ain and
think about it for a minute."

Jack read it through. "I don't see what you mean," he said.

"I mean that I think we've made a horrible mistake," Dal said, "and I
think I see now what it was. We've had this whole thing exactly 100 per
cent backward from the start, and that explains everything that's
happened here!"

Tiger peered over Jack's shoulder at the report. "Backward?"

"As backward as we could get it," Dal said. "We've assumed all along
that these flesh-and-blood creatures down there were the ones that were
calling us for help because of a virus plague that was attacking and
killing them. All right, look at it the other way. Just suppose that the
intelligent creature that called us for help was the _virus_, and that
those flesh-and-blood creatures down there with the blank, stupid faces
are the _real_ plague we ought to have been fighting all along!"

CHAPTER 11

DAL BREAKS A PROMISE

For a moment the others just stared at their Garvian crewmate. Then Jack
Alvarez snorted. "You'd better go back and get some rest," he said.
"This has been a tougher grind than I thought. You're beginning to show
the strain."

"No, I mean it," Dal said earnestly. "I think that is exactly what's
been happening."

Tiger looked at him with concern. "Dal, this is no time for double talk
and nonsense."

"It's not nonsense," Dal said. "It's the answer, if you'll only stop and
think."

"An intelligent _virus_?" Jack said. "Who ever heard of such a thing?
There's never been a life-form like that reported since the beginning of
the galactic exploration."

"But that doesn't mean there couldn't be one," Dal said. "And how would
an exploratory crew ever identify it, if it existed? How would they ever
even suspect it? They'd miss it completely--unless it happened to get
into trouble itself and try to call for help!" Dal jumped up in
excitement.

"Look, I've seen a dozen articles showing how such a thing was
theoretically possible ... a virus life-form with billions of
submicroscopic parts acting together to form an intelligent colony. The
only thing a virus-creature would need that other intelligent creatures
don't need would be some kind of a host, some sort of animal body to
live in so that it could use its intelligence."

"It's impossible," Jack said scornfully. "Why don't you give it up and
get some rest? Here we sit with our feet in the fire, and all you can do
is dream up foolishness like this."

"I'm