The Deception

by Janet Shore

  Deep underground, below the flowing of the mighty Nile River, sealed off from the world by the Jazene, the genetic phenotypes of humans, lions, and insects were being selectively differentiated and expressed. The face of a human with lion’s teeth was expressed on the head of a locust. The teeth were sharp. The hair was long. Its horse-like body had an iron thorax. These locusts could sting their victims with a scorpion-like tail. The face was smooth with skin and eyes. Yet, because of the wings and the swarming behavior, it was still most appropriately called a stinging locust. The lab was organized into sections, each section working on different gene combinations. Alongside the lab was a large chamber filled with modified locusts breeding rapidly. Each stinging locust in the dark chamber was a foot long. There was no food for these creatures. Those that died became food for the others. The birth rate and the cleanup of the dead were in balance. The chamber was immeasurably deep. The density of creatures left little room. Their collective noise rattled the walls of the chamber. They climbed over each other in a frenzied attempt to find food. If the population control was not in balance, the whole chamber would be full of dead bio-mass. The Jazene made sure that the balance matched the environment. For all practical purposes, there was no floor for significant bio-mass to accumulate. The cleaning process was efficient. The chamber’s width included the Nile and miles under the desert.

  In between farms, on the Giza-Luxor Road was a barren field. Not far under a layer of dirt and sand was a secure lock to the underground door of the chamber of horror filled with stinging locusts. The neighboring farm adjacent to the chamber was owned by Omar. Omar had always dreamed of having a farm. He worked hard for years in the city. Omar did quite well, married Sofia, but they were childless. He gave up his successful career to pursue his dream, to own a farm. He rotated his crops, fed his farm animals, produced cheeses, milk, eggs, and other dairy products. He sold his grain at the market price without haggling. At dawn, he used to breathe in the fresh air of a new day and go to work in the fields. Then, the dam broke and all of the farms were evacuated. He and his wife escaped with the clothes on their back. Omar and his wife Sofia fondly remembered working their crops and cattle in the days before the dam broke. To the east of Omar’s farm, the barrier loomed high into the sky, stretching out as far as the eye could see to the north and the south. After they left the area for a month, Omar insisted against his wife’s better judgment that they return to their farm. Their home was a total loss. Omar and Sofia stayed in a trailer at the front of the property. Every so often, the ground would rumble. At first, Omar thought nothing of it. He knew that the new tidal forces of the moon were causing widespread destruction in most areas of the world. The authorities told Omar that it was too soon to return. Sofia agreed but stood by her husband. Despite the danger, Omar was determined to revisit his farm even if it cost him his life. Then, the ground tremors became more violent. Fissures would appear in his field. After all of his struggle, coming to grips with the aftermath of the ongoing disaster in Egypt was psychologically devastating. Omar sat down on the ground weeping uncontrollably. Sofia sat down next to him, put an arm around his shoulder, and reassuringly said,

  “Come, Omar. Let’s go back to the city.”

  Omar cried,

  “No. No. No.”

  Sometimes, the animosity of the Jazene and the Danali spaceships played out in the night sky. Omar thought he was viewing a meteor shower. When a Danali surveillance spaceship got too close to the barrier, a horde of Jazene ships were released to pursue it. An exchange of fire between the two in the distance looked like falling stars to Omar. The frequency of these skirmishes was increasing. At night, he and Sofia would be awakened to the sound of the rumbling of their house. It was hard to tell if the disturbance was in the air or underground. Omar thought he heard a buzzing or scratching sound as well. Omar left the trailer holding a shotgun. He thought the sound was coming from the ruins of his house. He had a military tactical flashlight that lit up the inside of the house. He panned the light. He saw two by four framed walls, pink insulation, tar paper house wrap, particle wood flooring, and a gaping hole in the floor where the stairs used to be. The sound seemed to be coming from down in the basement. Carefully, he placed himself on the floor next to the hole shining the flashlight inside. He saw the cracked floor of the foundation. There were broken pipes sticking up from the plumbing. Then, out of the darkness, something hit his arm. Omar dropped the flashlight which broke on the basement floor. He pulled his arm back. If felt as if it were on fire. Leaving the shotgun on the floor, he rushed back to the trailer. Sofia and Omar were panicked. The arm was beginning to swell.

