CICADA!, page 10
Led by flashing police cars, the severely wounded were moved to temporary field hospitals and those still open in the nearby communities. Medical personnel worked around the clock to deal with the fractured bodies and terrible burn wounds from the cicada’s chemical weapons. Volunteers in pickup trucks set up make-shift bars handing out free beer from a brewery just off Interstate 81. Fast food restaurants all along the front trucked in hot meals. Others broke out rations and had a leisurely meal and conversations about what the days to come would mean.
Many had lost family, friends, and colleagues in the cicada massacre. There would be a time for mourning and then a determined effort to return and rebuild. Everyone knew that a powerful shock had been sent through the American system. A lot would have to be done to restore the confidence in a homeland secure from danger and death.
The following morning in continuing rain, men and women started packing up their gear for the trip home or to nearby military bases. Local donut and bagel shops had brought in breakfast all along Interstate 81 as a small thank you for the hard-won battle.
Generals Dempsey and Thomas walked along the battlefront, comforting the injured in temporary hospital tents and shaking hands with those leaving. Heroic deeds by so many. Dempsey was amazed that his defensive plan had worked. Yes, the casualties were high, almost twenty percent. Yet, the number of cicada casualties was a much higher percentage. He was looking forward to getting back to his headquarters and getting a bit of shuteye before the Presidential briefing scheduled for 3:00 PM.
But then, at 11:21 AM, Mother Nature struck suddenly.
Chapter 23
Earthquakes had occurred before in Pennsylvania.
Geologists had warned that the intensive use of hydraulic fracking in the state could cause new earthquakes, just as the controversial drilling practice had done in Oklahoma, Ohio, California, and Texas. It was as though the entire Interstate 81 had become California’s San Andreas fault. The quake grew in sudden strength, intensity, and length. Chunks of the highway’s concrete pavement began to break and then sink in a yawning chasm opening, almost dead center in the road. Other parts of the highway buckled, sending the parked tractor-trailers and pick-up trucks toppling over. Soldiers and civilians ran for their lives as the tremblor grew and grew in strength. Macadam exploded into the air.
Then just as suddenly, it stopped.
With the rain still coming down in torrents, medics rushed to help the injured. At the same time, soldiers carried away the dead to makeshift morgues. Dempsey ordered more Medevac helicopters to evacuate those in the worst shape to local hospitals and military emergency rooms.
Then from the chasm, an awful sight appeared.
Streaming forth were the legions and legions of warrior cicadas viewed earlier entering the craters to the East.
It was the nightmare of Pearl Harbor and 9/11 all over again.
A surprise attack when it was least expected.
A ferocious slaughter began as the brave fighters were caught between the devastation from the cicada-caused earthquake and the murderous insects. While the earlier battle was underway, the incredible digging machine of Reaper cicadas had burrowed under the ten-mile kill zone all along the Interstate. After they had collected the dead that morning, they had quickly dug the last half-mile and opened new exits for tens of millions of fresh warrior cicadas.
Dempsey now knew that all was lost.
Chapter 24
While General Dempsey was shaking the hands of those who had fought courageously in yesterday’s battle, Veronica Starr was poised to return to the international airwaves. Her location was a far cry from the plush television studio and anchor desk she usually sat. A military helicopter had brought her and her veteran camera crew to the outskirts of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Scranton had become nationally famous because of a popular television series. Billboards promoted the local tour of long-abandoned coal mines. And there was a heavy smell of coal smoke in the air, no doubt fueled by the smoldering remains of the massive firestorm.
Dempsey was to be applauded for the devastating defensive warfare he had deployed. But the price in both human life and property destruction was immense. The one-day body count was the greatest in recent American history. Over 21,000 military, law enforcement, and civilians had been killed along the Interstate battlefront. Thousands more had been injured by the chemical attacks of the cicadas, one of America’s bloodiest days that survivors would remember and honor for decades to come.
Yet tens of millions of cicadas had died. With the cicadas in apparent retreat, she had prodded and persuaded General Dempsey to let her broadcast the good news live from the front. The nation was desperately seeking a morale boost after weeks of horrible deaths and mass evacuations.
