The Andromeda Strain Page 6

Chapter 5

 

  Stone clicked on his radio. "All set?"

  "All set. "

  Stone began to climb down the ladder. Burton waited a moment, then followed. He could see nothing in the swirling dust, but finally felt his shoes touch the ground. He released the ladder and looked over. He could barely make out Stone's suit, a dim outline in a gloomy, dusky world.

  The ladder pulled away as the helicopter lifted into the sky. The dust cleared. They could see.

  "Let's go," Stone said.

  Moving clumsily in their suits, they walked down the main street of Piedmont.

  7. "An Unusual Process"

  SCARCELY TWELVE HOURS AFTER THE FIRST KNOWN human contact with the Andromeda Strain was made at Piedmont, Burton and Stone arrived in the town. Weeks later, in their debriefing sessions, both men recalled the scene vividly, and described it in detail.

  The morning sun was still low in the sky; it was cold and cheerless, casting long shadows over the thinly snow-crusted ground. From where they stood, they could look up and down the street at the gray, weathered wooden buildings; but what they noticed first was the silence. Except for a gentle wind that whined softly through the empty houses, it was deathly silent. Bodies lay everywhere, heaped and flung across the ground in attitudes of frozen surprise.

  But there was no sound-- no reassuring rumble of an automobile engine, no barking dog, no shouting children.

  Silence.

  The two men looked at each other. They were painfully aware of how much there was to learn, to do. Some catastrophe had struck this town, and they must discover all they could about it. But they had practically no clues, no points of departure.

  They knew, in fact, only two things. First, that the trouble apparently began with the landing of Scoop VII. And second, that death had overtaken the people of the town with astonishing rapidity. If it was a disease from the satellite, then it was like no other in the history of medicine.

  For a long time the men said nothing, but stood in the street, looking about them, feeling the wind tug at their over63

  sized suits. Finally, Stone said, "Why are they all outside, in the street? If this was a disease that arrived at night, most of the people would be indoors. "

  "Not only that," Burton said, "they're mostly wearing pajamas. It was a cold night last night. You'd think they would have stopped to put on a jacket, or a raincoat. Something to keep warm. "

  "Maybe they were in a hurry. "

  "To do what?" Burton said.

  "To see something," Stone said, with a helpless shrug.

  Burton bent over the first body they came to. "Odd," he said. "Look at the way this fellow is clutching his chest. Quite a few of them are doing that. "

  Looking at the bodies, Stone saw that the hands of many were pressed to their chests, some flat, some clawing.

  "They didn't seem to be in pain," Stone said. "'Their faces are quite peaceful. "

  "Almost astonished, in fact," Burton nodded. "These people look cut down, caught in midstride. But clutching their chests. "

  "Coronary?" Stone said.

  "Doubt it. They should grimace-- it's painful. The same with a pulmonary embolus. "

  "If it was fast enough, they wouldn't have time. "

  "Perhaps. But somehow I think these people died a painless death. Which means they are clutching their chests because--"

  "They couldn't breathe," Stone said.

  Burton nodded. "It's possible we're seeing asphyxiation. Rapid, painless, almost instantaneous asphyxiation. But I doubt it. If a person can't breathe, the first thing he does is loosen his clothing, particularly around the neck and chest. Look at that man there-- he's wearing a tie, and he hasn't touched it. And that woman with the tightly buttoned collar. "

  Burton was beginning to regain his composure now, after the initial shock of the town. He was beginning to think clearly. They walked up to the van, standing in the middle of the street, its lights still shining weakly. Stone reached in to turn off the lights. He pushed the stiff body of the driver back from the wheel and read the name on the breast pocket of the parka.

  "Shawn. "

  The man sitting rigidly in the back of the van was a private named Crane. Both men were locked in rigor mortis. Stone nodded to the equipment in the back.

  "Will that still work?"

  "I think so," Burton said.

  "Then let's find the satellite. That's our first job. We can worry later about--"

  He stopped. He was looking at the face of Shawn, who had obviously pitched forward hard onto the steering wheel at the moment of death. There was a large, arc-shaped cut across his face, shattering the bridge of his nose and tearing the skin.

