Forest Guardians Chronicles: A Matter of Humanity by Beth Roose (smart ebook reader TXT) 📗

works out. Did I say how proud I am of you, Dad? Putting this together, helping Morgan, and looking out for the Forest Guardians.  You should win ‘Dad of the Year’ and ‘Man of the Year’ awards.”

Tears of happiness welled into Mr. Garman’s eyes. “Oh, honey. Thank you so much for thinking so highly of me. We both have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.”

Marsha shook her head in agreement through the phone. “Off to bed you go, Dad. I am heading that way shortly.”

Mr. Garman replied sleepily with a yawn, “Thanks, Honey, and good night to you. too. Sweet dreams, and do not let the bedbugs bite!” The pair hung up the phone and snoozed off into the night.

Mr. Garman tossed and turned all night long. Looking over at the clock, he rolled his eyes at the time. “6am? No, it can’t be.” He threw off the covers and stumbled to the bathroom. “Oh, look! A bathrobe. Fancy!” He slid the coat on after his shower and slinked out into the bedroom, turning on the morning news. Flashing across the screen was a story on the Hornet Queen. She had been spotted in Cleveland, Cuyahoga Falls, and in the National Park. Mr. Garman knew his plan needed to do the trick. The Hornet Queen was getting out of control and quite brave with civilian life. He picked up his phone to call Morgan and, realizing it was too early, set it back down. He supposed he could go to breakfast, so that is what he did.

As Mr. Garman finished his breakfast, he decided to take the subway to Beth Israel Hospital to visit his friend Dr. Mottice, a DNA genome specialist. He walked in the main entrance of the hospital and was taken back by the beauty of the lobby. Bright colored tiles and mosaics plastered the walls, giving the building an inviting and artsy atmosphere. Right away, the woman at the desk asked if she could direct him to where he was going. “Yes, I need to see Dr. Mottice, please.”

The woman nodded kindly. “Certainly. Just walk down that hall and take the first bank of elevators on your right to the 4th floor. His room is the last lab on the right.”

Tipping his hat and adding a smile, Mr. Garman thanked the kind woman and went on his merry way. He stepped in and was the only one in the elevator and pressed the button for the 4th floor. He heard the ding and knew he had arrived. Well, here goes nothing, he said to himself. He straightened his tie and walked into a reception room with a young man sitting behind at a desk. The desk had a tremendous amount of paperwork stacked in neat piles.

The young man peered up. “May I help you, sir?”

Mr. Garman looked around, realizing the young kid was talking to him. “Yes. My name is Mr. Philip Garman and I am here to see Dr. Mottice.”

The young man nodded, “Of course, please have a seat and I will let him know you are here.”

Dr. Mottice opened the reception door from his lab, donning a bright smile upon his face. “Philip!” he exclaimed cheerfully as he walked over with his hand extended.

“Jim,” Mr. Garman said, returning the same friendly engagement, “I am so happy to see you.”

Shaking his hand, Dr. Mottice asked, “And to what do I owe this honor, Philip?”

Dr. Garman looked around nervously. “Do you have a place we can talk, maybe in private?”

Dr. Mottice nodded, understanding why Mr. Garman had not been so eager to continue in public. “Sure, Philip. Come with me.” Dr. Mottice led the pair into a small science lab with three cushioned chairs. The office was cold, and uninviting, except for the colorful stick figure drawing in the corner. Mr. Garman assumed that it had come from a grandchild of Dr. Mottice’s.

Mr. Garman began, “I have a big problem and need your help.” Sitting down and ushering Mr. Garman to take a seat as well, Dr. Mottice replied, “Well, Philip. I will help if I can. Tell me about this big problem.”

Mr. Garman dove into the story about Morgan and his DNA splicing experiment. “Have you heard of Morgan King?” asked Mr. Garman.

“Why, yes, of course. His work in DNA splicing is known worldwide.”

Mr. Garman cleared his throat and fully indulged himself in the story. “He was a student of mine way back in the day. He came to me about a month ago with an experiment that went utterly wrong. He spliced human DNA with a hornet, intending to look at cell results. After he spliced the DNA together, he put it in the regeneration cycle and left for the day expecting to see the cells multiply the next day. When Morgan came in the next morning, to his surprise, the window was broken outward and the lab was a disastrous mess.”

Dr. Mottice interrupted, “Did someone steal the Crisper Splice Microscope?”

Eyes wide and tone hushed, Mr. Garman replied. “No, worse than that. As Morgan looked around, he could not find anything that had been stolen, so he decided to view the security camera footage. To his surprise, the cells mutated and developed into a giant hybrid creature. A human woman top and a hornet bottom with wings. It is about 5 foot tall and was let loose into the National Park.” Dr. Mottice’s eyes widened in fear as Mr. Garman continued. “Believe me, it is horrifying. However, that is not all of it. Buckle up for the rest. Morgan wanted to see how it happened, so he created a dozen slides and while he was documenting everything, he looked up and the cells formed into drone hornets within a matter of two hours. They flew around the lab knocking over all of the glass beakers and spilling hazardous liquids everywhere. Finally, one broke out of the window and the rest followed. Now, the Hornet Queen and twelve minion drones are loose in the