ery person on Tallien Three is about to end! And to hasten the time
when every person on the planet will have the vaccine in the required
dosage and at the required intervals, Dr. Lett has been given complete
emergency authority. He is empowered to call upon every citizen for
any labor, any sum, any sacrifice that will restore our afflicted
fellow-citizens to normality, and to protect the rest against falling
a victim to this intolerable disease. I repeat: a vaccine has been
found which absolutely prevents anyone from becoming a para, and which
cures those who are paras now. And Dr. Lett has absolute authority to
issue any orders he feels necessary to hasten the end of the epidemic
and to prevent its return. But the end is sure!_"

The speaker clicked off. Calhoun said wryly:

"Unfortunately, I know what that means. The President has announced
the government's abdication in favor of Dr. Lett, and that the
punishment for disobeying Lett is--madness."

He drew a deep breath and shrugged his shoulders.

"Come along! Let's get to work!"

IV

As it happened, the timing was critical, though Calhoun hadn't
realized it. There were moving lights on the highway to the city at
the moment Calhoun and the grid operator went into the Med Ship and
closed the air-lock door behind them. The lights drew nearer. They
raced. Then ground cars came rushing through the gate of the spaceport
and flung themselves toward the wholly peaceful little Med Ship where
it stood seeming to yearn toward the sky. In seconds they had it
ringed about, and armed men were trying to get inside. But Med Ships
land on very many planets, with very many degrees of respect for the
Interstellar Medical Service. On some worlds there is great integrity
displayed by spaceport personnel and visitors. On others there is
pilfering, or worse. So Med Ships are not easily broken into.

They spent long minutes fumbling unskillfully at the outer air-lock
door. Then they gave it up. Two car loads of men went over to the
control building, which now was dark and silent. Its door was not
locked. They went in.

There was consternation. The interior of the control building reeked
of antiseptic spray--the spray used when a para was discovered. In
some cases, the spray a para used when he discovered himself. But it
was not reassuring to the men just arrived from Government Center.
Instead of certifying to their safety, it told of horrifying danger.
Because despite a broadc