  "I don't get it," Stone said.

  "Get what?" Burton said.

  "This injury. Look at it. "

  "Very clean," Burton said. "Remarkably clean, in fact. Practically no bleeding. . . "

  Then Burton realized. He started to scratch his head in astonishment, but his hand was stopped by the plastic helmet.

  "A cut like that," he said, "on the face. Broken capillaries, shattered bone, torn scalp veins-- it should bleed like hell. "

  "Yes," Stone said. "It should. And look at the other bodies. Even where the vultures have chewed at the flesh: no bleeding. "

  Burton stared with increasing astonishment. None of the bodies had lost even a drop of blood. He wondered why they had not noticed it before.

  "Maybe the mechanism of action of this disease--"

  "Yes," Stone said. "I think you may be right. " He grunted and dragged Shawn out of the van, working to pull the stiff body from behind the wheel. "Let's get that damned satellite," he said. "This is really beginning to worry me. "

  Burton went to the back and pulled Crane out through the rear doors, then climbed in as Stone turned the ignition. The starter turned over sluggishly, and the engine did not catch.

  Stone tried to start the van for several seconds, then said, "I don't understand. The battery is low, but it should still be enough--"

  "How's your gas?" Burton said.

  There was a pause, and Stone swore loudly. Burton smiled, and crawled out of the back. Together they walked up the street to the gas station, found a bucket, and filled it with gas from the pump after spending several moments trying to decide how it worked. When they had the gas, they returned to the van, filled the tank, and Stone tried again.

  The engine caught and held. Stone grinned. "Let's go. "

  Burton scrambled into the back, turned on the electronic equipment, and started the antenna rotating. He heard the faint beeping of the satellite.

  "The signal's weak, but still there. Sounds over to the left somewhere. "

  Stone put the van in gear. They rumbled off, swerving around the bodies in the street. The beeping grew louder. They continued down the main street, past the gas station and the general store. The beeping suddenly grew faint.

  "We've gone too far. Turn around. "

  It took a while for Stone to find reverse on the gearshift, and then they doubled back, tracing the intensity of the sound. It was another fifteen minutes before they were able to locate the origin of the beeps to the north, on the outskirts of the town.

  Finally, they pulled up before a plain single-story woodframe house. A sign creaked in the wind: Dr. Alan Benedict.

  "Might have known," Stone said. "They'd take it to the doctor. "

  The two men climbed out of the van and went up to the house. The front door was open, banging in the breeze. They entered the living room and found it empty. Riming right, they came to the doctor's office.

  Benedict was there, a pudgy, white-haired man. He was seated before his desk, with several textbooks laid open. Along one wall were bottles, syringes, pictures of his family and several others showing
men in combat uniforms. One showed a group of grinning soldiers; the scrawled words: "For Benny, from the boys of 87, Anzio. "

  Benedict himself was staring blankly toward a corner of the room, his eyes wide, his face peaceful.

  "Well," Burton said, "Benedict certainly didn't make it outside--"

  And then they saw the satellite.

  It was upright, a sleek polished cone three feet high, and its edges had been cracked and seared from the heat of reentry. It had been opened crudely, apparently with the help of a pair of pliers and chisel that lay on the floor next to the capsule.

  "The bastard opened it," Stone said. "Stupid son of a bitch. "

  "How was he to know?"

  "He might have asked somebody," Stone said. He sighed. "Anyway, he knows now. And so do forty-nine other people. " He bent over the satellite and closed the gaping, triangular hatch. "You have the container?"

  Burton produced the folded plastic bag and opened it out. Together they slipped it over the satellite, then sealed it shut.

  "I hope to hell there's something left," Burton said.

  "In a way," Stone said softly, "I hope there isn't. "

  They turned their attention to Benedict. Stone went over to him and shook him. The man fell rigidly from his chair onto the floor.

  Burton noticed the elbows, and suddenly became excited. He leaned over the body. "Come on," he said to Stone. "Help me. "

  "Do what?"

  "Strip him down. "

  "Why?"

