Horned Squeakers

Captain Serge Stone's Log, Research Starjumper "Cognition-5"; Expedition to Planet Kepler-213d (Zaraphon); Entry No. 29510207:

"We have a pest infestation at our base. We had previously noticed electrical issues in some sections, a strange smell coming from certain vents, and a peculiar gray residue on wires in internal compartments, but the loss of Marie threw us off, and we didn’t give the problem the attention it deserved. However, two days ago, as I reported, the station's systems detected a breach in the hull in the storage and sanitary sections. Sara (technician) had to open the outer shell to identify the cause of the breach, and that’s when we discovered the culprit of our troubles.

This time, the planet sent us Squeakers. Squeakers come in both land and aquatic varieties. While the aquatic ones resemble terrestrial crustaceans, the land Squeakers occupy the ecological niche of insects and arachnids, though they aren't that different from their aquatic relatives. Thanks to a special gut microflora, these creatures have taken over numerous ecological niches, ranging from herbivorous pollinators to scavengers and coprophages. Naturally, they are an important link in the food chain, but until now, we had not had to deal with them directly.

During the inspection of the technical compartments, we found more than five hundred individuals of a species called Horned Squeakers. This species, much like Earth’s cockroaches and termites, has learned to feed on the "wood" of local tree-like plants.These creatures have evolved to break down a cellulose-like polymer into simple carbohydrates and digest them. It turns out that some types of plastic used in the walls of our compartments contain this polymer. And the horned squeakers, echoing the history of Earth’s pest insects, switched to feasting on the plastics of our station. Additionally, as Svyatoslav (xenobiologist) believes, they are also attracted to the copper in our wires. The reason is that copper is one of the most common elements on Zaraphon—approximately 7% of the lithosphere. The local biota actively incorporates copper into their bodies—most animals have a blue-green color to their chitin shells due to the presence of copper oxide, and copper is also part of the hemocyanin in their blood. Normally, animals obtain copper from natural minerals, water solutions, or by consuming the shells of other creatures. But we practically served them pure, untainted copper on a silver platter in the form of our station's wiring. Several short circuits occurred, likely when the squeakers tried to chew through live wires and were electrocuted. Hence the unpleasant smell in the ventilation system.

The biggest problem is that horned squeakers reproduce rapidly. Again, quoting Svyatoslav, a female lays around 30-40 eggs in a damp, dark place (for example, where condensation forms due to pressure and temperature fluctuations). The young squeakers hatch in about ten days, and after a month, following two molts, they are ready to reproduce. In the wild, squeakers are part of the diet of many terrestrial predators, but here at the station, they face no such threat. As a result, we were horrified to discover that these pests have overrun about 60% of the station’s compartments (see the attached diagram). They’ve infiltrated the living quarters, the recreation zone, the storage area, the restroom, and their egg clusters have been found inside the walls of the connecting corridors and even in the greenhouse. Thankfully, they don't seem to be interested in Earth plants.

A biological threat has been declared at the station. Our team has temporarily relocated to the central control section, and the storage area has been evacuated. We must restore the station's integrity and get rid of the unwanted guests. Fortunately, Svyatoslav has a gaseous pesticide in mind that efficiently kills the squeakers without harming humans. I just hope the creatures don’t develop resistance to it during the extermination process. We also need to consider repairing the station with materials made from plastics that won’t tempt the local organisms. But that will have to wait..."