The Eggs from Lake Tanganyika: A Short Science Fiction Story by Curt Siodmak

Author:Curt Siodmak
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Petra Books
Published: 2018-02-21T00:00:00+00:00

One of the Giant Flies Is Electrocuted

ALTHOUGH it was five o’clock in the morning, the square in front of the broadcasting station was black with people. The police kept a space clear in the center, where monstrously large and ugly, lay the dead giant fly. Its wings were burnt, its proboscis extended, while the legs, with their claws, were drawn up against the body. The abdomen was a great ball, full of bright red liquid. “That is certainly the creature that killed the horse,” said Schmidt-Schimitt, and pointed at the thick abdomen. He then walked around the creature. “Glossina palpalis. A monstrous tse-tse fly.”

“Will you please send the monster to the zoological laboratory?” The major nodded assent. The firemen, prepared for service, pushed poles under the insect and tried to lift it up from the ground. Out of the air came a droning sound. An airplane squadron dropped out of the clouds and again disappeared. A bright body with vibrating wings flew across the sky. The airplanes dropped on it. The noise of the machine-guns started. The bright body fell in a spiral course to the ground. Crying and screaming, the people fled from the street and crowded into the houses. They couldn’t tell where the insect would fall and they were afraid of their heads. The street was empty in an instant. The body of the monster fell directly in front of the armored car and lay there, stiff. In its fall it carried away a lot of aerial cable and now it lay on the pavement as if caught in a net, the head torn by the machine gun bullets. It looked like a strange gleaming cactus.

“Take me to my home, Major,” groaned Meyer- Maier. “I can’t stand it any longer. The excitement is too much for me.”

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