Battle of the Beetles

by M. G. Leonard

  When I next see Humphrey, Pickering thought, I’m going to thump him really hard and give him a dead arm. He felt a bit better.

  There was a noise outside the cells, voices. Whoever was in the cell next door started banging on the door and shouting to be let out.

  Pickering sprang up. Perhaps it was Lucretia Cutter, finally come to get him. He arranged his face into what he hoped was a winning smile and walked to the cell door, expecting it to slide open. When it didn’t, he pressed his face up to the little window.

  Mawling’s chair was empty. There was no one there.

  ‘I must be going mad!’ Pickering muttered.

  ‘You were already mad,’ came Humphrey’s gruff voice.

  Pickering turned his head, trying to look to his left, but he couldn’t see round as far as the cell next door. ‘Humphrey, is that you?’

  ‘Who else is it going to be, you thickie?’

  Hearing Humphrey’s voice cheered Pickering up. ‘We won’t have to stay much longer in these cells,’ he said. ‘I’m sure Lucretia Cutter will come and get us out as soon as she learns we’re here.’

  ‘I don’t mind it in here,’ Humphrey sniffed. ‘It’s better than being out there with the spiders and the snakes.’

  ‘But don’t you want to get our money?’

  ‘I’m beginning to think this is way too much effort for a bunch of money,’ Humphrey harrumphed. ‘I’ve had my peanuts bitten by beetles, my front teeth knocked out by monkeys, and I haven’t eaten a pie in months. I want to go home.’ He sighed. ‘If we’d ignored Lucretia Cutter when she’d come to our front door with a handful of dead beetles, we’d still have the Emporium.’

  ‘No, we wouldn’t,’ Pickering replied. ‘The council was going to throw us out, remember?’

  ‘That was your fault for writing to them,’ Humphrey grumbled.

  ‘I think you’ll find you wrote to them too,’ Pickering snapped back.

  Humphrey fell silent.

  ‘Don’t get downhearted, Humpty. We’ll get the half a million pounds Lucretia Cutter owes us, fly home first class and buy a new place to live – we might even be able to find one above a shop.’

  ‘I thought you were going to marry Lucretia Cutter and live with her?’

  ‘Oh, well, err . . . um, obviously, I do love her . . .’ It hadn’t occurred to Pickering that if he married Lucretia Cutter he’d have to live with her. He looked at the walls of the cell. He wasn’t keen on living in the jungle.

  ‘Sorry, I thought for a minute there, you were saying you and I should live together when we get back home.’

  ‘What?’ Pickering screeched out a high peal of forced laughter. ‘Why would I do that? I mean, we hate each other!’ He paused. ‘Don’t we?’

  ‘Yeah. I hate you,’ Humphrey said, moving away from the cell door. ‘I’m going to sleep. Night-night.’

  ‘Oh, right, OK.’ Pickering turned and looked at his roll mat, then dragged it over to the wall beside Humphrey’s cell. ‘Sweet dreams,’ he called out as he pulled the blanket over himself.

  ‘Weirdo,’ Humphrey called back.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Team Beetle

  Darkus closed his eyes, but he couldn’t sleep. Images of an injured Bertolt stumbling through the forest at night, and his father’s concerned face, floated into his head. All the people that he cared about were in this Biome, but he didn’t know where they were.

  Bertolt cried out his name, and then Virginia’s. He was searching for them, but they had left him behind. ‘Darkus! Virginia! Are you there?’

  Darkus blinked open his eyes. He must have drifted off. He’d dreamt that he could hear Bertolt’s voice.

  ‘Darkus? Can you hear me?’

  He sat bolt upright. His movement triggered a sensor, and the lights came up. Virginia stirred beside him on the floor.

  ‘Virginia,’ he shook her, ‘wake up. I thought I heard Bertolt’s voice.’

  Virginia scrambled on to her knees, pulling the square device from her pocket. She pressed a tiny button on the top and spoke into it. ‘Bertolt, is that you?’

  ‘Yes, Virginia, I’m here.’

  ‘We’ve got Novak,’ Virginia said.

  ‘I know, I can see you on the security cameras,’ Bertolt’s voice came out of the device.

  ‘Where are you?’ Darkus asked, grabbing it.

  ‘We’re in the security dome,’ Bertolt replied.

  ‘Is Uncle Max there?’

  ‘We’re all here.’ Uncle Max’s voice came through the device and Darkus felt so relieved that he thought for a second he might cry.

