The Komodo Fire Bomb Dragon

There weren't always dragons in the valley. But, now there was a new species of dragons in the valley that wreaked havoc on the valley, the Bay Area, and Los Angeles. No one knew, yet, what a mess they would make. Not even the scientists and the Stem Cell Research and Animal Husbandry Department where it all originated.

So what happened? There was a crew of scientists working in the lab trying to make stem cells less volatile and free of unstable changes, such as tumors.

The new interns were all highly skilled in their knowledge of stem cell research and the need to adhere to strict government protocol to safeguard all animal and non-animal subjects, but no one took into account just how clumsiness could cause a catastrophe most innocently.

The Zoo and the Stem Cell Research Lab shared the huge facility with the Observatory Lab and received funding from government and private sources. The buildings were separate, but occasionally the spillover of extra animals just birthed had to be accommodated to further the research each study had going on.

The Observatory did separate and different research from The Zoo Stem Cell Research Lab. Their focus was on how the skin of certain lizards could be used to improve upon the bulletproof vests of today. Their focus was on the Komodo dragon and its bony mail chain and pythons.

Candy had just got done feeding the iguanas, the Komodo dragons, and the bombardier beetles in their aquariums. The Komodo dragons were only hatchlings and weighed around 4 ounces, and were around 16 inches long. By the time they got to be 5 years old, they would weigh an enormous 55 lbs.

The research on dragons focused on their skin and scale properties. The study was funded by United States Military. The hypothesis was that they could learn about the properties of the Komodo dragon's skin and maybe enhance the skin so that it could be weaved into bulletproof gear that could withstand hot temperatures, yet, remain lightweight. Previously, the bone mail was impossible to be used as any type of material for clothing, but with the new Gortex type of materials, the bone mail could be interwoven into fine threads throughout the material making it impervious to swords, gunshot wounds, hot temperatures, and poisonous substances.

Currently, there was a steady supply of Komodo dragon skin due to the black market's ongoing industry to make Western Boots of python, various snakeskin, and Komodo dragon material. The cost to the consumer was very expensive, but where there is a need, there is a way, especially with the skilled poachers in Flores and the Komodo Islands.

Candy entered her mentor's space where a bunch of Petri dishes was being cataloged and labeled. She had around 30 samples of various Komodo dragon skin and python skins altogether. The Petri dishes were sterilized and contained antibiotics swabs to take out the poisons which were entrenched in the skins of the Komodo dragons.

She got done with all but 5 containers and then was called away by her mentor to lead a class as he had to leave to meet with scientists in Washington, D. C. in a few moments.

Scurrying to finish up, she inadvertently swooshed three of the Petri dishes a little too hard and smidgens of their contents seeped over the sides and some even landed on the floor.

"Where's the Bounty paper towels?" she said to herself. No one else was around on this extremely hot spring afternoon. She found a roll just opposite her little desk and quickly absorbed what had spilled onto the desk and went over it with Lysol wipes. She forgot to get to the floor.

She could not wait to leave the facility this Friday afternoon as she had plans to get some drinks and pizza with Carl, another intern.

She locked everything up and made sure the animals she was in charge of had plenty of food, water, and proper temperature control so that they wouldn't die or get ill. She, also, wanted to make sure she gave Petey, her favorite Iguana friend, his yummy fresh leaves, which she scooped up just from under the window outside. The leaves were so healthy-looking, lush green and it had just rained so they were especially luscious.

She gathered a grocery bag of the leaves but was only going to give Petey a handful so he could enjoy his weekend with some favorite special leaves.

"Here, Petey," she said in her sweety sultry voice. "You be a good boy and I'll see you on Monday. She patted him gently on his bright green scaly skin and saw that he had eaten a couple of mouthfuls of the leaves. She left the bag of leaves adjacent to Petey's cage and aquarium.

The adjacent area was where all the Komodo dragons were held. There were only three adult-sized Komodo dragons as one had died. This left the Komodo dragon, Samantha little depressed it so seemed. She hadn't eaten anything in ten days and she was pregnant.

The male Komodo dragon that died did not die of anything wrong that the staff did at the observatory, but the two male Komodo dragons got in a fierce fight over Samantha. The stronger of the two overcame Charlie, Samantha's long-time friend, and tore huge chunks of flesh from his neck and torso and devoured every last bit.