  The next day Omar’s arm was still tormenting him. The pain was unbearable. Sofia pleaded,

  “Omar, please let’s go back to the city.”

  Omar steadfastly replied,

  “No, Sofia.”

  Sofia retrieved the shotgun from the ruins of their house. Omar could not lift anything with his painful arm. He sat and groaned. Sofia looked at Omar,

  “Omar, you really need to rest your arm. The desert heat will only make it worse. Let us go back to the city.”

  Omar nodded wordlessly through the pain. Sofia helped him back to the trailer. The sun was high in the mid-morning sky. Their property had just emerged from the shadow of the great barrier along the Nile. Half way to the trailer, they heard a strange noise in the sky. A Danali spaceship was flying low over the desert next to their property. They stopped and watched the ship hover over a particular spot. The noise was deafening. Omar groaned in pain. A white transport beam deposited a Danali soldier on the ground. He had a device in his hand identical to the ones confiscated by Interpol from Derek Taylor and Ahmed. The soldier aimed the device toward the ground. A wide beam emitted from the device disintegrated the desert floor above the key lock to the underground chamber. The soldier adjusted the device and inserted it into the exposed lock. Machinery engaged to retract the large door. The remaining dust fell into the chamber. The Danali spaceship transported the soldier aboard and disappeared vertically at a high rate of speed. Thick black smoke billowed out of the chamber. The smoke blotted out the sun and covered the skies. Out of the skies came billions of unleashed stinging locusts. Very rapidly from this point, the insects spread out beyond Egypt to eventually cover the whole Earth.

  Sofia and Omar ran for the trailer. They opened the trailer door, ran in, and slammed it behind them. The trailer was pounded by these foot long nightmares hitting the side of the trailer. Inside, Omar and Sofia were buffeted from side to side as the trailer rocked from the pounding. They were trapped in their home. Sofia screamed in anguish at the plague. They had each suffered additional stings in their mad dash to safety. They writhed in pain on their bed. There was no way to get any relief. Sofia could not concentrate because of her excruciating discomfort. After hours of torment, Omar contemplated suicide,

  “Sofia, I wish I were dead, this is unbearable.”

  Sofia looked at him with wild eyes,

  “Yes. Yes. We must die rather than suffer like this.”

  This same scenario played out all over the world. Hospitals were overwhelmed. The stings themselves were not life-threatening, but the pain they caused was maddening. At the pentagon, Pedro Sanchez, Major Sanders, and General Arnold all had been stung. Their privileged access to the highest military doctors mitigated their pain enough that they could still conduct their meeting. Pedro announced,

  “Our information about the epidemic locust invasion was large at first, but now the reports are getting sparse.”

  Major Sanders conjectured,

  “That is probably due to the severity of the epidemic worldwide. People have to tend to their wounds rather than supply information. My guess is that fewer reports may mean that the worst is yet to come.”

  General Arnold said,

  “Dr. Jenner is on the line. Doctor, what have you heard from the Jazene? These giant monsters appear to be coming from a repository in Egypt connected to
their underground labs. Is this their example of how to improve the Earth?”

  There was a lot of interference on the conference call. Dr. Jenner’s reply was breaking up. The group could only hear every few syllables. The war had taken its toll on the communication systems as well.

  “Dr. Jenner, could you repeat that?”

  “Yes, general. The Jazene said that the Danali are to blame for the release of the locusts.”

  Major Sanders spoke up,

  “Why did they create those creatures in the first place?”

  Dr. Jenner replied,

  “They claim that the locusts were in a secure disposal chamber as a failed experiment. The Danali unlocked the unit and released the plague before the chamber’s content could be destroyed. The locusts have a pre-programmed life span after which they will die off rapidly and stop reproducing.”