  ‘We hid in a maintenance tunnel until Lucretia Cutter sent Craven and Dankish outside and then we broke in,’ Uncle Max said.

  Bertolt’s voice came back on. ‘It took me a bit longer than I thought to hack the comms device, sorry about that.’

  ‘Darkus? Virginia? What’s going on?’ Novak’s voice came through the air vent. ‘Is everything OK?’

  ‘Get ready, Novak,’ Virginia said into the grate. ‘We’re about to escape.’

  ‘Listen to me,’ Bertolt said. ‘I can open the cell doors, but I don’t know which one is which, so I’m going to have to open all of them at once. You need to go and stand at your cell door and get ready to run. There are six cells, one is empty, but the ones to the left of Novak have an angry beetle man, Pickering, and then Humphrey in them. You don’t want to get caught by any of them.’

  ‘Can you see Mawling?’

  ‘Yes, he’s sleeping.’

  ‘Darkus, listen.’ It was Emma Lamb’s voice. ‘Instead of heading towards Mawling, and the way you came in, you need to go right, the other way. Two metres from your cell, in the floor, is a maintenance tunnel entrance. Go down the ladder and turn right. The tunnel will meet a turning off for a mini dome – that’s the staff quarters. Don’t take that one. Keep going – the second turning is for the security dome. Your uncle will be there waiting for you.’

  ‘OK, got it.’ Darkus nodded. ‘Down in to the maintenance tunnel, past the first exit, meet Uncle Max.’

  ‘Good luck,’ Bertolt said.

  ‘Bertolt,’ Darkus paused, ‘thanks for coming to get me.’

  ‘What are friends for?’ Bertolt replied. ‘Now, I’m going to open all the doors. Are you all ready?’

  ‘Novak, are you by your cell door?’ Virginia whispered through the air vent.

  ‘Yes,’ replied Novak.

  Virginia nodded as she came to stand beside Darkus. He did a quick check to make sure Baxter was OK, on his shoulder, and nodded back.

  ‘We’re ready,’ Darkus said.

  ‘Go, go, go,’ Bertolt said and there was a click as the cell door lifted up.

  Darkus ran out and grabbed Novak’s hand, following Virginia to the right. She fell on her knees, searching the floor for the maintenance tunnel entrance.

  ‘Got it,’ she whispered, lifting the floor tile up. Darkus grabbed it, indicating that Virginia and Novak should climb down first.

  Virginia’s feet were on the ladder when they all heard a blood-curdling roar.

  ‘It’s Dr Lenka!’ Novak’s eyes were wide. ‘Run!’

  Virginia bolted down the ladder and Novak raced down after her.

  Darkus heard Mawling shout, and then a horrible crunch was followed by a scream of pain.

  Darkus froze, hypnotized by the sounds coming round the corner.

  Pickering squealed. ‘You monster!’

  ‘Aaaarrrrrrgghhhhhhh!’ Mawling cried. ‘My hand!’

  ‘Spit his hand out,’ Humphrey bellowed.

  ‘Get down here now!’ Novak called up. Darkus jumped on to the ladder, clambering down. He heard a clatter and the sound of fists flying, and as he yanked the floor tile down over his head he heard Humphrey shout.

  ‘Run! Pickering, run, RUN!’

  ‘He will have known we were there, and where we went,’ Novak said between breaths, as they ran down the tunnel away from Dr Lenka. ‘He has beetle senses.
We have to hope he doesn’t decide to come after us.’

  They passed the turning to the first dome and slowed down to a gentle jog, so they could catch their breath.

  Novak tipped her head. ‘I don’t think he’s following us,’ she said, listening.

  ‘How did Bertolt and Uncle Max get into the Biome?’ Darkus asked Virginia.

  ‘We let them in.’

  ‘We did?’

  ‘Do you remember that sneeze, when we were at the edge of the forest, and I told you to run, just as the trapdoor opened? That was them. They were following us the whole time. I was worried that the tapir might have separated them from us.’

  ‘But, but . . . how?’

  ‘Emma knew about these tunnels. She has a map of them.’ Virginia smiled. ‘I got you down the ladder, and blocked your view as quickly as possible, so you didn’t see them run into the Biome behind us. They went down a different ladder, to a tunnel that led straight to the security dome. Then they waited for us to get caught.’

  ‘You could have told me.’ Darkus felt a spark of anger, but knew it was his pride that was hurting.

