"Yes." Jenkins nodded sourly. "And." He walked down the row of vats. "You'd think that at least concentrated sulphuric would dessicate it a little. But it's just formed a crust of coagulated protein around itself, and sits there--" Bowman peered over his shoulder, his mustache twitching. "But it does dessicate." "If you use enough long enough." "How about concentrated hydrochloric?" "Same thing. Maybe a little more effective, but not enough to count." "Okay. Next we try combinations. There's got to be _something_ the wretched beast can't tolerate--" There was, of course. * * * * * Green Doctor Stone brought it to Jenkins as he was getting ready to turn in for a sleep period. Jenkins had checked to make sure double guards were posted in the _hlorg's_ vicinity, and jolted them with Sleep-Not to keep them on their toes. All the same, he tied a length of stout cord around his ankle just to make sure he didn't do any sleepwalking. He was tying it to the bunk when Stone came in with a pan in his hand and a peculiar look on his face. "Take a look at this," he said. Jenkins looked at the sickly brown mass in the tray, and then up at Stone. "Where did you find it?" "Down in the hold. Our _hlorg_ has broken precedent. It's _rejected_ something that it ate." "Yeah. What is it?" "I don't know. I'm taking it to Neelsen for paraffin sections. But I know what it looks like to me." "Mm. I know." Jenkins felt sick. Stone headed up to the path lab, leaving the Red Doctor settled in his bunk. Ten minutes later Jenkins sat bolt upright in the darkness. Frantically he untied himself and slid into his clothes. "Idiot!" he growled to himself. "Seventh son of a seventh son--" Five minutes later he was staring at the vats in Hrunta's laboratory. He found the one he was looking for. A pink blob of _hlorg_ wiggled slowly around the bottom. Jenkins drew a beaker of distilled water and added it to the fluid in the vat. It hissed and sputtered and sent up quantities of acrid steam. When the steam had cleared away, Jenkins peered in eagerly. The pink thing in the bottom was turning a sickly violet. It had quit wiggling. As Jenkins watched, the violet color changed to mud grey, then to black. He prodded it with a stirring rod. There was no response. With a whoop Jenkins buzzed Bowman and Stone. "We've got it!" he shouted to them when they appeared. "Look! Look at it!" Bowman poked and probed and broke into a wide grin. The piece of _hlorg_ was truly and sincerely dead. "It inactivates the enzyme system, and renders the base protoplasm vulnerable to anything that normally attacks it. What are we waiting for?" They began tearing the laboratory apart, searching for the right bottles. The supply was discouragingly small, but there was some in stock. The three of them raced down the corridor for the hold where the _hlorg_ was.