Spaceship medic

Chapter 14

'Another jury-rig,' Sparks said. 'Do you think it will do the job?'

'It pretty well has to, doesn't it?' Don asked, trying not to be depressed as he looked at the collection of plundered equipment that sprawled across the tiny bench in the sick bay laboratory. 'The theory is right, and we checked it out with the hospital at Mars Central. They have built a duplicate of this thing, using the same parts, and it worked fine on the test run. If we follow their instructions we should be able to run duplication on any R.N.A. we find, and prepare a viricidal agent.' If we find any, he added silently to himself.

All the hectic work of the past ten hours would be useless if there were no meteorite there. Or if the theory were wrong, and the chunk of space rock had nothing to do with the disease. There were too many ifs...

But it was the only chance they had. He pushed one leg into the spacesuit as Kurikka came in. He was wearing his suit, with the helmet hanging, and he carried a steel canister.

I hope it will be big enough,' he said.

'It has to be. It is bigger than the entrance hole the meteorite made, so whatever we find should fit into it. How does it work?'

Kurikka flipped up the flat metal lid that was hinged at the side of the container. 'Simple enough. We put the meteorite in, then coat the inside of the lid with di-epoxy glue. This stuff works in a vacuum, anyplace. Seals airtight in about two minutes. You'll have to cut the end off to get at it, but that's no problem.'

'Nothing will be a problem - once we find the meteorite.' He sealed the space-suit and reached for his helmet. 'Let's go'

'How many sick now?' Kurikka asked.

'I stopped counting at sixty. Over half the people aboard. Three more dead.'

He led the way, in silence, to the midpipe elevator. The drive wheels whined as it rose up towards the centre of rotation of the ship. They became lighter and lighter until, when the elevator stopped, they floated weightless out of the door. Don followed behind, moving much slower than the Chief who was long used to null-G and drifted easily with an occasional touch on the guide rods. He had the hold airlock open when Don came up.

'We're entering the hold as close to the point of impact as we can get. We welded a patch on the floorplates of C deck about thirty feet from here. But we never entered the hold. We should be able to follow the path of the meteorite from the inside. But I have no idea how deep it penetrated. We only know that it didn't come out again.'

'Inside the ship. But if it went out through the side, instead of going through the decks again, is there any way that you would know that?'

'No,' Kurikka said, grimly. 'We can only hope that it didn't. Seal up, I'm starting the cycling.'

They snapped their faceplates shut and waited in silence as the door closed and the air was pumped from the lock. When it was gone the green light flashed on and the other door opened automatically. They floated out into the darkness of the immense hold.

It was a nightmare world of light and shadow, and Don was disorientated and lost before they had moved more than a few feet from the airlock. In the airless hold the patches of darkness could be either shadow - or solid - there was no way of telling without touching the spot or flashing a light on it. They had lights built into their helmets, but Don found his difficult to use. He clutched to a steel brace and tried to steady himself. The Chief floated up, his light sweeping a path before him. His voice rattled in Don's earphones.

'It's difficult at first, but you'll get the hang of it.'

'There's no up or down - and when I try to move I get dizzy, disorientated.'

'You're not the only one, sir. It always hits like this first time out. The thing to do is to fix your attention on one thing and try to ignore everything else. Now I'll go ahead, slowly, and you stay behind me. Keep looking square at me, eyes front, and that will keep your light focused on my back. If you want to look at something don't turn your eyes, but your whole head. That way you will have light wherever you look. Ready?'

'Ready as I'll ever be. Push off.'

Kurikka pulled himself up a series of handholds along a beam. The space was tight, with great containers on both sides, looming shapes in the darkness. He reached a crossbeam and angled out along it. There was a solid surface above his head and he trained his light up on to it.

'Look there,' he said, pointing to a torn opening in the metal that was sealed with a shining plate on the other side. 'Here's where it came through. That's the patch we put on the deck.'

They turned their heads and the circles of light from their beams crossed and met on the surface of an aluminium container a few feet away. The black disk of an opening was punched into its surface.

'Is that it?' Don asked;

'Right. But before we tear into the container let's make sure that it's still inside. Stay here, I can work faster alone. I want to examine the skin of this thing.'

The Chief was right, it did not take long. Don flashed his light into the hole, but there was only darkness inside.

I've found the exit hole,' the Chiefs voice said in his earphones. 'I'll take you to it.'

The meteorite had emerged from the container and plunged into a bale nearby, one of many secured by a tight net of plastic strands.

'Clothing,' the Chief said, reading the label. 'This is good luck. The layers inside will have slowed and stopped the thing, maybe even caught it. Use your knife, cut the net and we'll pull the bale out.'

Cutting the plastic was easy enough, but extracting the bale, tightly wedged in by the others, proved impossible.

'We'll have to cut them all free,' Kurikka said, slashing at the strand, 'then shove them apart.'

The bales surged and pushed against each other as the strain was released, moving with a life of their own. Soon there were bales floating all around them, bumping into them, getting in their way. With the pressure relieved, they grabbed the one they wanted and managed to heave it free. Kurikka turned it end for end and threw his light on it.

There was an exit hole in it.

'The next one. The meteorite is still further on,' he said.

Floating bales filled the space around them, jammed against them when they tried to move. The second layer was still wedged tightly together.

'We'll never get these free,' Don said.

'Maybe we won't have to - look!' He flashed his light into the opening and deep down it lit up a roughened surface. 'It's inside this one!'

With a quick slash of his knife he cut open the bale and heavy clothing drifted out. They rooted like mice in grain, hurling the clothing aside, stuffing it behind them, digging deeper and deeper until they came to it.

'That's it,' Don said. He was exhausted and empty of any emotion.

It looked so commonplace. A chunk of dirty rock. He prised at it with his knife and it floated free, turning as it rose. When it rotated the other side came into view.

This side of the meteorite was hollowed out, and lined with whitish crystals.

'The can, quick!' Don said, pulling back. 'And don't touch it with your gloves.'

'Those crystals - are they what you want?' the Chief asked, prodding the rock with his knife tip so that it floated into the container he was holding.

'I think so. I hope so.' Don was soaked with sweat and his head hurt. 'Seal it up.'

With slow precision the Chief took out the tube of di-epoxy and squeezed a circle of it on to the lid, then flipped it shut. He pushed down hard to seal it, and made sure it was closed all the way round.

'In two minutes it will be harder than steel,' he said.

'Good. Let's leave the knives here, they must be contaminated. And be careful taking off your suit, since we have surely brushed against material that is already contaminated.'

'Right. Follow me back, this thing will be sealed before we reach the lock.' He ploughed away through the floating bales and clothing with Don staying close behind.

'What would a dried virus look like?' the Chief asked, when they were in the lock and the air was being let back in.

'I have no idea, it could look like anything. These crystals perhaps.' He wiped his glove across his helmet to remove the water film that condensed there as air rushed in. 'When can we open our suits?'

'Not before the green light comes on. We'll do it outside the air lock. The metal in here is chilled now, it can give you a bad burn.'

When the door opened they floated out into the mid-pipe. Don put out his hand.

'Let me have the container,' he said. 'Then move away and take off your suit -without touching the outside. I'll pull on it if you need help. Then get out of here, back to the control-room. I'll follow as soon as you are clear.'

Kurikka protested. 'You'll need help getting out of your suit...'

'No I won't. I'm not concerned about my contamination. I'm enough of a doctor to recognize the symptoms.

'I don't have to worry about catching the fever - because I already have it.'