“Central North America is the only major food-producing area without a native locust,” Laars said. “We’ve never had to deal with that kind of sudden crop damage before, since the Rocky Mountain locust became extinct.”

Smythe gnawed his lip. “So what you’re saying is…”

“If this is allowed to continue, we could see starvation and crop failure on a scale this continent hasn’t known for a century. Even if we sprayed for the locusts, our stock of pesticides isn’t large enough to handle a sudden outbreak, not to mention the damage rampant use would do to the crops themselves.”

Smythe turned over the specimen in his hands. “So with this bug, the Directorate could do more damage than with a biological weapon. And no one would know it wasn’t natural.”