Veronica’s impromptu studio was based in the temporarily closed Anthracite Amusement Park a few miles from Interstate 81. It was an old-fashioned amusement park that still had free admission and allowed families to bring in food and beverages to eat at picnic tables throughout the facility. For just a few dollars, you could still ride a classic wooden roller coaster or enjoy the kiddie rides, including the pioneer railroad, bumper cars, and the ever-popular carousel. A Ferris wheel dominated the landscape that was situated just behind a haunted house.
Her stage was just inside the Funhouse Magic Smoke and Mirrors ride. The family that owned the park had generously turned the electrical power on in that section of the park, so she had the juice to film and send out her newsfeed. Veronica would enjoy the largest audience ever as all the international outlets and the surviving traditional and online media would pick it up across the nation. Everyone was anxious to hear firsthand the news of the battle’s outcome.
A relentless rain poured from the darkening skies. The front of the Funhouse Magic Smoke and Mirrors building was paved and angled for the water to run off away from the electrical cords that snaked around the stage. In her makeshift studio, she had assembled some weary soldiers and civilians from the battle.
“This is Veronica Starr reporting from the Anthracite Amusement Park just outside of Scranton, Pennsylvania. We are about two miles from Interstate 81, where yesterday Americans from all walks of life united in an extraordinary battle to defend their country from the advance of hundreds of millions of murderous cicadas.
Starr went on to recount the stages of Inferno and the systematic use of weaponry to create the killing firestorm.
She then introduced some of those who had done battle. With her training, she coached them in retelling their stories of carnage and heroism.
They spoke of the face-to-face firefight with the nine-foot cicada warriors and the heroic deaths of so many of their comrades. Gripping stories of the cicada battle came from war-hardened veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan and first-time combatants. Drone footage of the cicada’s removal of their dead and the extraordinary wing salute and retreat into craters ended the broadcast.
Starr was just saying goodbye to the fighters when the stage started shaking violently. One of the mounted lights toppled over, exploding in a burst of glass, smoke, and sparks. A camera rolled down the stage knocking over tables and chairs and sending the crew and interviewees to the ground. Despite the rain, Veronica moved to get everyone away from the shaking building and more to the park's center.
But suddenly, the opening of a crater blocked her movement. Giant cicadas rapidly emerged from its bottom and singled out the humans for an attack. Starr still carried in her purse the powerful handgun her husband had given her along with five ammunition clips. An excellent markswoman in her own right, she fired off a few rounds aiming for the heads of the nearest cicadas. Two heads exploded, but that drew the angry attention of five other cicadas to her location.
Veronica ran back into the Funhouse Magic Smoke and Mirrors building with the five giant insects hot on her heels. Her volley of gunfire took down one more of the bugs, and then she headed deeper into the ride. She found the control switch and turned it on, bathing the building in multi-colored lights, smoke, and revolving mirrors.
Her reflection on a dozen of rotating mirrors confused the cicadas.
They spewed their acidic venom on the glass, thinking it was her. While they did so, Veronica picked off two more of the cicada attackers. She raced to the furthest corner of the building. The two remaining cicadas went crazy, smashing every mirror and wall. Their powerful sense of smell tracked Veronica’s movement. One of the bugs fired a long stream of the burning venom striking the end of Veronica’s gun. A few painful droplets of the acid hit her skin, and she frantically dropped the gun, watching it melt.
Defenseless she huddled behind a desk. The cicadas approached her from each end, cutting off any possible escape. They reared their sharp beaks for a final attack.
Veronica’s life passed before her eyes knowing this was the end. She prayed that her husband Ben was safe. Then suddenly, the cicadas stood erect and looked at one another as though they were sharing a message. They then turned around and raced for the exit. Dumbfounded, Starr waited a few minutes and then followed them. As she reached the exit, she noticed that the stormy skies were turning even darker.
Looking up, she was stunned by the inky blackness spreading across the sky.
Chapter 25
Seventy-two hours earlier
Professor Byrdbrane sipped his piña colada, housed in a pineapple shell, as he lounged on the rim of the infinity pool at the Mountainview Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The pool's edge overlooked the golf course, and he saw some of his staff approaching the green. Others were frolicking in the pool behind him, burning off the stress of their intense work shift.
The Mountainview world-class resort, established in 1922, is nestled in the Allegheny Mountains. Having hosted dozens of Presidents, it has become a destination point for influential and upscale tourists from across the globe. Because of its cooler summer climate, NFL football teams even made it their preseason work-out camp. Professor Byrdbrane was a co-owner of the resort.
