uckian's response, and an appeal to hurry. With renewed energy the
doctors went back to the lab to start working on the new data.

But trouble continued to dog them. This was no ordinary virus. It proved
resistant to every one of the antibiotics and antiviral agents in the
_Lancet_'s stockroom. No drug seemed to affect it, and its molecular
structure was different from any virus that had ever been recorded
before.

"If one of the drugs would only just slow it up a little, we'd be
ahead," Tiger said in perplexity. "We don't have anything that even
touches it, not even the purified globulins."

"What about antibodies from the infected people?" Jack suggested. "In
every virus disease I've ever heard of, the victim's own body starts
making antibodies against the invading virus. If enough antibodies are
made fast enough, the virus dies and the patient is immune from then
on."

"Well, these people don't seem to be making any antibodies at all,"
Tiger said. "At least not as far as I can see. If they were, at least
some of them would be recovering from the disease. So far not a single
one has recovered once the thing started. They all just go ahead and
die."

"I wonder," Dal said, "if Fuzzy had any defense."

Jack looked up. "How do you mean?"

"Well, Fuzzy was infected, we know that. He might have died too, if we
hadn't caught it in time--but as it worked out, he didn't. In fact, he
looks pretty healthy right now."

"That's fine for Fuzzy," Jack said impatiently, "but I don't see how we
can push the whole population of 31 Brucker VII through a virus filter.
They're flesh-and-blood creatures."

"That's not what I mean," Dal said. "Maybe Fuzzy's body developed
antibodies against the virus while he was infected. Remember, he doesn't
have a rigid body structure like we do. He's mostly just basic protein,
and he can synthesize pretty much anything he wants to or needs to."

Jack blinked. "It's an idea, at least. Is there any way we can get some
of his body fluid away from him? Without getting bit, I mean?"

"No problem there," Dal said. "He can regenerate pretty fast if he has
enough of the right kind of food. He won't miss an ounce or two of
excess tissue."

He took a beaker over to Fuzzy's platform and began squeezing off a
little blob of pink material. Fuzzy seemed to sense what Dal wanted;
obligingly he thrust out a little pseudopod which Dal pinched off into
the beaker. With the addition of a small amount of sal