  Major Sanders asked,

  “How long is that?”

  Dr. Jenner replied, “Five months.”

  Commerce was already disrupted by the destruction and havoc caused by the erratic tidal forces from effects of the war on the moon’s orbit. The bare signs of financial recovery and adaptation amid chaos were wiped out by the terror of the locusts. All commerce halted for five months as producers and consumers alike writhed in constant pain from their stings. The supplies of the needed drugs to mitigate the pain were very low. The distribution of these drugs was reserved for the privileged few.

  Dr. Jenner had asked the Jazene to clean up the locusts. They refused to do so. They claimed that it was beyond their technology to destroy the plague. So the world suffered greatly. Maria and her team were safe in their domed sanctuary. They could see locusts hitting around the dome. The force of impact was great but the dome’s integrity held. Maria pointed up,

  “Frank, do you think the dome will crack?”

  Frank scratched his head,

  “I hope not. The only other threat I am worried about is the red reptilian creature. He might directly attack the dome.”

  Maria said,

  “The red reptilian creature left the area last week. I haven’t seen it on any of our monitors.”

  Another sanctuary from the locusts was to keep company with L and N. They were sitting on the ground at Deer Park outside of Jerusalem with a sizable crowd around them. If the locusts got too close, L or N would periodically burn the giant monsters clear of the area. Other authorities also used flame throwers as a defense, where it was safe to use them. L and N had greater precision. They could flame out a tree killing the stinging locust in the tree but not setting the tree on fire. Because of their safe zone, they attracted a lot of people seeking protection. Many of these people were stung pretty badly. Their cries and moans made Deer Park feel like the aftermath of a battlefield. But the surrounding area was beautiful. Some were not harmed at all. The giant stinging locusts avoided them as if they had some sort of repellant. There was no such chemical repellant.

  Some armed militants approached Deer Park. L stood up in alarm. Many of the suffering people moved out of the way. A man in paramilitary gear walked straight up to him. There were nose to nose, inches apart,

  “You are responsible for these stinking stinging locusts.”

  L reached out and grabbed the man by the arm,

  “No we are not.”

  The man shrugged off the clutch, stepped back, and pointed his machine gun at L,

  “Both sides of the war are responsible for either making them, or releasing them. You two were modified, augmented by them, in one their labs. That means you are one of them.”

  L calmly stated,

  “It is not true. However, you leave us no choice but to visit harm upon you because you are a real threat here and now.”

  L’s staff shot out a wide beam that encompassed the band of misfit militants. They immediately dropped their weapons and started tearing off their clothes, screaming in pain. Huge sores covered their bodies, breaking open, and oozing putrid fluids. They ran away in all directions. A sense of quiet returned to Deer Park. Those suffering from locust stings were nervous about the manner that the militants were repelled. They wondered if L and N would turn on them.

  L announced to the people assembled,

  “The locusts are not the worst, neither is the cessation of commerce, or the destruction caused by the moon and the war. These are not the worst of circumstances. I tell you, the worst is yet to come.”

  That message made those that had been feeling fairly safe, to feel much less safe. Some left the locust free environment of Deer Park, walking away slowly like zombies in a fog. They did not run. They fell to the ground, stung over and over again. In all cases, they were still alive.

  Major Baranov received significant reinforcements along the north side of Syria, outside of Damascus. The Russian troops reported hearing rumblings underground. The Jazene labs were hard at work. Based on the reports from Egypt, Major Baranov sent troops to explore caves, sinkholes, or other ways that might expose a tunnel that would lead to the underground facilities. He wanted to take the war underground since he could not penetrate their barrier. The ruptures caused by L and N had been repaired, the barrier was entirely intact again. Tank Sergeant Lobov maneuvered his vehicle over rough terrain. He ran over a hill, and then hit a patch of ground that gave way. Soldiers rushed to the hole. The tank had crushed through a metal enclosure. Major Baranov rushed to the site after receiving the news. He climbed down relieved to see that the sergeant was not hurt in the fall. Lobov reported,

  “Major, we are in a tunnel. We have sent troops in both directions to see where it leads us. This tunnel could be left over from past Syrian wars, or it could be a path to the Jazene underground labs.”