He had commandeered the resort’s facilities for his ambitious bird operation. He had flown in nine hundred staff members on chartered planes into the nearby Green Valley Airport. To accommodate the needs of his staff, he had volunteered to pay triple overtime to the resort staff that could work the facility over the next five days.
With the importance of his mission, General Dempsey had ringed the resort with a battalion of hardened soldiers backed by tanks and artillery pieces. The resort was walled off from both the fleeing truck and car traffic down Route 64 and the approaching cicadas, which were still a few hundred miles away.
To implement his carefully timed strategy, the Professor divided his staff into three shifts so that the operation could continue non-stop. During the staff’s downtime to recharge their batteries, they could enjoy both the outdoor and indoor pools, the many restaurants, horseback riding, tennis, croquet, bowling, hiking, and golf. The luxurious sleeping accommodations would ensure a well-rested team.
Byrdbrane tapped into the state-of-the-art communications of the Alpha firm that used the resort's basement for its corporate work. The Professor established one communication center in the massive basement hall. This center would coordinate the first two phases of his bird plan – the rising and organizing of the given bird species. The third phase of the plan – the attack – would be launched from deep underground in case the cicadas were able to reach the grounds.
For decades, the resort kept a top-secret building nestled below its eleven thousand acres. In case of a nuclear Armageddon occurring, a mammoth bunker had been constructed to provide one of three nearby failsafe locations for the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Green Valley airstrip, the nearby Amtrak station, and Interstates 81 and 64 provided rapid evacuation from the nation’s capital.
The emergency cold war fallout shelter looked more like a dormitory you would see at a university or seminary. It was no-frills housing that allowed only the bare necessities to survive a max of sixty days. Space was a premium since the bunker had to provide both living and working space for over a thousand occupants. These included the Representatives, Senators, and select Congressional staff. The bunker had been designed to withstand a nuclear blast some fifteen to thirty miles away. It was buried seven hundred twenty feet below a hillside and was constructed when the resort expanded. A twenty-five-ton blast door provided one of the three entrances to the secret Congressional hideaway. The complex had now become a relic of the past as precision-guided nuclear-tipped missiles made it obsolete. The once-secret bunker was now open daily to guests and visitors for tours.
Professor Byrdbrane’s state-of-the-art equipment put the bridge of the Starship Constellation to shame. Over three hundred workstations were manned by Byrdbrane’s talented staff. Consoles like those for gaming devices were the centerpieces of each work unit. Each staff member was a prolific gamer whose hands moved in a blur over the console. The Professor had charged each of them with the operation and control of a certain number of bird drones. Beside each console was the latest 4-D equipment.
Each viewing device could be synced to the computer console and a giant plasma screen on the Center’s wall to provide real-time imagery of the bird drones and their success in guiding the various bird species to their intended targets. The professor’s team had examined the territory controlled by the cicadas and mapped fifty-mile square grids for bird targeting. His staff had analyzed the speed patterns of each bird group to determine the time of arrival at each of the grids. The Professor decided that waves of attack would be preferable to allow maximum flexibility for guiding the massive bird clusters and subsequent retargeting.
Professor Byrdbrane, in large part due to his millions of dollars in contributions, was the Honorary Chairman of the International Bird Federation. Among his most valued treasures was an original “Birds of America” that John James Audubon had meticulously painted. The incredible collection of 435 life-size prints had brought him hours and hours of viewing pleasure.
Forty-eight hours earlier, he had asked the Presidents of the State Chapters to meet in an emergency session to help him launch the bird attack on the cicadas. Regrettably, he had misled these leaders in terms of the nature of his plan, as they would no doubt fight any effort to send hundreds of millions of birds to inevitable deaths.
Instead, he presented an ambitious plan to divert the birds from their current nesting areas to the North, South, and West regions where they would be safe from the immediate cicada path. He won them over and the permission to mobilize their national online action army of hundreds of thousands of dedicated bird watchers and advocates.
A key subset of these bird lovers was those who routinely participated in the century-old Christmas bird count. In 1900 Frank Chapman launched the first count to counter the horrific annual Christmas hunt where hunters competed to kill as many birds as possible. Now more than a century later, tens of thousands of volunteer counters committed time during three weeks from December 14th to January 5th. These volunteers provided an annual snapshot of how many beautiful birds occupied a given area of territory.