  ‘Darkus, you weren’t listening to anyone,’ Virginia pointed out. ‘We’re a team, but you were planning on going solo. We didn’t know what to do, so we decided to support you all the way, until you needed us, which now you do, because Lucretia Cutter caught you.’ She grinned. ‘You can’t be mad that we guessed this would happen. We let you go it alone anyway, turned it to our advantage and then rescued you.’

  Darkus blushed. ‘I guess not,’ he admitted.

  ‘We started this as a team and we will finish it as a team.’ Virginia put out her hand. ‘Team Beetle.’

  ‘Team Beetle.’ Novak laid her hand on top of Virginia’s.

  Darkus put his hand on top of Novak’s. Baxter fluttered down from Darkus’s shoulder, landing clumsily on the back of his hand, lifting his horn high, as Hepburn scrambled out of her bracelet, and Marvin dropped from Virginia’s braid, tumbling down her arm, landing beside Baxter.

  ‘Team Beetle,’ Darkus said.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Out of the Jaws of Beetles

  Uncle Max was waiting at the next junction. He opened his arms and Darkus ran straight into them. ‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,’ he mumbled into his uncle’s shirt.

  ‘This is not the time for apologies.’ Uncle Max tipped Darkus’s chin up so that he could look into his eyes. ‘This is the time for a daring rescue.’ He waggled his eyebrows. ‘As far as we can tell, Lucretia Cutter has no idea that we’re here. So we need to act quickly. C’mon, this way, Bertolt’s waiting.’

  Darkus followed Virginia and Novak up a ladder, Uncle Max behind him. He blinked furiously as his eyes adjusted to the light. A quick sweep of the room told him he was in a security control centre. There was a wall of monitors, each one showing a different part of the Biome.

  ‘Oh, Bertolt, thank you!’ Novak rushed past Darkus, grabbing Bertolt, kissing him on both cheeks. Newton zipped around their heads, flashing with delight. ‘Thank you for rescuing us.’

  ‘Welcome back to the squadron, soldier.’ Emma Lamb saluted Darkus, and Motty smiled at the children over her gold-rimmed spectacles.

  Bertolt limped over to Darkus, punching his arm weakly and then hugging him.

  ‘What was that for?’ Darkus laughed.

  ‘I’m cross with you for running off and trying to do this alone. Virginia would have given you a dead arm’ – Virginia nodded – ‘so I thought I should – but then I didn’t want to hurt you, so I gave you a hug.’

  Newton flew over and landed on Darkus’s shoulder beside Baxter, and the two beetles waggled their antennae at each other in silent conversation.

  ‘I’m sorry, Bertolt. I shouldn’t have run away. We’re a team and I promise I’ll never forget it again.’ Bertolt nodded. ‘And you are amazing, walking through the forest all night with your bad leg.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Bertolt blushed, proudly.

  ‘How did you know you could talk to us through the thingamabob?’ Darkus asked.

  ‘I spotted that when I first looked at it.’ Bertolt smiled. ‘I noticed a tiny circle of mesh, which usually covers a microphone. On each side are two tiny squares – speakers. When we got in here, I set up an exclusive frequency, so that I could talk to you on the device without anyone else listening.’

  ‘You’re a genius.’ Darkus shook his head. ‘Was it you that came up with the idea to use me as a decoy?’

  ‘Ah, no, that was me, I’m afraid,’ Uncle Max admitted. ‘I thought we should turn your headstrong attitude to our advantage.’

  ‘It was a good idea,’ Darkus said, ruefully, ‘but Lucretia Cutter has taken the Base Camp beetles from me, and she hurt Baxter.’

  ‘Is he OK?’ Uncle Max leant over to look at the rhinoceros beetle.

  ‘She bit one of his legs off,’ Darkus replied, ‘and he had a fall. He’s weak, but he seems to be recovering.’

  Baxter waved a foreleg at Uncle Max, to reassure him.

  ‘What about the fireflies?’ Bertolt asked.

  ‘She’s got them too,’ Darkus said.

  ‘Oh no!’ Bertolt gasped and Newton flickered anxiously.

  ‘We’ll get them back,’ Virginia said. ‘Don’t worry.’

  Darkus stepped towards the monitors, scanning the screens. ‘Have you seen Dad? Or Spencer?’ he asked.

  ‘No,’ Bertolt shook his head. ‘Everyone’s asleep.’

