The Altian Plague by DM Arnold (best book club books for discussion .TXT) 📖

here.”

“Then, so am I.”

“Where is Senta?”

“She went home -- she said she's too agitated to watch.”

Nyk sat on the sofa, his head back. Suki leaned against him. Motion in the room awakened him and he saw Aahhn at the control panel. “Andra,” he said through the communicator. “Good morning. How are you feeling?”

Andra sat up and rubbed her eyes. “I feel a little strange.”

“Strange, how?”

She pressed her hand to her abdomen. “My stomach...”

Aahhn consulted the control panel. “We're seeing more antibodies.” Nyk looked over his shoulder. I'd better get Helsyn.”

Andra sat on the edge of the pallet and folded her arms across her abdomen.

Helsyn stepped in and reviewed the panel. “This is good and bad news,” he said.

“Good how?”

“The good news is her antibodies are climbing. That means we neutralized the second phase.”

“You mean the one that attacks her immune system.”

“Correct. The bad news is her antibodies are climbing -- the infection is advancing. The third phase attacks the digestive system.”

Andra leaned forward, belched and retched. “What's happening to me?”

“You're trying to vomit,” Aahhn said. “There's a basin under the pallet.”

She fetched the basin and set it on her lap. “I've never vomited before -- I don't know how!”

“Never?” Suki asked.

“Many Florans go their whole lives without being sick once,” Nyk replied.

“It's a reflex,” Aahhn said. “Relax and don't fight it.”

Andra leaned over the basin, panting. She opened her mouth and heaved. Suki turned her back and bit her knuckle.

“Ohhhh...” Andra moaned and vomited again. “I'm feeling a little better, now,” she gasped.

“Have you noticed any swelling under your arms?” Aahhn asked. “Any tenderness?”

“No...” Andra felt her armpits. “Maybe a little puffiness.”

“What about your neck?” Andra felt her neck and pointed to a lump. “Phase four is the lymphatic system.”

Helsyn pointed. “Her antibody levels are rising rapidly, now.”

“The vaccine isn't working!” Suki exclaimed.

“It is,” Aahhn replied. “Her body is fighting the virus.”

“Oh, Andra!”

“He's right,” Helsyn added. “Without the vaccine by now she'd be critical.”

“I feel cold,” Andra said. She folded her arms and began to shiver.

Aahhn examined another display. “She's running a fever.” He spoke through the communicator, “Andra -- there's a blanket in the cabinet.”

Andra lay on the pallet in the fetal position, huddled under the blanket. She moaned and shook.

“We should let her rest,” Aahhn said.

“Don't leave me!” Andra moaned through the communicator.

Nyk paced before the containment chamber. Andra lay curled up on the pallet, her back to the glass wall. Aahhn pointed toward the display on the control panel. “Look -- her antibody levels are flattening.”

“Does that mean she's clearing the virus?” Nyk asked.

Helsyn looked at the panel and her vital signs. He shook his head. “I don't think so. I think it means her immune system is overwhelmed. The virus is multiplying faster than she can create defenses.”

“Andra,” Nyk called. “How are you feeling?”

“So cold,” she moaned.

“Her body temperature is climbing,” Helsyn said.

Andra rolled onto her back. “Oh, my GOD!” Suki shrieked in English.

Nyk looked into the chamber. Andra's face, chest and arms were covered in red blotches.

“The fifth phase -- the skin,” Aahhn remarked.

Andra lay on her back, breathing through her mouth. “My head is starting to hurt,” she panted. “And, my neck...”

“Sixth phase, meningitis,” Helsyn said. “Aahhn -- maybe we should send someone in there and start fluids.” Aahhn nodded in agreement.

Nyk watched as an attendant wearing a containment suit stepped through the airlock. She approached Andra and raised the head of the pallet. He watched as she hung a pouch of saline and started in I.V. into Andra's forearm.

Suki grabbed his arm. “I want to go in there and comfort her,” she said. “I'll put on one of those suits.”

“It's too risky,” Nyk replied. “I don't like seeing that attendant in there.”

“I have some other rounds to make,” Helsyn said. “I'll check on her in the morning.”

Aahhn approached and regarded her. “Her body is fighting this hard,” he said.

“Yes,” Nyk replied. “Marxo was dead by now.”