  "I want to check the lividity.

  "But why?"

  "Just wait," Burton said. He began unbuttoning Benedict's shirt and loosening his trousers. The two men worked silently for some moments, until the doctor's body was naked on the floor.

  "There," Burton said, standing back.

  "I'll be damned," Stone said.

  There was no dependent lividity. Normally, after a person died, blood seeped to the lowest points, drawn down by gravity. A person who died in bed had a purple back from accumulated blood. But Benedict, who had died sitting up, had no blood in the tissue of his buttocks or thighs.

  Or in his elbows, which had rested on the arms of the chair.

  "Quite a peculiar finding," Burton said. He glanced around the room and found a small autoclave for sterilizing instruments. Opening it, he removed a scalpel. He fitted it with a blade-- carefully, so as not to puncture his airtight suit-- and then turned back to the body.

  "We'll take the most superficial major artery and vein," he said.

  "Which is?"

  "The radial. At the wrist. "

  Holding the scalpel carefully, Burton drew the blade along the skin of the inner wrist, just behind the thumb. The skin pulled back from the wound, which was completely bloodless. He exposed fat and subcutaneous tissue. There was no bleeding.

  "Amazing. "

  He cut deeper. There was still no bleeding from the incision. Suddenly, abruptly, he struck a vessel. Crumbling red-black material fell out onto the floor.

  "I'll be damned," Stone said again.

  "Clotted solid," Burton said.

  "No wonder the people didn't bleed. "

  Burton said, "Help me turn him over. " Together, they got the corpse onto its back, and Burton made a deep incision into the medial thigh, cutting down to the femoral artery and vein. Again there was no bleeding, and when they reached the artery, as thick as a man's finger, it was clotted into a firm, reddish mass.

  "Incredible. "

  He began another incision, this time into the chest. He exposed the ribs, then searched Dr. Benedict's office for a very sharp knife. He wanted an osteotome, but could find none. He settled for the chisel that had been used to open the capsule. Using this he broke away several ribs to expose the lungs and the heart. Again there was no bleeding.

  Burton took a deep breath, then cut open the heart, slicing into the left ventricle.

  The interior was filled with red, spongy material. There was no liquid blood at all.

  "Clotted solid," he said. "No question. "

  "Any idea what can clot people this way?"

  "The whole vascular system? Five quarts of blood? No. " Burton sat heavily in the doctor's chair and stared at the body he had just cut open. "I've never heard of anything like it. There's a thing called disseminated intravascular coagulation, but it's rare and requires all sorts of special circumstances to initiate it. "

  "Could a single toxin initiate it?"

  "In theory, I suppose. But in fact, there isn't a toxin in the world--"

  He stopped.

  "Yes," Stone said. "I suppose that's right. '

  He picked up the satellite designated Scoop VII and carried it outside to the van. When he came back, he said, "We'd better search the houses.

  "Beginning here?"

  "Might as well," Stone said.

  ***

  It was Burton who found Mrs. Benedict. She was a pleasant-looking middle-aged lady sitting in a chair with a book on her lap; she seemed about to turn the page. Burton examined her briefly, then heard Stone call to him.

  He walked to the other end of the house. Stone was in a small bedroom, bent over the body of a young teenage boy on the bed. It was obviously his room: psychedelic posters on the walls, model airplanes on a shelf to one side.

  The boy lay on his back in bed, eyes open, staring at the ceiling. His mouth was open. In one hand, an empty tube of model-airplane cement was tightly clenched; all over the bed were empty bottles of airplane dope, paint thinner, turps.

  Stone stepped back. "Have a look. "

  Burton looked in the mouth, reached a finger in, touched the now-hardened mass. "Good God," he said.

  Stone was frowning. "This took time," he said. "Regardless of what made him do it, it took time. We've obviously been oversimplifying events here. Everyone did not die instantaneously. Some people died in their homes; some got out into the street. And this kid here. . . "

  He shook his head. "Let's check the other houses. "

  On the way out, Burton returned to the doctor's office, stepping around the body of the physician. It gave him a strange feeling to see the wrist and leg sliced open, the chest exposed-- but no bleeding. There was something wild and inhuman about that. As if bleeding were a sign of humanity. Well, he thought, perhaps it is. Perhaps the fact that we bleed to death makes us human.

