The Andromeda Strain Page #4

Hard on the taxpayers,

the way we burn up uniforms.

They're paper.

I'd swear it was cloth.

New process.

Where's the next substation, Hall?

Left of elevator on level 2.

Right. Across the corridor

from body analysis,

our next port of call.

Not for my alabaster body.

I mean it, Stone.

You can take your body

analyzer and you can...

Sit down, please.

Please look at the screen

in front of you.

Please place your body so

that all points are obliterated.

That is fine. We may proceed.

State your name for the records.

Surname first.

Mark Hall.

Hall, Mark.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Yes, dear.

Please answer the

following questions yes or no.

Have you any allergies?

Yes, to ragweed pollen.

Okay, I'll repeat for

your memory cells...

Please repeat your response

for our memory cells.

Ragweed pollen!

This ends the formal questioning.

Please undress.

This is a scan for fungal lesions.

Dr. Stone, this is level 2 control.

The answer is affirmative.

Major Manchek contacted the White House

at 11:
23 this morning.

Contact on

all leads is "R" for ready.

Do not be nervous.

I'm not nervous.

Physical parameters

are being measured.

There's no need to be nervous, Dr. Leavitt.

Please raise your left arm.

Please sit up, facing the scan screen

and watch carefully.

You have received pneumatic injections

of booster immunizations.

You may get dressed. Thank you.

This recording is now ended.

That body analyzer!

I want to be there when

the A.M.A. Gets wind of it.

So far it's only been used by NASA

to diagnose astronauts in space.

You doctors better start

making house calls again.

This is a xenon lamp apparatus.

To insure complete effectiveness,

spread your feet apart.

To protect scalp and facial hair,

place the metal helmet

securely on the head.

Make sure the helmet is firmly seated

and the visor lowered.

Then raise your arms and wait.

You may now remove helmet.

You will notice a fine

white ash on your body.

This is the outer epithelial

layers of your skin

that have been burned away.

Please replace the helmet in compartment

and proceed through shower in next room.

Then you may dress

and descend to level 4.

We're required to rest

for six hours on level 4

after exposure to the xenon lamp.

So go to your rooms and sleep.

At the end of the corridor

is the cafeteria.

We'll meet there at 0400 hours...

tomorrow.

Pharmacology

to maintenance L.B.

One of our R.F. S shows six points

over nominal at pressure three.

Watchdog to all levels.

Scoop 7 capsule secure.

Biocheck 66 plus 9 minus OL-5.

LEO control to KEEPSAKE 5.

The pressure integrity check

runs 2.54 G-CM to the second.

Please confirm.

A new form of life.

Like Rudolph Karp's bacteria.

Fools!

They refuse to believe

life exists in meteorites.

I showed them at the Astrophysics

Conference what I just showed you.

But no, even with a microscope,

they are blind.

What do I have to do?

Hit them over the head?

I'm glad you're amused, gentlemen,

but it might just turn out to be true.

During this symposium,

we'll discuss the possibility

that intelligent life

on a distant planet

may be no larger than a flea.

Perhaps no larger

than a bacterium.

Time to wake up, sir.

Time to wake up, sir!

Hello?

Time to wake up, sir.

Who are you?

Time to wake up, sir.

Do you wish something, sir?

Your name.

Will that be all, sir?

For the moment.

This is the answering

service supervisor.

We wish you would adopt

a more serious attitude, Dr. Hall.

Sorry. Her voice is quite luscious.

The voice belongs to Miss Gladys Stevens

who is 63 years old.

She lives in Omaha and makes her living

taping messages for

voice-reminder systems.

Much obliged.

Let's not get sidetracked

on Rudolph Karp

and his meteorite theories.

His technique was worthless!

I still think we should contact him.

Fair enough. Where is he?

Behind the Iron Curtain.

He couldn't get a research grant here.

H.P. Nutrient now

available in the cafeteria

for staff members

from sectors 1 through 6.

Hemlock!

All for you, Hippocrates.

Not your own venom?

Tastes like orange juice.

Nutrient 42-5.

Developed for the astronauts.

Eight ounces satisfy all daily

nutritional requirements.

Except coffee.

And lipid soluble vitamins.

For that we have these.

Help yourself.

So what's the point

of the cafeteria?

Wildfire isn't always on crash status.

Maybe there's some sugar.

Nope.

Nothing that might provide

a bacterial growth medium.

Precisely. No sugar in the gut.

I'd like a cigarette right now.

It's after meals you miss them.

You should have no trouble on level 5.

You won't even get

this close to a meal.

We'll be entirely on

high-protein nutrients.

I planned our work in three stages.

One:
Detection.

First step is to confirm

that an organism is present.

Two:
Characterization.

How is it structured,

how does it work?

Three:
Control.

How to contain and exterminate?

Jeremy, on this matter of extermination,

we should go slowly.

Without ever realizing it,

we might destroy a highly

intelligent form of life.

Why don't we get going?

I've got two patients down there.

The team has two subjects.

They're not guinea pigs, Stone.

You may now

proceed to level 5, gentlemen.

Stop by your rooms and insert these

before taking the elevator.

I have risked drowning

in that foul bath.

I have been parboiled,

irradiated and xenon flashed.

And now you suggest I...

I have to!

We haven't done anything

about the G.I. Tract yet.

On level 5 we must be

as nearly germ free as possible.

Anyone care to join me for a smoke?

Watchdog

to level 2, sector D.

You are Red Kappa Phoenix status.

Off the main

corridor on the outer rim

are the living quarters,

conference room,

cafeteria, bio-safety maintenance, etc.

Inside are the labs.

Where is the library?

No need for books.

Everything's in the computer.

Notice the capsule has

already been delivered

by the sterile conveyor system

to the main control lab here.

Your patients are here

in the hot room of miscellaneous.

We can't have any

direct contact with them.

Poor souls.

Dr. Dutton

and Dr. Hall are wanted

in main control immediately.

Hey!

If the patients are sealed off,

how do I get to them?

Ever used a glove box?

No.

Wildfire's gone a step further.

Whole rooms that operate

like glove boxes.

You'll be working in one shortly.

We have a magnetic "K" indices.

Give us a code 3 when you get it.

I wanted you here

while we find out

if there's anything still

biologically active in the capsule.

Suggestions?

Use a buffalo.

Audio.

Detectors "E"

through "G" correction.

Negative "N" scan.

Negative "N" scope in L Y-1.

Affirmative. "N" indicator in MP-4.

I will repeat.

Negative "N" scan.

Negative "N" scope in L Y-1.

Affirmative.

"N" indicator in MP-4.

Whatever killed them at Piedmont

is still there and

still as potent as ever.

If potent's the word.

Let's try a rhesus.

Yeah. We'll want

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