High on a craggy peak of an extinct volcanic island... far to the south of Casterbridge City, on the planet Acadia, a lone figure danced... her gossamer gown wafting in the slight breeze. Like a siren of ancient lore that lured mariners to destruction with her singing... she sang... but not to the seas... she sang to the crater far below her. For days, Konton danced... while far below a bulge grew... until it spanned the entire caldera. Vents around the bulge spewed hot gases into the air. Days passed before a large hole formed in the center of the bulge.

From out of the hole, a large pale green sharp hook appeared... then another... followed by spined legs. A triangular shaped head with two long antennae... large, round compound eyes on the sides of the head peeked out... and a mouth made for chewing and biting. There were no ears on the head... the only ear she possessed was a slit in the middle of her abdomen on the underside, and she was deaf to most sounds... exception being ultrasonic. She heaved herself out of the hole... a long, narrow thorax followed by her elongated abdomen and four rear legs that were longer than the front ones. For several moments, she stood, her front arms in a praying position... then walked to the edge of the caldera - flexing her fully formed wings in preparation of flight. Another creature started climbing out... and Konton danced.

When three of these giant insects... ten foot tall carnivorous visions from a nightmare... had emerged and flexed their wings... they took to the air... heading north. More would follow in time... many, many more. And they would all head for the only two continents on Acadia. These three flew directly to the smallest continent...  that was home to the city of Casterbridge. Landing on a remote edge of the continent... they started feeding. Their appetite insatiable, no living creature was exempted... bone, hoof, scale and feather fell before the advancing horde... and as more and more mantids arrived, they spread out - leaving a land devoid of any life-forms. Calls for help from small towns and villages went unheeded as there were no living ears to hear them. Law enforcement agencies were inundated with calls that abruptly ended.

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The woman Kabri had healed... thinking that the mob might think that she had been infected by the ‘freak’... started running away. Down alleys... across crowded streets... she ran... until, in one alley a long hooked arm reached out and impaled her before she had a chance to cry out. The advance scouts of these monstrosities had reached the city.

At the space port, one of the giant insects was seen climbing a control tower... with ease it smashed the slanted windows of the top structure, picking out prey with it’s long fore-arm. Guards in front of some of the space craft met a similar fate, though most managed to escape into their ships. Sirens blared as the entire port was shut down to incoming and outgoing vessels... there was no one left in the Mandatory Frequency Station to man the equipment.

All over the city, frantic calls were cut short... emergency broadcasts were sent out for Federation assistance... cars, their roofs torn off and the occupants missing, littered the highways... survivors huddled in windowless basements... while at sea, ships were being attacked by the flying jaws of destruction.... “We are doomed,” said a radio announcer just before his station abruptly shut down.... the nuclear reactor facility, that provided electricity to the city, had been breached... 

And Konton Danced................