Theo had torn a huge piece of flesh from Charlie's thoracic area pulling out the 3 chambers of his heart, and eating them. This made Charlie fall into a prone position quickly as Theo continued to gorge himself on the juicy, bloody flesh of his one and only male companion.

Samantha wanted nothing to do with Theo in the first place, she hissed and even tried to bite him. But, Theo, kept licking her at just the right spots and biting her every so gently that he mounted her on her back and had her doggy style. He unraveled, like a sock, only one of his hemipenes. The other hemipenis he would save for later when he would try to mount Suzanne, the other Komodo dragon female.

Samantha's body immediately accepted Theo's sperm as it was strong and without any defects as far as her body could tell. Theo's large tail remained swooped over her for a full ten minutes before he retracted from her.

Samantha was now pregnant and would eventually lay her eggs seven months later. The eggs would take around 28 days to mature. A good leafy area would have to be found somewhere where the soil could be dug into and covered with nourishing leaves.

Due to all the fires in Southern California, many animals and even insects moved to the Santa Clara Valley to live. As it was an exceptionally hot spring, it caused one species to flourish like never before.

It was a few swarms of the Bombardier Beetle that settled in the decaying leaves outside of the Observatory Lab in Silicon Valley. There were only three or four to each swarm, but they found a haven in the rotting leaves and moist soil under the windows and crevices. There they spilled their eggy larvae on the fresh leaves they hadn't eaten which were slightly moist with rain and sometimes morning dew.

These leaves were the ones that little Petey gorged himself and Samantha snatched them from the plastic bag that Candy had forgotten. It's not that Samantha was craving leaves, she just wanted to see what was in the puffy tan bag. Maybe it was a dog or a small goat for her to enjoy. The bag with its leaves snagged onto Samantha's nail and she dragged it along until she found the real 30 lb. goat the staff had left for her to eat. She was famished and gorged herself quickly and heartily along with the plastic bag with all its contents.

In the meantime, the larvae of beetles with their leaves lodged into the crevices of her teeth and gums. There it was warm enough for them to survive and thrive. Mixed with the poisonous bacteria in the jowls of the creature, the larvae flourished and became fat and juicy - robust. Soon the beetles were encased in the structure of Samantha's thick jaws. There was enough gap so that they could breathe and survive. A new parasitic symbiotic species evolved.

But, what would that mean? How would they survive? Was it even possible? Nature would reveal the answers soon.

Monday came and everyone was back to work. Scientific endeavors continued with interns doing their best to catalog, monitor, and report their findings to their scientists. The interns were overwhelmed with their duties because all the studies, except for the study on making lightweight bulletproof wear, were on a shoestring budget.

The welfare of the animals was a priority, but still, monitoring all the animals 24/7 fell by the wayside. Too many animals were being born. There was a surplus and not enough interns and scientists to pay attention to every little detail.

Poor Petey had a stomach ache after he ingested all those delicious leaves he so savored. Candy found him in the back of his aquarium perched on a miniature tree. Usually, he would poke his neck out if he saw Candy was around. Not today. Candy called out to him and spoke to him softly asking him what was wrong. If only he could answer. She saw that he never quite finished all of his leaves and that he hadn't drunk any water. She brought in fresh leaves and lettuce this time. The leaves were the type they got from animal supply shops. Maybe Petey would eat those leaves?

As Candy turned, she saw that Samantha was slithering her big yellow tongue and enjoying the carcass of a wild pig that was given her. She had quite an appetite. Things seemed to be normal except for Petey's peculiar behavior. She hoped Petey would get over it soon and that he wasn't dying of whatever it was. Still, she would reach out to Doc Nelson and ask him to take a look at Petey and what ailed him.

Doc Nelson did just that. He cautioned Candy not to be giving Petey any more leaves that didn't come from the Animal Pet Supply place.

All along upon entering the lab, he noticed a strange odor in the room. Nothing like he ever smelled before, well at least, not here in this lab in Santa Clara. The odor was slightly familiar to the odors he smelled while visiting Flores and the Komodo Islands. The smell of rot and acidic dung in a vapor of methane smoke.