“I see a glimmer of hope. The vaccine stopped the first two phases of the virus. She did not exhibit the respiratory infection, nor has her immune system been compromised.”

“Then, why isn't she throwing off the infection?” Nyk asked.

“She may yet.” He poked a handheld vidisplay. “It's late. You folks should go home and get some rest.”

“I'm staying here,” Suki replied.

“I'll stay, too,” Nyk added.

Dawn twilight streaming through the high window in the treatment room waked Nyk. He looked into the containment chamber. Andra hadn't moved. She lay on her back, her eyes closed. Nyk thought her breathing looked rapid and shallow.

He put his ear to the communicator and could hear Andra mumbling. “No ... Zander ... no more drugs ... Zander ... I didn't mean it ... please don't ... whatever it was ... stop ... no ... don't ... don't...”

Suki cracked her eyes open. “How's she doing?”

“She's still breathing,” Nyk replied. “She's muttering to herself.”

“You mean she's delirious?”

“She seems to be reliving her time with Zander. Did she tell you about that?”

Suki nodded. “I thought I had a bad time with my first husband.”

A suited attendant approached Andra with a basin. She picked up the shell laying beside her on the pallet.

“Don't take that from her,” Suki said.

“What is it?”

“It's her lucky shell.”

“I have to move it. I'll put it back...” She began daubing water onto Andra's face and forehead with a cloth.

Senta stepped into the room. “How's she doing?”

Suki glowered at her. “Not well.”

“Oh, NO!” Senta stared into the chamber; then headed toward the airlock.

Nyk held her back. “Senta! You can't go in there!”

“I'm the one who belongs in there -- not her!”

“This was necessary,” Nyk said. “We all know the stakes.”

“I was so sure of the vaccine,” Senta said, burying her face in her hands.

“And, it worked,” Nyk replied. “It stopped the first two phases. Enough of the virus went on to multiply into the other four, and it overwhelmed her. Aahhn thinks she still can throw off the infection.”

“What if she can't?” Senta asked.

Aahhn and Helsyn stepped into the treatment room. “I think it's time to block her,” Helsyn said.

Nyk looked at the doctor and shook his head. “She wouldn't want that. She wouldn't want to be ... put to sleep.”

“Nykkyo,” Helsyn replied, “It would be a kindness.”

“Andra's a fighter. She'd want to fight this to the end.”

“Which I'm afraid may be quite near,” Aahhn added. He stepped to the control panel and began scrolling through the charts. “I wish I knew what else we could do for her.”

Suki stepped to Nyk and he embraced her. “Oh, Nykkyo,” she said. “I don't know what I'll do. I truly don't know what I'll do...”

Senta put her hand on Suki's shoulder. “I'm so sorry,” she said. “I was so sure...”

“We don't blame you,” Nyk replied.

Suki gazed into the chamber. “She was so brave ... so strong... I'll never forget her.”

Nyk slipped his arm around her. “She's not gone yet.”

“Look,” Aahhn said, pointing to the display. Helsyn stood looking over his shoulder. “If I scroll back to when she first exposed herself... Notice the rapid spike in antibody count. Her immune system was creating antibodies faster than the virus could multiply.” He pointed more. “Here, it starts to taper off, and here, it's flattened altogether. It's almost as if something stimulated her system right at the beginning.”

“Maybe,” Helsyn said, “it was the immune system booster we put into the vaccine.”

“Booster?” Aahhn asked.

“Yes. We thought it would speed up her building immunity.”

“Why didn't you say you had included booster?”

“Don't you use it as a matter of course?” Helsyn asked.

“I see very few infections of this nature. YOU'RE the expert on treating this sort of affliction.”

“We tried booster on Marxo and it didn't work,” Nyk said.

“That's because his immune system was knocked out by the second phase,” Helsyn replied. “The vaccine should protect against that part of the attack. Kurso -- you should KNOW booster is indicated for this situation.”

“Helsyn, if booster was indicated -- then, why didn't YOU order some?”

“She's YOUR patient, Kurso. I'm only here in a consulting role.”

“Then why in Destiny's name didn't you consult me and recommend it?”

Helsyn threw his hands in the air. “I was under the impression YOU were administering it. A third-year medical student would know...”

