‘Hadn’t realised it was that many.’ It was Bill Jenkins’ voice again, now subdued. ‘Must have heard about most of ’em, but when you see it all together…’
‘Two-thirds of these incidents have been during the past twenty-four hours,’ Evan stated. He referred to a paper in front of him. ‘The known death toll is almost 150 though there may be more. Casualties in hospital — well, at least three times that figure. You’ll notice two things about this map. First, the location of the disused school where Captain Archer here first encountered the inserts.’
He tapped the paper with his pencil. It was dead in the centre. All the other incidents were scattered around it like orbiting planets.
‘Second, I’d like you to take note of the colours. Mostly blue ink, which means only beetles have been reported at that site. But quite a good selection of red all the same, indicating these snakes or worms. Bloodworms, I think is the accepted expression. Captain Archer?’
Guv nodded. ‘Were beetles reported with them in every case?’ he asked.
‘Every single one,’ Evan confirmed. ''Bloodworms have never been seen without beetles in attendance. Not so far, at any rate. Well, that covers the locations. Now, if you don’t mind, we’ll move onto the creatures themselves. Mary, I think it’s time for the slides.’ i have some slides that I took,’ Mary explained briefly, ‘but before I show them to you on the screen I’d like Guy to look at one of them over here.’
On a side table was a glass-topped cabinet of the type used for viewing transparencies. Mary switched on the lamp and placed a single 35mm slide on the illuminated surface, inviting him to examine it. From her handbag she also produced a magnifying glass, but he waved it aside.
i’ve a particular reason for wanting Guy to see it first,’ she said, and her voice sounded tired. Unusually fiat, in fact. ‘Guy, can you tell us what it is? D’you recognise it?’ ‘Of course.’ The maggot itself was very clear across the centre of the frame, though the background was less identifiable, it’s a larva like the one Tony and I dug out of that piece of timber.’
‘You’re sure?
Tm not likely to forget it. I’d say it’s identical.’
‘Right. Thank you, Guy.’ She picked up the slide, then crossed to the projector, which was on a stand at the far side of the room. ‘I’m now going to put the same slide on the screen to let everyone see it. Could somebody turn the lights off, please?’
The lady from the DoE found the switches, while Evan lowered the Venetian blinds over the windows. An exclamation of disgust came from Bill Jenkins as the slide appeared on the screen, enlarged to about four feet high and five wide.
‘No!’ said Guy, his mind refusing to accept what he saw.
It was the same picture, no doubt about that, but now he could identify the background detail. That dark patch was part of a police uniform. Two or three beetles had been crawling over it when the photograph was taken, though slightly out of focus, and a little to one side lay a fallen torch, still switched on. And that meant that the maggot.. the worm…
Oh Christ, no!
She went on showing one picture after the next until he could no longer deny the truth to himself. What he’d thought of as a small larva, a maggot, was in fact a picture of one of the large, snake-like creatures: small or large, they were identical!
‘Well, Guy?’
He nodded, aware that every eye in the room was on him. ‘What d’you expect me to say? They’re the same, aren’t they? Our bloodworm of yesterday morning and the big worms we’ve been calling snakes — there’s no difference, other than size. Has Tony seen these pictures?’
‘I went to the hospital this morning with a pocket slide viewer. He couldn’t believe it.’ Mary collected up the slides and returned them to her box. ‘He’s had a fever, by the way, and they’re running more blood tests. One thing he said: if the big ones are also larvae, what sort of beetles do they produce?’
Her voice betrayed an undisguised tremor of fear. She looked around the. table but no one dared to answer. Probably, Guy thought dully, no one even dared think the unthinkable. Giant beetles of a corresponding size couldn’t possibly exist, could they? Other than in late-night SF movies, which were pure fantasy anyway.
‘What we really need, if you’ll excuse me saying so,’ Mary’s entomologist friend spoke up for the first time, ‘are a few specimens that we can study. It would take time, of course, to piece together the whole picture. We’d need to observe them over several months.’
‘If we live that long,’ Guy put in bluntly.
‘Surely we’ve no need to be quite so pessimistic,’ said the lady from the DoE. ‘Once we’ve established our objectives, and I mean realistic objectives—’
‘I doubt if the beetles will wait that long,’ Guy interrupted her. He pushed back his chair and strode over to the map. ‘Look, here’s the school where they first appeared not all that many weeks ago. Now they cover this entire area and they’re still spreading, they’re still reproducing, and they seem to have no natural enemies to limit their population growth.’
‘Now you’re exaggerating!’ she protested.
‘I’m not so sure,’ Bill Jenkins joined in doubtfully. ‘On the evidence of that map..’
‘Dr Owen, what do you think?’ Guy asked the greyhaired scientist. ‘I say the beetle population could double in size every twenty-four hours.’
‘Possible, of course,’ the entomologist said cautiously. ‘Though highly unusual with timber pests and in this climate. We do need more evidence.’
‘We need,’ Guy declared, letting himself go now the bit was between bis teeth, ‘an immediate programme of inspection and treatment of all public buildings, starting with schools and hospitals; a public information campaign for all householders and shopkeepers warning them what to look for on their own premises and what to do if they find anything; the general advice that children should be sent to stay with friends and relations outside London until the scare is over; free tips on which are the most suitable insecticides to use, and how—’
‘People will panic,’ the lady from the DoE said.
‘No, Guy’s right,’ Bill Jenkins supported him. ‘Though I’m not sure about the practicalities, not with our present staffing levels.’
‘A scientific study of the beetles and bloodworms is essential,’ Dr Owen emphasised, flushing with annoyance. ‘You’ll get nowhere without it. Somehow we must get more specimens. Specially the giants.’
‘Today,’ Guy agreed, accepting his challenge. ‘If I can.’ ‘Ladies and gentlemen, please!’ Evan knocked sharply on the table. ‘Can we have a little order? I propose we take these suggestions one by one and attempt to reach some conclusions. First the scientific requirements, 1 think. Then the danger to the public and what recommendations we feel we should make.’
Before he could continue, the telephone in the comer began to ring. Excusing himself, Evan went over to answer it. When he came back to the table he seemed visibly shaken.
i’m sorry to say I have some very distressing news for you,’ he announced, obviously struggling to control his feelings, i’ve been in the force for a long time now, but I don’t think ever before I’ve… Well, we’ve been informed, ladies and gentlemen, that half an hour ago several large bloodworms appeared on the platforms of Link Lane underground station. Being lunchtime, it was pretty crowded, and though we’ve no casualty figures yet, I’m afraid they’re expected to be very high.’
There was a shocked silence.
‘Beetles?’ Guy asked. Link Lane was the nearest mix station to his own office; many of the staff used it.
‘Beetles as well,’ Evan confirmed, ‘hundreds of them, Guy. A massacre, that was the word they used. A bloody massacre.’