Free Extinction Level Event by Jose Pino Johansson Page A

yet. I don’t think it is warranted just yet”,
replies Mike. “Until we find the agent that is causing the worms to
die, I don’t think we should quarantine”. Thinking of Miles and his
farm, Mike continues, “Quarantine should be our last resort.
Otherwise it would be harmful to community”. Laurie nods, and
continues working. Mark enters the truck carrying bags of dead
worms in his gloved hands. Placing four bags in a freezer in the
front of the passenger compartment, he places another two bags on
the large examining table. Taking off his gloves and throwing them
out, Mark grabs another two pairs of latex gloves and gives a pair
to Mike. “Lets see what this baby has to tell us”, grunts Mark to
Mike. Mike nods before coming up besides Mark next to the table.
The two men each put on a pair of safety goggles. Mark takes out a
few worms using a pair of forceps and places them on a glass
plate.
     
    Taking a magnifying lens Mark peers through the thick
glass at the dead annelids. “How much do you know about annelid
anatomy?”, he asks Mike. “Not much. But that’s what we have the
laptop for. Once we connect to an online database, we'll have that
info.” Mark proceeds to turn on the laptop and take out an
entomology dissection kit from one of the boxes. Opening the kid,
he takes out a piece of micro-tape and tapes a worm onto a glass
microscope slide. Once taped tightly to the slide, he carefully
holds the worm in place with a forceps while using a scalpel to cut
it open. The worm peels apart like a banana, allowing Mark to
carefully uses the forceps to peel back the outer layer of hardened
exoskeletal skin. The worm’s yellowish-gray internal organs are now
open for Mark and Mike to see. An Earthworm’s internal body
structure is dominated by digestive system, a long connected tube
composed of several organs that run throughout the length of the
body. Mark begins to explain the anatomy to Mike while he pins down
the worm’s skin segments. “Near the worm’s head here lies the
esophagus, followed by the crop which is bulkier that the rest of
the tube. Behind the crop is the gizzard, and then the intestine
leading to the anus. In front of the crop lie two large whitish
seminal vesicles, whose function is to secrete fluids such as
proteins, fructose, vitamin C, and enzymes. These fluids are then
used in the production of spermatozoa. The worm’s crop is part of
the digestive system, where food is stored prior to digestion in
the gizzard. The gizzard is an organ, similar to a human stomach,
that will digest food through the use of acids. The strong muscular
walls of the gizzard allow the worm to grind tough foods”. “You
know Mark, that’s fascinating, but how does that help us?”

 
    Mark looks closely at the worm. “We should test the
worm’s stomach cavities and gizzard for traces of Cleanup”. Mike
turns around quizzically. “Make sure that your test runs for
Groundup SuperPower only. You know there’s a whole line of those
products, ever since the seventies. SuperPower is the latest. There
should be a trace difference in composition between SuperPower and
other lines, for example PowerMax”. “Right”. With a click Mike’s
laptop whirs to action as Mike starts to surf the web for
information on Groundup products. Mike simultaneously turns to Mark
telling him, “Call headquarters, and tell them to e-mail me any
information they can send me on MalSanto’s Groundup Products.
Specifically, Groundup SuperPower”. Mark opens up his wire-thin
Nokia iphone to make the call to the USDA Los Angeles office, while
Mike searches the web for useful information on the new herbicide.
“Lets see, what is Groundup composed of? Well, that should be
easy”. Immediately after putting the words into a search engine,
Mike sees the screen show hundreds of thousands of hits. Many sport
headlines such as “Weed Killer kills Human Cells”, “Is Groundup
safe?”, and “Is Groundup Carcinogenic?”. Mike