report to the conference room. They can scan
through that while they're waiting."
152 As Morn was leaving the door he stopped and turned back. "Order a
fresh crew for Engineering," he ordered. "Have them stand by for
rotation. Engineer, can you rig extra sterile fields over every main
hatch?"
153 "No problem, sir," answered the Engineer, "we've got a whole case
of them in Engineering that simply plug in."
154 ''Install them!" ordered Morn. The Officer hurried off as Morn
headed for sickbay.
155 Morn found the Doctor awake, checking through some medical books.
"You won't find it in there," Morn remarked, "because what we're
fighting is not a disease, it's a living organism that can enter the
body through the lungs or the skin and absorbs the sugar from them. I
think the reason why it doesn't bother the Hashons is that their bodies
convert extra sugar and starch to fat for storage while we store sugar
as tiny crystals in our cells."
156 The Doctor looked startled. "Damn!" he snapped, "It sounds crazy
but by Haven, it sure fits! Let me check some reference works!"
157 "The only thing I can't understand," continued Morn, "is why the
damned thing attacks gaskets. What is it in plastic that it's eating?"
158 The young Medic looked up. "Sugar, sir, they're made of sugar! My
father had one-hundred-and-fifty food production units on our farm. We
produced tons of sugar cane fiber, crushed it and extracted the sugar.
We sold it to a gasket-making factory. Somehow they make plastic out of
it, don't ask me how!"
159 Morn stepped over to the computer and activated it. "Computer," he
enquired, "show me the basic formula that makes up the gaskets we use
on the ship." The computer responded. "Good Lord!" gasped Morn,
"They're more than seventy-five per cent sugar or better! No wonder
this thing went after them! But why did it attack the machinery