James R. Lesko
Background
James "Jim" R. Lesko is an information specialist with cryptological background at the Naval Undersea Center in San Diego, California. His university research involved game theory and killer whales. James is in a relationship with Mrs. Dobson.
During the events of Phase IV (1974) played by Michael Murphy
Dr. Ernest D. Hubbs and James arrive at the laboratory location and find a group of large obelisk like ant hills. As Dr. Hubbs is taking photos of the ant hills, he is watched by the Ants. They search the area and find a series of crop circles and dead animals. Mr. Eldridge shows Dr. Hubbs and James a trap he made in case they are attacked by the Ants, consisting of tanks of fuel pouring into the canal which they can then light on fire. As Mr. Eldridge is telling Dr. Hubbs how most of the residents started leaving, James stares at Kendra Eldridge. Mildred Eldridge joins the conversation and Dr. Hubbs gives Mr. Eldridge an evacuation letter telling them to leave.
The facility is built and the experiment begins. A Radio Announcer complains to Dr. Hubbs about the cost overruns. James asks the Radio Announcer to contact Mrs. Dobson and tell her not to fly to Las Vegas yet. Dr. Hubbs destroys some of the ant hills and James picks up a lot of of noise on his receiver. During the night, James starts to decipher the Ants communication and explains it to Dr. Hubbs. The Ants destroy the generator to the laboratory and Dr. Hubbs counters with a large stream of insecticide that sprays out of a cylinder. The next morning, Dr. Hubbs and James find the bodies of the Eldridges and Clete, who were in the path of the spray. When they open the clenched hand of Clete, they find a group of Ants hollowed him out in order to protect themselves from the insecticide. They collect some of the Ants and find Kendra hiding in the basement. They take Kendra with them and start studying the Ants they brought back. James wants to send Kendra back, but Dr. Hubbs is worried what will happen if the government finds out what happened to the Eldridges. Kendra breaks the testing maze Dr. Hubbs had made when she sees the Ants in it and Dr. Hubbs is bitten by an Ant. During the night, the Ants produce new ant hills which start to reflect light onto the laboratory. James tells Kendra that they will get her to safety that day. Dr. Hubbs shows James the new ant hills and the new Ant mutation which is immune to their insecticide. James realizes Dr. Hubbs didn't call for the recovery helicopter and as he tries to call for help, the radio explodes due to Ants attacking the circuit boards. He then stares at Dr. Hubbs' increasingly swollen hand where he was bit. James counterattacks by sending loud sound at the ant hills, causing them to collapse. A fire breaks out and James turns on the sprinkler system, which causes the equipment to malfunction. He sends a message to the Ants based on the principles of math.
Dr. Hubbs tells James if the Ant Queen dies, then the colony collapses. The Ants send back a message to James with a modification of a circle and dot. James then realizes the Ants are using them like rats in a maze to test their intelligence and their message means they want someone. Dr. Hubbs tells James he has located the Ant Queen. Dr. Hubbs tells James that he must be the one to destroy the Ant Queen and James tells Dr. Hubbs, the Ants want him. Dr. Hubbs walks out of the laboratory and James tries to stop him. Dr. Hubbs falls into a pit trap and is surrounded and eaten by Ants. James puts on a protective suit and some blue colored pesticide and heads towards the Ant Queen lair. He predicts that if he doesn't kill the Ants then they will shortly start attacking the neighboring cities. He goes inside the lair and finds Kendra still alive inside, but now mutated. James is then mutated and he and Kendra are let back into the world.