For his drones to be successful, he needed to get as many birds as possible up in the air to pick up the drone’s scent. The bird enthusiasts would be notified by email or text when the bird drones were overhead. They were tasked to make as much noise as possible to spook the birds in the surrounding areas and get them off the ground. Air horns, bells, whistles, and loudspeakers were the instruments of choice. Activists were spread out along the flyways with heavy concentrations on wildlife refuges, farms, and beaches where computer programs and satellite photos had detected large gatherings of birds. They were aided by federal and state staff of agencies that oversaw wildlife throughout the nation.
The emergency bunker now provided all the necessary computers and related equipment to launch the Professor’s attack plan.
General Dempsey successfully got the needed air tanker fleets moving East quickly carrying the Prey chemical. Using the Cleveland International Airport and Chicago’s O’Hare, hundreds of aerial tankers had flown 24/7 to load and drop the Prey chemical.
Breweries within a 90-mile radius had converted their facilities to massive mixing bowls for the deadly brew. The Professor’s formula only required a small amount of the actual Prey chemical combined with water.
It just took time to mix.
Time to ship.
Time to load, and then time for the flying tankers to drop their chemical cargo on the millions of cicadas heading West and South.
Fortunately, there has been a strong wind pattern with blowing gusts more than thirty miles per hour all along the eastern United States. This had allowed the Prey chemical to spread rapidly and be deposited on the unsuspecting insects below.
Refreshed from his dip in the pool, Professor Byrdbrane became a man possessed, in constant motion. He had been in communication with leading meteorologists in cities along the battlefront. Together they closely monitored the weather, airspeed, wind direction, and cloud formations. Tankers were directed accordingly to let Mother Nature help spread the Prey rain as wide as possible. The tankers had been flying now 24/7 for four days. Below, General Dempsey had assembled the most incredible defensive line in American history. No doubt, the brave men and women below were puzzled and surprised to see the giant tankers flying over them and returning.
The Professor went to a special computer console and established a video link with his staff at his Finger Lakes warehouse and at the flyways across the nation. He directed them to open the massive ceilings of the various buildings to expose his drones to the sunlight. He sent the final commands to fire up the engines of the bird drones, knowing it would take some time for the first wave to be assembled and reach the front line of the cicada army.
Many had lost family, friends, and colleagues in the cicada massacre. There would be a time for mourning and then a determined effort to return and rebuild. Everyone knew that a powerful shock had been sent through the American system. A lot would have to be done to restore the confidence in a homeland secure from danger and death.
The following morning in continuing rain, men and women started packing up their gear for the trip home or to nearby military bases. Local donut and bagel shops had brought in breakfast all along Interstate 81 as a small thank you for the hard-won battle.
Generals Dempsey and Thomas walked along the battlefront, comforting the injured in temporary hospital tents and shaking hands with those leaving. Heroic deeds by so many. Dempsey was amazed that his defensive plan had worked. Yes, the casualties were high, almost twenty percent. Yet, the number of cicada casualties was a much higher percentage. He was looking forward to getting back to his headquarters and getting a bit of shuteye before the Presidential briefing scheduled for 3:00 PM.
But then, at 11:21 AM, Mother Nature struck suddenly.
Chapter 23
Earthquakes had occurred before in Pennsylvania.
Geologists had warned that the intensive use of hydraulic fracking in the state could cause new earthquakes, just as the controversial drilling practice had done in Oklahoma, Ohio, California, and Texas. It was as though the entire Interstate 81 had become California’s San Andreas fault. The quake grew in sudden strength, intensity, and length. Chunks of the highway’s concrete pavement began to break and then sink in a yawning chasm opening, almost dead center in the road. Other parts of the highway buckled, sending the parked tractor-trailers and pick-up trucks toppling over. Soldiers and civilians ran for their lives as the tremblor grew and grew in strength. Macadam exploded into the air.
Then just as suddenly, it stopped.
With the rain still coming down in torrents, medics rushed to help the injured. At the same time, soldiers carried away the dead to makeshift morgues. Dempsey ordered more Medevac helicopters to evacuate those in the worst shape to local hospitals and military emergency rooms.
Then from the chasm, an awful sight appeared.
Streaming forth were the legions and legions of warrior cicadas viewed earlier entering the craters to the East.
It was the nightmare of Pearl Harbor and 9/11 all over again.
A surprise attack when it was least expected.
A ferocious slaughter began as the brave fighters were caught between the devastation from the cicada-caused earthquake and the murderous insects. While the earlier battle was underway, the incredible digging machine of Reaper cicadas had burrowed under the ten-mile kill zone all along the Interstate. After they had collected the dead that morning, they had quickly dug the last half-mile and opened new exits for tens of millions of fresh warrior cicadas.
Dempsey now knew that all was lost.
Chapter 24
While General Dempsey was shaking the hands of those who had fought courageously in yesterday’s battle, Veronica Starr was poised to return to the international airwaves. Her location was a far cry from the plush television studio and anchor desk she usually sat. A military helicopter had brought her and her veteran camera crew to the outskirts of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Scranton had become nationally famous because of a popular television series. Billboards promoted the local tour of long-abandoned coal mines. And there was a heavy smell of coal smoke in the air, no doubt fueled by the smoldering remains of the massive firestorm.
Dempsey was to be applauded for the devastating defensive warfare he had deployed. But the price in both human life and property destruction was immense. The one-day body count was the greatest in recent American history. Over 21,000 military, law enforcement, and civilians had been killed along the Interstate battlefront. Thousands more had been injured by the chemical attacks of the cicadas, one of America’s bloodiest days that survivors would remember and honor for decades to come.
Yet tens of millions of cicadas had died. With the cicadas in apparent retreat, she had prodded and persuaded General Dempsey to let her broadcast the good news live from the front. The nation was desperately seeking a morale boost after weeks of horrible deaths and mass evacuations.
Veronica’s impromptu studio was based in the temporarily closed Anthracite Amusement Park a few miles from Interstate 81. It was an old-fashioned amusement park that still had free admission and allowed families to bring in food and beverages to eat at picnic tables throughout the facility. For just a few dollars, you could still ride a classic wooden roller coaster or enjoy the kiddie rides, including the pioneer railroad, bumper cars, and the ever-popular carousel. A Ferris wheel dominated the landscape that was situated just behind a haunted house.
Her stage was just inside the Funhouse Magic Smoke and Mirrors ride. The family that owned the park had generously turned the electrical power on in that section of the park, so she had the juice to film and send out her newsfeed. Veronica would enjoy the largest audience ever as all the international outlets and the surviving traditional and online media would pick it up across the nation. Everyone was anxious to hear firsthand the news of the battle’s outcome.
A relentless rain poured from the darkening skies. The front of the Funhouse Magic Smoke and Mirrors building was paved and angled for the water to run off away from the electrical cords that snaked around the stage. In her makeshift studio, she had assembled some weary soldiers and civilians from the battle.
“This is Veronica Starr reporting from the Anthracite Amusement Park just outside of Scranton, Pennsylvania. We are about two miles from Interstate 81, where yesterday Americans from all walks of life united in an extraordinary battle to defend their country from the advance of hundreds of millions of murderous cicadas.
Starr went on to recount the stages of Inferno and the systematic use of weaponry to create the killing firestorm.
She then introduced some of those who had done battle. With her training, she coached them in retelling their stories of carnage and heroism.
They spoke of the face-to-face firefight with the nine-foot cicada warriors and the heroic deaths of so many of their comrades. Gripping stories of the cicada battle came from war-hardened veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan and first-time combatants. Drone footage of the cicada’s removal of their dead and the extraordinary wing salute and retreat into craters ended the broadcast.
Starr was just saying goodbye to the fighters when the stage started shaking violently. One of the mounted lights toppled over, exploding in a burst of glass, smoke, and sparks. A camera rolled down the stage knocking over tables and chairs and sending the crew and interviewees to the ground. Despite the rain, Veronica moved to get everyone away from the shaking building and more to the park's center.
But suddenly, the opening of a crater blocked her movement. Giant cicadas rapidly emerged from its bottom and singled out the humans for an attack. Starr still carried in her purse the powerful handgun her husband had given her along with five ammunition clips. An excellent markswoman in her own right, she fired off a few rounds aiming for the heads of the nearest cicadas. Two heads exploded, but that drew the angry attention of five other cicadas to her location.