  ‘Can you see into the room by the lift? The one in the basement.’ Darkus asked, his eyes flicking from screen to screen.

  ‘This dark one?’ Bertolt asked.

  ‘Yes.’ Darkus pointed up to the screen. ‘Can you zoom in on the tanks that are in there?’

  Bertolt frowned. ‘I’ll try.’

  The camera picked out the dark outline of a tank, but none of the detail of what was in it.

  ‘In this room,’ Darkus turned around to talk to everyone, ‘are four tanks. In each one is a giant pupa.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Each contains a clone of Lucretia Cutter.’

  ‘She’s cloning herself?’ Emma Lamb gasped.

  Darkus nodded. ‘Whatever happens, we have to destroy those pupae.’

  ‘Look, there are the prison cells.’ Virginia pointed at the six empty rooms, all doors open.

  ‘Did you see what happened to Mawling?’ Darkus looked at Bertolt.

  Bertolt grimaced.

  ‘Is he . . . dead?’ Novak asked.

  ‘No, but, um, well . . .’ Bertolt stammered.

  ‘There’s no nice way to say it.’ Uncle Max cleared his throat. ‘Mawling tried to punch that giant bug man in the face.’

  ‘He punched Dr Lenka?’ Novak said.

  ‘That thing is Henrik Lenka?’ Emma Lamb whistled.

  ‘What happened?’ Novak pressed.

  ‘Henrik Lenka caught Mawling’s fist in his mouth and chewed his hand to pieces.’ He shook his head. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it. It was brutal.’

  ‘Did he get away?’ Novak clasped her hands together.

  ‘Humphrey and Pickering tried to run past the fighting men,’ Bertolt said. ‘Dr Lenka shoved Humphrey backwards, which made him angry. He roared and barrelled into the bug man’s stomach like an angry bull, pushing him back into his cell.’

  ‘Humphrey knocked Dr Lenka on to his back,’ Uncle Max said. ‘Lenka struggled to get back on his feet.’

  ‘Then all three of them ran away,’ Bertolt finished.

  ‘Where are they now?’ Darkus turned back to the screens.

  Bertolt pointed.

  ‘It’s the infirmary,’ Novak said. ‘I was there yesterday.’

  Darkus could see Mawling lying on a bed, trying to bandage his own arm. There was blood everywhere.

  Pickering was looking in a mirror, liberally applying cream to the insect bites all over his face and neck, while Humphrey was looking at bottles of pills, reading the labels.

  ‘Are they helping him?’ Darkus ask
ed.

  Bertolt shrugged. ‘After Humphrey knocked down the bug man, he slung Mawling over his shoulder, and carried him here, but I think they needed his help with directions.’

  They watched Humphrey open a pot of pills and empty them into his mouth, then carry on picking up pots and reading labels.

  ‘If Mawling is in the infirmary, and Craven is with Dankish searching the jungle, then we only have to worry about Ling Ling and Lucretia Cutter,’ Darkus said.

  ‘Only!’ Virginia rolled her eyes. ‘Oh, boy, I hope you’ve got a plan.’

  ‘As it happens,’ Darkus stood up straight, ‘I do.’

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Rhipicera femorata

  ‘There’s Gerard!’ Novak let out a little cry and leant towards the wall of monitors. Darkus saw a bedroom. The butler was rising and going about the business of getting dressed. ‘Darkus, I can’t leave him here,’ she said. ‘Can we bring him with us?’

  Darkus nodded. ‘Yes, although I’ve no idea how we’re going to get out of here.’

  ‘I think I’ve got that covered,’ Motty said. ‘There’s a beautiful helicopter out there, a Sikorsky S-92. They’re the best in the business, two hundred million dollars apiece.’

  ‘Can you fly that thing?’ Uncle Max asked, impressed.

  Motty shrugged. ‘How different can it be from a plane?’

  ‘Don’t you need a key?’ Virginia asked.

  ‘No, cars start with keys, not helicopters.’ Motty chuckled. ‘If the doors have a locking system I’ll bet one of those will open them.’ She pointed to a rack of keys on the wall.

  ‘Motty will go outside and commandeer our escape vehicle.’ Uncle Max said, and Motty nodded.

  ‘I’m staying here,’ Bertolt said, stepping up to the desk of buttons and switches. ‘My leg would only slow me down, and I can help by communicating what I see on the screens – and I can control all the doors from here.’