The Andromeda Strain Page #7

I'll repeat that for you.

Keep a sharp eye open

for pieces of rubber.

Major!

Major Manchek!

Take a look at that, sir.

We just found this, General.

It's a human bone.

Arm, I think.

It looks picked clean,

almost like it was polished.

That's right.

Well, I don't get it.

There is no actual rubber

on the Phantom F-4, General.

It's all a synthetic plastic

compound called polycron.

It has some of the characteristics

of human skin.

What the hell is that?

What's left of his oxygen mask.

It's made of polycron.

I'd say it was done

by a chemical reaction

of some sort.

Or maybe a microorganism.

Meaning?

Meaning there was something

in that plane that consumes plastic.

How's Maxcult coming, Ruth?

Will you be finished by

the midnight conference?

Easy.

Good. You can give us

the results then.

Feeling better, aren't you, Mr. Jackson?

Yep!

Do you always have

to wear that iron suit?

Yep!

Maybe you'll tell us

the baby's name now,

Mr. Jackson.

Manuel Rios. Mex.

Real little heller.

Squalls morning, noon and night.

Neighbors wouldn't let them

keep their windows open.

Do you sleep with your window closed?

No sirree, Bob.

Fresh air fiend.

Tell us what happened, Mr. Jackson.

I don't want to think about it.

You know what people will say?

Piedmont was bad.

That's why it was punished.

First the town went crazy

and then was destroyed.

You're crazy!

Folks at Piedmont was good,

decent, normal folks.

The man we found dressed up

in his doughboy's uniform,

call that normal?

Pete Arnold, who worked at the store.

It was the disease.

How do you know?

'Cause the only thing wrong with him

before that night was sugar.

Diabetes? Did he take insulin?

A couple of times a day.

Hated the needle.

I tried to talk him

into using squeeze.

Insulin. If he missed his

treatment, he'd go...

Thanks, Mr. Jackson.

Oh, my God!

Central C.C.

To big P.C. Control, all levels.

Testing laser system.

Please maintain random fringe drift

within ten percent of initial value.

Dr. Leavitt, you have

a midnight conference.

The signal has struck twice.

I heard!

I heard! I've been busy.

The important thing is

something can slow it down.

I think it's some kind

of blood disorder.

If the old soldier missed

his insulin treatment,

he'd go into acidosis.

The same as Jackson on Sterno.

I'll bet Leavitt finds the

organism shows no growth

on some of the blood cultures.

What's wrong

with the baby's blood?

Nothing... so far.

Then you're back where you started.

No. Somehow they're all interrelated.

I'll have the answer when I know

why a 69-year-old Sterno drinker

with an ulcer is like a normal

six-month-old

baby.

Did you get any no-growth readouts...

No, but I'm not finished yet.

You told me you'd be finished.

I decided to play part of it back.

What for? The first

time around should be...

Knock it off, Hall!

Wait. Wait.

We're all tired.

Tired people make mistakes.

They draw wrong conclusions,

they drop things.

That mustn't happen.

Starting now, I want the team to get

six hours sleep out of every 24.

Suits me.

Before turning in,

shouldn't we file for a code name?

Yeah, good idea.

Nine over 4 over 8

under 167.29.

Auto check in grade.

Auto check in grade.

Why Andromeda?

Andromeda's our...

Stone!

"Directive 7-12 has not been acted upon.

Alternative directive 7-11 now in effect. "

They didn't drop the bomb!

It's an M.C.N. Transmission sent yesterday.

Idiots!

Put me through to Dr. Robertson.

In work, sir.

Burke, you didn't special alert

an M.C.N. Message to us.

There haven't been any, sir.

The bell didn't ring...

Don't argue, damn it!

I've got one in my hand.

Well, well. About time

we heard from you.

There has been a communications foul-up.

Never mind that now.

Why hasn't that bomb

been dropped on Piedmont?

The decision on 7-12 isn't final.

It was just postponed 48 hours.

By then the disease could spread

into a worldwide epidemic.

It's because of rash

statements like that

the president doesn't trust scientists.

Warn the president

it may already be too late.

Stay on his back, Robbie.

You've got to make him call a 7-12.

Can you get me another

appointment tonight, Grimes?

Now let's all just keep

our heads screwed on.

Any thoughts about

the Phantom crash?

We sent you a couple messages on it.

A Phantom jet strayed over the

cordoned area around Piedmont.

Any other information?

Well, the pilot said...

that all the rubber on

the plane was dissolving.

His last communication was pretty weird.

Like he was crazy?

He was mighty confused, that's for sure.

Robbie, it's your job

to get the president

to activate a 7-12 immediately.

If he doesn't, there's no guarantee

anyone west of Piedmont

will be alive in the morning.

Simmer down, Professor.

I'll wake the boss.

But General Sparks says

the crash was just a fluke.

Forget the crash, Robbie.

Stay on that 7-12 and get back to me.

We'll be working around the clock.

That's a good slice.

It's too thick.

I'm setting it at 800 angstroms,

and I'm going to a higher magnification.

Now we're getting somewhere!

Yeah.

But these can't be more

than a few molecules in depth.

That's the one, that silver one.

This is a Villabach alert,

all levels.

This is a Villabach alert.

Electromagnetic waves are not

registering on the D.I.R.

Sample in the button

and sealed, Charlie.

Start the vacuum pump.

Stone, can I see you?

I have the results

of the growth cultures.

No, we can't leave now.

We have an Andromeda cell in the E.M.

Okay, Charlie, let's

put it on the screen.

Let's run it through the computer

for contrast expansion.

Stone?

What do you think?

It looks like a crystal.

Well, gentlemen, there's our answer.

To what?

How Andromeda functions

without amino acids.

Crystalline structure.

Yes.

I've often thought

that living matter

might be based on

crystals of some kind.

All these wedge-shaped compartments,

they'd serve to separate

biochemical functions very well.

It's dividing.

In a vacuum, bombarded by electrons?

It shouldn't even be alive!

That's what I wanted to tell you.

The growth program shows

Andromeda can live on anything.

Only gas and light affect it.

You didn't get any no-growth

results on the cultures?

None. Look.

The poorest growth

occurs in pure oxygen

incubated under infrared light.

Andromeda grows best in

carbon dioxide and hydrogen

incubated under X rays.

No excretions.

No waste of any kind.

You'd expect that.

Andromeda's perfect

for existence in outer space.

Consumes everything, wastes nothing.

Good Lord. Stone to Delta Five.

Put me through to Robertson immediately.

What?

God, I hope we're not too late.

Tell me.

It functions like an atomic reactor.

An atomic blast could provide it

with enough energy to grow

into a gigantic supercolony.

In one day.

You can relax now.

We've just left the president.

He agreed to drop the bomb.

No, you've got to stop 7-12

from being carried out.

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