Veronica ran back into the Funhouse Magic Smoke and Mirrors building with the five giant insects hot on her heels. Her volley of gunfire took down one more of the bugs, and then she headed deeper into the ride. She found the control switch and turned it on, bathing the building in multi-colored lights, smoke, and revolving mirrors.
Her reflection on a dozen of rotating mirrors confused the cicadas.
They spewed their acidic venom on the glass, thinking it was her. While they did so, Veronica picked off two more of the cicada attackers. She raced to the furthest corner of the building. The two remaining cicadas went crazy, smashing every mirror and wall. Their powerful sense of smell tracked Veronica’s movement. One of the bugs fired a long stream of the burning venom striking the end of Veronica’s gun. A few painful droplets of the acid hit her skin, and she frantically dropped the gun, watching it melt.
Defenseless she huddled behind a desk. The cicadas approached her from each end, cutting off any possible escape. They reared their sharp beaks for a final attack.
Veronica’s life passed before her eyes knowing this was the end. She prayed that her husband Ben was safe. Then suddenly, the cicadas stood erect and looked at one another as though they were sharing a message. They then turned around and raced for the exit. Dumbfounded, Starr waited a few minutes and then followed them. As she reached the exit, she noticed that the stormy skies were turning even darker.
Looking up, she was stunned by the inky blackness spreading across the sky.
Chapter 25
Seventy-two hours earlier
Professor Byrdbrane sipped his piña colada, housed in a pineapple shell, as he lounged on the rim of the infinity pool at the Mountainview Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The pool's edge overlooked the golf course, and he saw some of his staff approaching the green. Others were frolicking in the pool behind him, burning off the stress of their intense work shift.
The Mountainview world-class resort, established in 1922, is nestled in the Allegheny Mountains. Having hosted dozens of Presidents, it has become a destination point for influential and upscale tourists from across the globe. Because of its cooler summer climate, NFL football teams even made it their preseason work-out camp. Professor Byrdbrane was a co-owner of the resort.
He had commandeered the resort’s facilities for his ambitious bird operation. He had flown in nine hundred staff members on chartered planes into the nearby Green Valley Airport. To accommodate the needs of his staff, he had volunteered to pay triple overtime to the resort staff that could work the facility over the next five days.
With the importance of his mission, General Dempsey had ringed the resort with a battalion of hardened soldiers backed by tanks and artillery pieces. The resort was walled off from both the fleeing truck and car traffic down Route 64 and the approaching cicadas, which were still a few hundred miles away.
To implement his carefully timed strategy, the Professor divided his staff into three shifts so that the operation could continue non-stop. During the staff’s downtime to recharge their batteries, they could enjoy both the outdoor and indoor pools, the many restaurants, horseback riding, tennis, croquet, bowling, hiking, and golf. The luxurious sleeping accommodations would ensure a well-rested team.
Byrdbrane tapped into the state-of-the-art communications of the Alpha firm that used the resort's basement for its corporate work. The Professor established one communication center in the massive basement hall. This center would coordinate the first two phases of his bird plan – the rising and organizing of the given bird species. The third phase of the plan – the attack – would be launched from deep underground in case the cicadas were able to reach the grounds.
For decades, the resort kept a top-secret building nestled below its eleven thousand acres. In case of a nuclear Armageddon occurring, a mammoth bunker had been constructed to provide one of three nearby failsafe locations for the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Green Valley airstrip, the nearby Amtrak station, and Interstates 81 and 64 provided rapid evacuation from the nation’s capital.
The emergency cold war fallout shelter looked more like a dormitory you would see at a university or seminary. It was no-frills housing that allowed only the bare necessities to survive a max of sixty days. Space was a premium since the bunker had to provide both living and working space for over a thousand occupants. These included the Representatives, Senators, and select Congressional staff. The bunker had been designed to withstand a nuclear blast some fifteen to thirty miles away. It was buried seven hundred twenty feet below a hillside and was constructed when the resort expanded. A twenty-five-ton blast door provided one of the three entrances to the secret Congressional hideaway. The complex had now become a relic of the past as precision-guided nuclear-tipped missiles made it obsolete. The once-secret bunker was now open daily to guests and visitors for tours.
