Insects: A Novel Read Online Free Page A

Duncan peered intently at the two dissected insects.
    “I can’t believe what I’m seeing,” he gushed. Azevedo smiled.
    After several minutes, Duncan handed the magnifying glass to Boyd, wrapped his arm around Azevedo’s shoulder and pulled him aside admiringly.
    “Is there anything I can do to help you publish?”
    Azevedo sighed, shaking his head.
    “There was a time when publishing was important to me, but that’s no longer the case. I appreciate your support, but I’m more interested now in learning about these creatures and less interested in documenting my findings. Of course, I have documented them, and anyone who’s interested in what I’ve found just has to contact me or my assistant. It’s one of the privileges of emeritus status. I can do what I want when I want and don’t have to report to anyone other than the chair of my department, who dismisses me as a dinosaur, I’m sure.”
    Duncan eyed him thoughtfully.
    “I was thinking, since my dean and funders expect me to churn out papers, we could collaborate on joint publication. I would assemble the paper using your research, and we’d share the credit.”
    “If you like,” Azevedo said somewhat dismissively, clearly not interested in the topic.
    Boyd approached them with an excited look.
    “Excuse me, Professor. I’m having difficulty identifying anatomical parts. If I’m not mistaken, it has some kind of spinal column ending in something like a brain stem. Can that be true?”
    Azevedo brightened.
    “That is my belief,” he said. “But that’s not the only unusual thing. Here, I’ll show you.”
    “A brainstem on a cockroach just doesn’t make sense,” Boyd said.
    Azevedo smiled, and with Duncan and Boyd watching, he carefully manipulated the head with a toothpick and held the magnifying glass for them.
    “They’re not cockroaches. As you know, a cockroach’s brain, such as it is, is distributed throughout the ventral part of its body. The nervous system is nothing like what you ’ d expect from an insect. As you can see, this creature has a brain of some kind in the head.”
    “Are those teeth?” Duncan asked. “Is that a jaw, not a mandible?”
    “Yes, they’re teeth and yes, that looks like a jaw.”
    “I can’t believe what I’m seeing,” Duncan said excitedly and started pacing the room.
    “I had much the same reaction when I did the dissections,” Azevedo said to Boyd. “I could barely contain myself. Everything I know about insects goes out the window with these guys.”
    “Are they insects or reptiles?” Boyd asked. “You said they breed like reptiles.”
    Azevedo lowered himself into his chair, removed his glasses, and rubbed his eyes with his fists. Looking up at Boyd, he shook his head.
    “I’m not sure how to classify them. They have many things in common with insects and with reptiles and perhaps with other genera. You may have noticed the lack of antennae. Did you look closely at their forelegs?”
    “Not really. Why?”
    Azevedo handed the magnifying glass to Boyd. “Have a closer look.”
    Boyd leaned over the box and put the magnifying glass over the forelegs of the ventral specimen.
    “These are definitely not cockroaches,” he said with the glass trained over the specimen’s forelegs. “What are those things at the end of the forelegs?”
    “They’re cutting instruments,” Azevedo said matter-of-factly. “Actually, chopping instruments, like tiny axes.”
    Duncan by now had settled down and stood behind Boyd, facing Azevedo.
    “We simply have to publish,” Duncan said. “I don’t care if I have to steal the money from my funders.”
    Azevedo smiled and, as Boyd and Duncan prepared to leave, handed them copies of his unpublished papers.
    “I hope you can use these, and if you find any more blaberus , please let me know the coordinates.”

6
    State of Amazonas Civil Police Inspector Eduardo Dias was skeptical when Jose Silva related his narrative about finding his friend Raul