He fixed his glasses and looked on at Samantha who had just devoured the wild hog. He noticed her white droppings on the side of the embankment. They were the usual droppings of her species the pellets of bone, teeth, and cartilage of the goat she had devoured a day before. Komodo dragons discard their fecal matter much like owls. The difference here was that the odor was very strange. It was worse than at the Komodo Islands and Indonesia's Komodo Park. It seemed laced with horrible rot and peroxide acid. And, with a tinge of burning sulfur on top of all the usual scents.

Usually, the Komodo Dragon's fecal matter was given to the pythons and other dragons to feed on to increase their calcium needs requirement.

New changes were going on with the Bombardier Beetles as well. Science was not quite ready for the changes, but Mother Nature already was making adaptations to the environment of the life of these mysterious blue-bodied, winged insects.

It was now around 70 F in the valley, but around the observatory and all its turbine heaters and solar glass plates, it was exceptionally warm on the outside. The enclosure to Samantha's dwelling ran around the back of the observatory. It was near the chimney outlets, but way underground where Samantha would lay her eggs. She laid them carefully nearest the walls of the observatory, where all the fresh leaves were full, yet, many of which fell to the ground.

The eggs were nestled underground with leaves spread out all over them. They were speckled brown with slime all over them from Samantha's drool and unnoticeable under the leaves and around the rotting wood underneath the siding of the building. They would remain safe and warm from the expulsion of the heat and conductors that ran underneath the porch of the building.

Candy and the other interns did their usual rounds and became integral assets to the scientists and the groups that funded the studies. Everyone was on-page to facilitate the objective of every study.

People became even friendlier with each other and they often thought of themselves as one big, happy family. Some friendships became more intimate and due to all the time everyone had to spend at the facility, they would relax and have let-down parties on Friday nights.

There was nothing lavish about it. Usually, everybody stayed around the researcher's lounge. But, cold beer, cold wine, and various soft drinks were had along with Kentucky Fried Chicken and Taco Bell. It was not unusual for the friends and lead scientists to stay up until 11 pm discussing new theories and hypotheses to be tested. Ideas flourished and some would take copious notes.

Dr. Miliken had taken a shine to Candy and their relationship had blossomed into more than an Intern/Lead Scientist relationship. They had become lovers. They were on top of the world. Everyone seemed content and happy with how their research was going and where it would lead. All the animals were healthy. Discoveries were being made daily. Progress was being made on the Lightweight Bulletproof material.

While Samantha laid her eggs, Suzanne, too became pregnant, but Theo had nothing to do with it. She swiped at Theo pretty badly so much that he finally gave up. She got herself pregnant and was to lay her eggs any day.

Doc Nelson was checking up on all the animals after Memorial Day and was careful not to disturb Samantha's eggs, but noticed that the hatchlings were indeed coming out. Three of the eggs were empty already while the other hatchlings were trying to get out with their hatchling tooth they would soon lose after they ascended from the inside of the egg.

Most times the hatchlings had to stay within the habitat for 8 to 10 hours after they broke free to gather strength and eat the small insects that ran along the cracks and crevices of their shells. But, it was odd that the three of the eggs were empty. Perhaps Samantha had eaten them, or may some snake had eaten them? Notes were taken.

Doc Nelson, again, smelled the foul odor he experienced a month ago inside the habitat of the Komodo dragon adjacent to the iguana habitat and that of the pythons. He made notations of that, too.

Most of the pythons were removed and isolated into another building. It appeared that some of them had gotten sick and had to be quarantined. The researchers thought maybe some of them had gotten Covid-19 after one person in the study caught it and died from not getting the vaccinations they were encouraged to get. Good thing no one else died.

Most pythons were released into the wild in the Florida everglades. Most except for George. He just didn't want to hunt for his food anymore. So with this exception, they kept George and fed him freshly dead rats. The researchers and interns had no choice in the matter as George was important to their study at one time and they wanted to keep him alive and give him as humane treatment as possible. But, unlucky for the rats which were part of their "Knock-out mice" supply, they would be George's dinner.

Candy and most of the others could not stomach getting George's dinner ready daily. But, Fred and a few of the other men did what they had to do. They would take a heavy spoon and smash it onto the head of the rat. Hopefully, with its skull crushed, it would feel no pain as George enjoyed his dinner. But, George didn't want to eat the rats anyway. For some reason, he acted as if he was depressed.