“Don't you think,” Suki said, “instead of arguing we should be giving her booster?”

Aahhn pressed a control and an attendant entered. “Get immune system booster into her -- a continuous infusion.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

“Quickly.”

“Right away, Doctor...” She headed down the corridor and returned in a containment suit and carrying a pouch of a straw-colored fluid. Nyk watched as she hung the pouch and connected it to the I.V. line running into Andra's forearm.

Nyk stood looking into the confinement chamber. Suki stood beside him and he put his arm around her. “Oh, Nykkyo,” she said, “I can't believe this is happening.”

“Andra tells me again and again that we mustn't question the assignments Destiny gives us, but do our duty and make the best of it.”

“I know I can go on.. I know I'll have to. It's not fair. I lost my family...”

“Your family lost you, to be more precise.”

“What difference does it make? I'll never hold my baby again... I'll never sit in the kitchen as Mom does the dishes and have girl talk with her. I had just reconciled myself to it -- I had just become comfortable here, with Andra. And, now ... so soon after ... this...” She sniffed back tears.

An attendant in an isolation suit opened the outer airlock door and sealed it behind her. She entered the chamber and replaced the pouch of booster draining into Andra's vein. Nyk watched as she stepped back into the airlock, was sprayed with decontaminant and then stepped into the outer room.

“How is she?” Nyk asked.

The attendant shook her head. “About the same.” She stepped to the control panel and poked a vidisplay screen. “I have some meal packages for you two. I'll get them.”

She fetched the packages and handed them to Nyk. “Call if you need anything.”

He passed a package to Suki. “I'm really not hungry,” she said.

“You had better eat,” Nyk replied. “No sense making yourself sick over this.”

“I am already sick over it.” She popped the cover from the package.

“Andra wouldn't want you to suffer. She wouldn't want you to grieve so.” Nyk held his tray and scooped from it. He stood by the transparent wall of the containment chamber. “She looks like she's sleeping peacefully. Her breathing is deep and regular -- not like before.”

Suki stood beside him and clutched his arm. “Do you think she's in a coma?”

“I don't know. I don't have much experience with comas.” He wandered to the control panel. “I wish I knew how to interpret these readings.” He glanced into the chamber. “Her forehead looks damp,” he said. “Aahhn said I should page him if anything changed.”

“This looks like a change, don't you think?” Suki asked.

Nyk nodded. “I'll page him.” He poked his handheld vidisplay and placed a call. “She's starting to perspire,” he said.

“I'm at Central Clinic,” Aahhn replied. “I'll be there as soon as I can.”

Beads of perspiration formed on Andra's brow and rolled down her face. “What does this mean?” Nyk asked. “This didn't happen to Marxo.”

“I had scarlet fever once as a child,” Suki replied. “I had a high fever and was pretty sick. I remember when my fever broke -- I started sweating. Perspiration rolled off me. It felt like someone dumped a bucket of water on me.”

“It must've been awful.”

“No -- it felt good. After being so sick, it was when I started sweating that I also started feeling better.”

“When your fever broke?” Nyk pointed to a display. “Look -- her body temperature has dropped.”

“She's stirring,” Suki said.

Nyk watched as Andra rolled her head from side to side. She lifted her hand and rubbed her eyes.

“Andra!” Suki called through the communicator.

“Oh, Sukiko,” Andra replied. “It is so warm in here.”

“I'll call the attendant and have her bring you some ice water.”

“That would be nice,” Andra replied. She threw the blanket off herself and Nyk could see dark, damp patches on her gown. “I'm soaked.” She wiped moisture from her forehead. “And, I'm so hot.”

The attendant held a water tumbler as Andra sipped through a drinking tube. Aahhn approached the chamber and regarded his patient. “She's perspiring. What does that mean?”

“It means her fever is breaking,” Suki answered and pointed to the display. “Look.”

“So it is... Look at her antibody counts -- they're almost off the chart! I think the blotches are beginning to fade. Don't you?”

“I can't tell if they are or not,” Nyk replied.

“Let me signal Helsyn.”

Aahhn and Helsyn pored over the data. “Her antibodies are leveling again,” Aahhn said.

“This is different,” Helsyn replied. “Before, they flattened. This is more of a tapering.”

“Tapering?” Nyk asked.

“Her fever is down,” Aahhn