their bodies. Our instruments can detect
incredibly small amounts but there's absolutely NOTHING! And come take
a look at this."
78 The Medic went over to the isolation ward, and turned up the lights
gradually. Two men were sleeping on the beds. "These two, when we
brought them in, were almost as bad as those!" explained the Medic,
"but now they're fine, beginning to put weight back on. We've been
going crazy, sir, and we've given them every test imaginable. It's like
they never were sick!"
79 "But when we brought them in," put in another voice, "they were
dying." Morn looked up to see the Doctor standing near his Medic.
"Damndest disease I've ever seen!" continued the Doctor.
80 Morn was tapping the readout boards. "If it is a disease!" he
remarked. "Were there any marks on their bodies, any puncture wounds?"
81 The Doctor shook his head. "The only thing," he said, "was a very
slight inflammation _ of the lungs, but I couldn't determine the cause.
And would you believe this? The Hashons seemed to be immune? The colony
has about thirty of them, and they're perfectly all right."
82 A crazy thought was entering Morn's mind ....or was it something his
Spirit Workers were trying to tell him? The Doctor looked at Morn,
bewildered, scratching his head. "I thought it might be a cycling
virus," he remarked, "but there's no trace of anything like that!
Nothing makes any sense! Whatever it is our sterile fields keep it
contained in engineering, and, the pod. But what I can't understand is
why these people got well once they were removed from those areas. It
still should be there. It still should be in their blood, but it's not.
83 There's no trace of anything, yet something was killing them, is
still killing these other people. If we don't find it soon, more of
them will die!"
84 "Doctor," suggested Morn, "I'm going down to engineering and have a
talk with the Miners. Why don't you