Why didn't they just give the rat some kind of knockout drug to kill it without pain, they couldn't do that. Why not? Because the chemicals may have transferred to George and would kill him as well. This was the most humane measure they could think of.

A couple of months passed and it was just around Labor Day. The hatchlings were in a separate area from Samantha, Suzanne, and Theo. Their habitat was encased with trees and shrubbery. They were from 4 ounces to 6 ounces in weight and from 14.5 inches to 18 inches long. They mostly stayed in the trees where they were safe and feasted on small insects and baby mice.

The three shells that were empty due to hatchlings escaped and went up in unbarricaded trees to survive. They were getting stronger and had gotten larger than their siblings in the lab. They were thriving, but none of the researchers knew that they even existed.

They developed in ways that Komodo Dragons were never known to have evolved. Their skin had started to get flecks of their bony structure. Something unheard of. Ever! Usually, Komodo Dragons do not start to get their mail chains until they're full adults which is no earlier than when they are 5 years old. The hatchlings that escaped started growing their bone mail at six months.

They, also, grew a strange blue stripe along each side of their bodies. These stripes were webbing. The webbing looked like a cross between a spider's web and bubble wrap, but with smaller bubbles the size of pennies, if it were unfolded. The webbing sparkled with cobalt blue and silver hairs. This webbing was very, very hard, yet pliable. It was indestructible. Every bubble contained Hydrogen peroxide and would bubble widely and warm the unique weblike material. The bubbles would expand and create a warm heat around their wings and upper bodies. This would cause them to float and propel upward.

Although they could not use it to fly at will, if they were frightened enough, the webbing would extend outward and halfway over their bodies as if they were feathers on a bird, the feathers were thin bone and encased with insect skin type coating. The coating would generate more heat and give them buoyancy to drift as if they were hot air balloons.

Once they were air bound they were able to breathe fire. It was an adaptation new to their species. Their growing bodies had formed a symbiotic relationship with the larvae parasite which were living encased in their jaws. In an adult Komodo dragon, you can't see their teeth which are shark-like teeth because they have very, very strong jaws that kind of hide their teeth.

Their jaws contained the parasites which made the combustible solution of hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinone which together made a very poisonous, hot, and volatile acid. On top of that, the poisonous bacterial substances in their jowls which they inherited from their ancestors made everything and anything their prey and could create deadly firestorms while providing ample food to the parasites. But, to create this poisonous solution and firestorm they had to feel threatened. Some of the things that threatened them were werewolves and dogs.

Another new adaptation was that they were able to reproduce at a much younger age than their predecessors. This new species was able to mate within a year and females could produce offspring without a male. Yet, all the offspring of an asexual female would be male.

Usually, the forest fires in Nebraska and California tended to die down in the fall months, but this year the fires were all out of control. There were many more fires to fight.

A combination of gusty winds, high temperatures, and low humidity prompted the National Weather Service in Santa Clara to issue a red flag warning for a swath of inland Northern California stretching to the Bay Areas.

Sheriffs and Park Rangers were asking people to be extra cautious with their matches and anything that can spark a fire. The Observatory and the Stem Cell Research Lab were put on alert for possible flash floods and fires. 

On the other side of the world, the Indonesian fires were picking up. Komodo Park decided to close its door to tourists. They said that the tourists were part of the problem. Others said it was the Palm Oil Industry that was causing most of the problems. Still, others said it was the result of slash and burn techniques used to enhance vegetation growth at a higher rate and the poachers that had grown in numbers. The movement of skins supplied to the lab was taking longer than usual. 

Back in Santa Clara and other parts of California, there was an increase instead of a decrease in forest fires. They did not find that it was the work of careless or reckless campers setting these fires. There were no matches to be found. What they found was a blast of high heat fire like from a torch or propellant gun.

For some reason, many mountain lions, wild dogs, and wild boars were found scorched to death, not by the usual fires and entrapment, but by scorched to the bones being blackened by extreme blazes. This could not be explained away easily. Investigators were puzzled as to the reason for it. 

Why were there so many more fires now? Who was setting these fires and why?

Copyright Lucy Socha 2022 All Rights Reserved