Summaries

Synopsis

There is a biological emergency...so bad that the Center for DiseaseControl has interrupted Dr Sheila Casper's [Dina Meyer] field research in the bat cavesof Skull Valley, Arizona to fly her to Gallup, Texas. Six days ago, twogenetically-altered flying foxes broke free from Dr Alexander McCabe's [Bob Gunton]research laboratory. At first, they killed only animals, but now they'vebegun feeding on humans. Sheila Casper, a wildlife zoologist whospecializes in bats (Chiroptera), has been called to help find the pairbefore they kill more humans or contaminate other bats in the area.

Aided by Sheriff Emmett Kimsey [Lou Diamond Phillips] and CDC specialist Dr Tobe Hodge [Carlos Jacott],Sheila and her assistant Jimmy Sands [Leon] begin to search for the bats'roosting area. The first night out, Emmett and Sheila are attacked by ahorde of them. They are able to capture one of them and plant a homingdevice under its skin. When they set it free, however, hoping that it willlead them to the roost, it is attacked and killed by the other bats, asthough they knew it was a plant. Apparently, these bats have been bred forsuper-intelligence. Gallup must be evacuated, and the mayor is told to broadcast awarning to all residents to stay indoors and secure their houses.Unfortunately, no one listens. The bats invade the town and, withinminutes, people are grabbing guns and shooting at anything that moves,cars are being smashed up and bursting into flames, and victims lay in thestreet dying. Tobe Hodge is one of them.

More help is required. The military arrives and begins evacuating thetown. They give Sheila and her bat hunters 48 hours before they startblowing things up. Sheila sets up headquarters in the most easily securedbuilding in Gallup--the school. The military has promised to center theinfrared cameras of a Chromo-B340 satellite on the area around Gallop tohelp locate the bat roost.Even when the roost is located, however, how are they going toannihilate every last bat? From the numbers they saw the other night,there are thousands of them. Bombing the roost will only scatter them,Sheila explains, leading to the creation of other roosts and potentiatingthe problem. Poisoning them is not an option, as the most popular batpoison (chlorofoccinol?) is only marginally effective against bats buthighly lethal to humans. Sheila thinks the best solution is to put them tosleep by lowering the temperature in the cave. At 40 degrees F, bats beginto hibernate. At 32 degrees, they freeze to death.

Jimmy arranges for an NGIC Industrial Coolant that uses freon, carbondioxide, and oxygen to be dropped off as soon as the roost is located.When the spy satellite begins sending pictures of the bats, Emmettrecognizes the area as that of the old Black Rock mine. Everything is setto begin at 0600 hours. Except that the government has other ideas, whichdon't include waiting until dawn. During the night, they wire the minewith explosives. Unfortunately, the bats kill them all then come forMcCabe, their creator, who still has a modicum of mind control over them.The bats want their freedom. When Sheila et al arrive at the mine the nextmorning, they are informed by the military that they weren't able to turnon the coolant unit, so the plan now is to bomb and gas the mine startingin one hour.

Sheila decides that one hour is enough time for them to get thecoolant unit started, so she and Emmett suit up and enter the mine. Jimmystays outside to monitor their progress and to blow up the mine entranceshould it become necessary. Although they find themselves up to theirwaist in bat guano, they are successful at starting the coolant. As theymake for the exit, the bats begin to pursue. Run, run, run! The momentthey exit, Jimmy detonates the explosives.As they drive away, an escaped bat lifts its head out of the sand onthe road. The car runs it over. Splat. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl]