I hate bees, she thinks as she weaves through river grass doing her best to avoid bumping the busy buzzing swarm. If all the insects of the world were banished from this place, why not bees? Where were the gnats, mesquites and flies that should be as thick as morning fog along the marshy river banks?<br/><br/>Masina paused and knelt to pull a chunk of grass from the earth. Nothing moved in the dirt that clung to the roots when she examined the clump. Not an ant, nor pill bug or worm. She dropped the grass and turned the dirt over in the small hole its roots left. Bringing a handful of dark loamy soil to her nose she sniffed. It smells like dirt, good dirt to be precise, very good dirt, but no hint of poison, no smell of death.<br/><br/><em>Where were the bugs?</em><br/><br/>She continued up to the outpost doing her best to avoid angering her buzzing companions.<br/><br/>