The Andromeda Strain Page #3

Something wrong?

I never liked red lights.

Reminds me of my years in a bordello.

Howdy.

Howdy-do-dee.

You got the time?

My watch stopped at 11:46.

Darn shame.

Must be the heat.

It's no fake, believe me.

When I retire,

I'd like an agricultural

station like this in Alaska.

You, a sourdough?

Hmph! The sourest. This way.

Step in.

Cute.

The whole thing,

what a world we're making.

I can see why the kids are dropping out.

We should've.

It's an emergency, Dutton.

We got tagged. Period.

Until I saw those photos

from Vandenberg, I...

They brought it on themselves.

Who? The people in Piedmont?

What you said before,

you don't believe the

infection in that capsule

was brought back deliberately, do you?

Skip it. I hope

I'm talking through my hat.

Put your hands on

that glass, palms down.

It's a finger and palm

print analyzer. It...

Reads a composite of 10,000

dermatographic lines.

How'd you know that?

Oh, Dutton, I have a

long criminal record.

Then you're in trouble.

This machine has a long memory.

It gives you final clearance

to enter Wildfire.

Isothermal

reading for M.C. Levels 4 and 5

is Z.B. And R.A. Over 2.9.

How's Piedmont?

I had to order up a 7-12.

How are you, Ruth?

No other way to halt

the infection spread.

Oh.

Oh, you two know

each other, don't you?

By reputation only.

Ah, yes, up to now we've

had to worship from a far.

Be good, Ruth.

Any messages for me

from the White House?

Not a thing, Dr. Stone, or you'd have it.

No personal messages?

No, ma'am.

Nothing from Dr. Robertson?

Are you sure, Sergeant?

Dr. Stone, sir, I have

one thing to do. Just one.

Everything else is fully automatic,

computerized and self-regulating.

I... I listen for a

little bell in here.

Ding-a-ling. That

means a message

coming in is for the Wildfire Team.

Precisely! An M.C.N. Communication.

I'm expecting one.

Yes, sir! Top priority.

Ding-a-ling. I push a button

and all five level control

centers are notified

the same time you are.

The bell hasn't rung, sir.

Thanks for the tour, Sergeant.

Dr. Dutton. Thank you.

Will you follow me, Dr. Leavitt?

And may I have your glasses, please?

What for?

They'll be treated and

returned to you, Doctor.

They better be,

or I'll need a white cane.

Who picked Leavitt?

Talk about the Odd Man Hypothesis,

which we haven't yet.

She's really an oddball.

We're lucky to have her.

She's the best equipped of us

to double up for Kirke in microbiology.

When dressed,

the team will proceed

directly to conference room 7.

Keep this with you at all times.

What's it for?

You're the Odd Man.

The key man, quite literally.

This other key,

and Wildfire itself,

depend on your key.

Wildfire's equipped

with a nuclear device

for self-destruct.

In an emergency,

it's activated automatically.

I've just inserted the

key in the main station

that arms the mechanism.

The device is ready for detonation.

When?

Never, we hope.

It only goes off if there's danger

of infection breaking out from here.

That silver key can't be removed.

You're the only one

who can disarm the mechanism

by inserting your red key

in one of the substations

located throughout the facility.

There's a five-minute delay

between the time detonation locks in

and the bomb explodes.

That gives

you a chance to think

and, please God, call it off.

Look, I'm the new boy here. Why me?

Because you're single.

You should have done

your homework, sport.

Page 255, Robbie's Odd Man Hypothesis.

"Results of testing confirm

the Robertson Odd Man Hypothesis:

That an unmarried male should

carry out command decisions

involving thermonuclear

destruct contexts. "

Let me take a look at that.

It's of vital importance

that you always know where you are

in relation to the nearest substation.

To do that, you have to be familiar

with the entire facility.

It can be studied on

this electronic diagram

which rotates to afford an overall view,

or can be stopped at any section.

Detailed plans of the

various levels and labs

are also stored in the system.

We're on level 1 of a five-story

cylindrical underground structure

surrounded by solid rock.

Each level has three substations,

indicated by the yellow lights.

In the event the nuclear

device is triggered,

you can still cancel self-destruct

by inserting your red

key in a substation.

After our last simulation run,

we decided to add two

more substations per level,

but they're not finished.

So don't confuse them

with functioning ones.

At the bottom of the central core

is the apparatus for self-destruct.

Each level is a different color

based on a navy study

of the psychological effects

of color in environments.

Also, each level is biomedically cleaner

than the one above it.

We don't want anything

to contaminate a possible organism.

That would make it twice as hard

to isolate and characterize.

It'll take us 16 hours to descend

through the programmed

decontamination procedures

on the first four levels to level 5

where the main labs are.

Where, exactly, are we now?

There's one way you can

always locate yourself

or any of us instantly.

Simply by calling up projections

from the electronic diagram

on any video monitor

anywhere in Wildfire.

Views such as this.

This shows we're in

conference room 7, level 1.

Each of us is indicated by our initial.

Our movements are continuously monitored

on the electronic diagram.

Where are the patients?

Where's the capsule?

The patients are the yellow X's.

The red circle is the capsule.

On level 5, the patients

and capsule will be isolated

in biologically secure setups.

Are you sure the old man

and the baby are still alive?

What are their chances, Hall?

Uncertain.

I'm hoping the intravenous dextrose

and saline will hold them

until we get to them.

We start decontamination and

immunization procedures now.

You really expect me to fire the thing?

I'm afraid you don't understand.

All you can do is stop it.

In a biological emergency,

the bomb is activated automatically.

It'll then go off within five minutes

unless you get to a substation

and lock in your key.

Oh.

Delta Five to all levels.

We are checking out ray-ban

emergency communications.

This is a test.

Proceed to infrared radiation

decontamination room 1-D.

Also it could be an organism

from another planet

released deliberately.

To wipe us out? Really, Charles!

Just the opposite.

To make friendly contact.

A kind of messenger to show us

life exists elsewhere in the universe.

It could be benign in

its own environment.

Pretty far-fetched.

We can't ignore any possibility.

You are about to

undergo long-wave radiation.

A buzzer will sound.

Close your eyes and stand still

or blindness may result.

We face quite a problem:

How to disinfect the human body,

one of the dirtiest things

in the known universe.

That is without killing the

human being at the same time.

It gets tougher as we go.

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