  ***

  For Stone, Piedmont was a puzzle challenging him to crack its secret. He was convinced that the town could tell him everything about the nature of the disease, its course and effects. It was only a matter of putting together the data in the proper way.

  But he had to admit, as they continued their search, that the data were confusing:

  ***

  A house that contained a man, his wife, and their young daughter, all sitting around the dinner table. They had apparently been relaxed and happy, and none of them had had time to push back their chairs from the table. They remained frozen in attitudes of congeniality, smiling at each other across the plates of now-rotting food, and flies. Stone noticed the flies, which buzzed softly in the room. He would, he thought, have to remember the flies.

  ***

  An old woman, her hair white, her face creased. She was smiling gently as she swung from a noose tied to a ceiling rafter. The rope creaked as it rubbed against the wood of the rafter.

  At her feet was an envelope. In a careful, neat, unhurried hand: "To whom it may concern. "

  Stone opened the letter and read it. "The day of judgment is at hand. The earth and the waters shall open up and mankind shall be consumed. May God have mercy on my soul and upon those who have shown mercy to me. To hell with the others. Amen. "

  Burton listened as the letter was read. "Crazy old lady," he said. "Senile dementia. She saw everyone around her dy
ing, and she went nuts. "

  "And killed herself?"

  "Yes, I think so. "

  "Pretty bizarre way to kill herself, don't you think?"

  "That kid also chose a bizarre way," Burton said.

  Stone nodded.

  ***

  Roy O. Thompson, who lived alone. From his greasy coveralls they assumed he ran the town gas station. Roy had apparently filled his bathtub with water, then knelt down, stuck his head in, and held it there until he died. When they found him his body was rigid, holding himself under the surface of the water; there was no one else around, and no sign of struggle.

  "Impossible," Stone said. "No one can commit suicide that way. "

  ***

  Lydia Everett, a seamstress in the town, who had quietly gone out to the back yard, sat in a chair, poured gasoline over herself, and struck a match. Next to the remains of her body they found the scorched gasoline can.

  ***

  William Arnold, a man of sixty sitting stiffly in a chair in the living room, wearing his World War I uniform. He had been a captain in that war, and he had become a captain again, briefly, before he shot himself through the right temple with a Colt . 45. There was no blood in the room when they found him; he appeared almost ludicrous, sitting there with a clean, dry hole in his head.

  A tape recorder stood alongside him, his left hand resting on the case. Burton looked at Stone questioningly, then turned it on.

  A quavering, irritable voice spoke to them.

  "You took your sweet time coming, didn't you? Still I am glad you have arrived at last. We are in need of reinforcements. I tell you, it's been one hell of a battle against the Hun. Lost 40 per cent last night, going over the top, and two of our officers are out with the rot. Not going well, not at all. If only Gary Cooper was here. We need men like that, the men who made America strong. I can't tell you how much it means to me, with those giants out there in the flying saucers. Now they're burning us down, and the gas is coming. You can see them die and we don't have gas masks. None at all. But I won't wait for it. I am going to do the proper thing now. I regret that I have but one life to kill for my country. "

  The tape ran on, but it was silent.

  Burton turned if off. "Crazy," he said. "Stark raving mad. "

  Stone nodded.

  "Some of them died instantly, and the others. . . went quietly nuts. "

  "But we seem to come back to the same basic question. Why? What was the difference?"

  "Perhaps there's a graded immunity to this bug," Burton said. "Some people are more susceptible than others. Some people are protected, at least for a time. "

  "You know," Stone said, "there was that report from the flybys, and those films of a man alive down here. One man in white robes. "

  "You think he's still alive?"

  "Well, I wonder," Stone said. "Because if some people survived longer than others-- long enough to dictate a taped speech, or to arrange a hanging-- then you have to ask yourself if someone maybe didn't survive for a very long time. You have to ask yourself if there isn't someone in this town who is still alive. "