Professor Byrdbrane’s state-of-the-art equipment put the bridge of the Starship Constellation to shame. Over three hundred workstations were manned by Byrdbrane’s talented staff. Consoles like those for gaming devices were the centerpieces of each work unit. Each staff member was a prolific gamer whose hands moved in a blur over the console. The Professor had charged each of them with the operation and control of a certain number of bird drones. Beside each console was the latest 4-D equipment.
Each viewing device could be synced to the computer console and a giant plasma screen on the Center’s wall to provide real-time imagery of the bird drones and their success in guiding the various bird species to their intended targets. The professor’s team had examined the territory controlled by the cicadas and mapped fifty-mile square grids for bird targeting. His staff had analyzed the speed patterns of each bird group to determine the time of arrival at each of the grids. The Professor decided that waves of attack would be preferable to allow maximum flexibility for guiding the massive bird clusters and subsequent retargeting.
Professor Byrdbrane, in large part due to his millions of dollars in contributions, was the Honorary Chairman of the International Bird Federation. Among his most valued treasures was an original “Birds of America” that John James Audubon had meticulously painted. The incredible collection of 435 life-size prints had brought him hours and hours of viewing pleasure.
Forty-eight hours earlier, he had asked the Presidents of the State Chapters to meet in an emergency session to help him launch the bird attack on the cicadas. Regrettably, he had misled these leaders in terms of the nature of his plan, as they would no doubt fight any effort to send hundreds of millions of birds to inevitable deaths.
Instead, he presented an ambitious plan to divert the birds from their current nesting areas to the North, South, and West regions where they would be safe from the immediate cicada path. He won them over and the permission to mobilize their national online action army of hundreds of thousands of dedicated bird watchers and advocates.
A key subset of these bird lovers was those who routinely participated in the century-old Christmas bird count. In 1900 Frank Chapman launched the first count to counter the horrific annual Christmas hunt where hunters competed to kill as many birds as possible. Now more than a century later, tens of thousands of volunteer counters committed time during three weeks from December 14th to January 5th. These volunteers provided an annual snapshot of how many beautiful birds occupied a given area of territory.
For his drones to be successful, he needed to get as many birds as possible up in the air to pick up the drone’s scent. The bird enthusiasts would be notified by email or text when the bird drones were overhead. They were tasked to make as much noise as possible to spook the birds in the surrounding areas and get them off the ground. Air horns, bells, whistles, and loudspeakers were the instruments of choice. Activists were spread out along the flyways with heavy concentrations on wildlife refuges, farms, and beaches where computer programs and satellite photos had detected large gatherings of birds. They were aided by federal and state staff of agencies that oversaw wildlife throughout the nation.
The emergency bunker now provided all the necessary computers and related equipment to launch the Professor’s attack plan.
General Dempsey successfully got the needed air tanker fleets moving East quickly carrying the Prey chemical. Using the Cleveland International Airport and Chicago’s O’Hare, hundreds of aerial tankers had flown 24/7 to load and drop the Prey chemical.
Breweries within a 90-mile radius had converted their facilities to massive mixing bowls for the deadly brew. The Professor’s formula only required a small amount of the actual Prey chemical combined with water.
It just took time to mix.
Time to ship.
Time to load, and then time for the flying tankers to drop their chemical cargo on the millions of cicadas heading West and South.
Fortunately, there has been a strong wind pattern with blowing gusts more than thirty miles per hour all along the eastern United States. This had allowed the Prey chemical to spread rapidly and be deposited on the unsuspecting insects below.
Refreshed from his dip in the pool, Professor Byrdbrane became a man possessed, in constant motion. He had been in communication with leading meteorologists in cities along the battlefront. Together they closely monitored the weather, airspeed, wind direction, and cloud formations. Tankers were directed accordingly to let Mother Nature help spread the Prey rain as wide as possible. The tankers had been flying now 24/7 for four days. Below, General Dempsey had assembled the most incredible defensive line in American history. No doubt, the brave men and women below were puzzled and surprised to see the giant tankers flying over them and returning.
The Professor went to a special computer console and established a video link with his staff at his Finger Lakes warehouse and at the flyways across the nation. He directed them to open the massive ceilings of the various buildings to expose his drones to the sunlight. He sent the final commands to fire up the engines of the bird drones, knowing it would take some time for the first wave to be assembled and reach the front line of the cicada army.
