah…try searching the Latin name for beetle. Nethania may have accidentally called it a bug instead of a beetle…you know Blackbug instead of Blackbird," Lucas said.
Maxwell typed in Coleoptera (col-eo-tera) and a list of beetles came up.
"Ah ha, you were right. Nethania accidentally put the Blackbird in the True Bug section," Maxwell said, he had a smile on his face.
"Personal observations of Black…bug beetles: These beetles behave very much like the Ladybugs. They gather in huge swarms for up to one week to mate and then they disappear without a trace. Their toxins are similar to the Ladybug's, but in a far more potent form. These beetles resemble Tile-Horned Beetles with much larger black eyes and a more rounded thorax," Maxwell read out loud.
"So for one week those beetles will be bothering Terra Nova," Lucas said.
…^…^…
"Well every last beetle is gone, just like Captain Taylor's observations claimed," Clacker reported.
"That's a relief," Malcolm said.
"Glad to see you guys can manage to solve a problem without me," Nethania said walking into the commander center. Her pant leggings were badly torn and her legs were covered in scratches and gashes.
"What happened to you?" Nathaniel asked her walking towards her and examining her legs.
"Nothing real serious dad," Nethania said pulling away from him.
"What happened?" Alicia asked.
"I was attacked by an Eoraptor," Nethania said.
"You have all the luck in the world. I would love to study one of those," Malcolm said.
"You call having your legs torn up, luck," Nathaniel snapped at him.
Nethania rolled her eyes.
"Oh well…all's well that ends well," Ute said.