  The troops heard sounds in both directions. The further each group explored, the louder the din leading them both to believe that they were approaching Jazene activity. They heard galloping in the distance, as if a horse was loose in the tunnel.

  Sergeant Lobov ordered.

  “We need more light.”

  The light startled the horse that was not a horse. It was another product of the Jazene breeding program. It reared up on its hind legs from the blinding light letting out a lion’s roar. Lobov signaled his men to flank the beast from the left and the right. The light was dimmed so that only a shadowy outline could be seen, an offensive and defensive advantage for both sides. The soldiers approached the beast from behind. The beast had numerous tails. Each tail had biting mouths that grabbed the soldiers as they approached. The beast turned to face the men. He opened his mouth and spewed a volcanic eruption of smoke and lava directly at the men. They had no chance. They burned up instantly. Sergeant Lobov radioed Major Baranov the details of the altercation with the creature. The retreat order was given. The troops going in the other direction did not encounter any mutant horses. They reached an open door to another corridor. Slowly walking down the hall they finally reached a window where they could see into another room. The room was a corral of many beasts similar to one reported by Sergeant Lobov. The entire hallway turned out to be a series of these corrals, presumably at various stages of development and testing.

  In one of the rooms, they saw a strange rider throw something akin to a saddle onto one of the beasts and head for an opening at the other end of the corral. The rider was not human, or a morphed alien, but some sort of hybrid biped, not completely reptilian, insectoid, or humanoid. After a few minutes, the troops heard the clip clop of a trotting horse approaching their position. Soon, the horse and rider were clearly in view. They radioed Major Baranov who gave the rapid retreat order. They fired on the horse as they retreated. In response, the rider of the horse opened his mouth and vomited lava, fire, and smoke which rapidly filled the corridor. The rate of the lava flow exceeded the speed of the retreat. The troops were incinerated, screaming, as they were consumed by the fire.

  Major Baranov and company retreated back out of the opening onto the desert. Their vehicles sped away from the scene as rapidly as po
ssible. Retrenched behind a hill, the major wondered how many of these monsters were being created. Over the next week, using ground penetrating radar, and air surveillance, they mapped out a vast network of tunnels and labs that covered many square kilometers. The Jazene seemed to be building a cavalry, a lava spewing army of destruction.

  Major Baranov’s forces had problems with being stung by locusts, as did the rest of the world. They were not supplied with medical relief, so the effect was to slow down the progress of his regiment as they moved around. There were no draconian requirements on the troops. If they needed rest they had as much as they needed in their makeshift camp. One of the camp cooks decided to experiment with the nasty creatures. He set a trap to capture one. Then, the cook cut off its tail that held the venom and boiled the rest. Carefully, he peeled back the exoskeleton to see if there was any meat. Similar in color to cooked shrimp, he decided to taste it. First, he picked up some seasoning to improve the flavor. Then he chewed in his mouth trying to savor the tender morsel. He swallowed. The cook died that night, poisoned by the cooked locust.

  In Egypt, Sofia and Omar were trapped in their trailer. Sofia had to dispose of the ammunition and knives in the house for fear that Omar would despair. He was always longing for death. His pain was unbearable. He was a bit more sensitive to pain than Sofia. One day there was a knock on the trailer door. Omar exclaimed,

  “Don’t open it!”

  Sofia looked out the window,

  “It’s the woman that used to live down the road. She is holding her three year old daughter. The child looks limp in her arms.”

  “Don’t open the door, Sofia”

  Sofia argued,

  “We have to help.”

  Sofia opened the door, dragged the two inside, and slammed it shut. The woman crouched in the corner rocking her three year old. There was no noise from the child.