much better than the bouillabaisse. The subbies always heard in their indoc - trination that many things were extinct, including tuna, but the higher tiers would beg to differ! THE VENGEFUL MANTIS Mildred found another audio file, a male voice narrating with some difficulty, as if injured…
[Audio File-04] Tonight from the gloomy, thick darkness we heard nothing at the outpost then sensed something moving, heard our trip-line clatter and foliage swishing. Suddenly a greenish light bloomed, some kind of blinding laser we thought that swept over us, slicing a palm tree cleanly. We put up a flare, there in the misty night for a long second I saw a greenish, metallic, stalk-like strangely tall biped like a tree trunk with stick legs, a bulbous rotat- ing sensor “head,” squarish rucksack-like back and short arms, it walked mechanically but with ease. I rubbed my eyes, so many nights of no or little sleep and the constant
harassment with what we called “night music” which meant screams, drums and howls we heard at random times and differing loudness from the jungle so I could not be sure but in that instant before the flare burned out it menaced us, as it got closer you could smell strong, pun- gent ozone and we felt an in- credible heat wave, like some
kind of oven-like weapon fried our position. We fired at it, did no damage we could tell, then quick as I saw it – it was gone into the shadows - vanished. Zama called it a man- tis, I mean, yeah it might be but it’s the meanest, four-me- ter-high mantis I ever saw!
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