"Among other things," replied Randall. "I'm going to find out what happened to McMahon and his bride. We already know what happened to Blake Garnet," he added, memory of that silent form on the operating table still vivid in his mind. Someone rapped sharply on the door, and Jackson stuck his head in. "Lanson asked me to tell you that Zor Ala is sick," he said. "What's the trouble?" Randall asked. Jackson shrugged. "He called in Dr. Gerard. He is afraid it's serious." "Oh-oh!" said Randall. "We would be in a mess with an epidemic on our hands, wouldn't we?" Jackson's eyes were frightened. "You mean it's contagious?" "I don't know, of course," Randall answered. "We'll see what Dr. Gerard has to say." Within a few moments, the three men joined Lanson and Dr. Gerard outside Zor Ala's hut. "What do you think, Doc?" asked Randall. "Can't tell for sure," Gerard replied. "My medical knowledge is definitely limited. Furthermore, I have no equipment to make tests, but my diagnosis is meningococcus--cerebrospinal meningitis." "Well, will the rest of us get it?" asked Jackson, edging away from the men who had been in Zor Ala's shelter. "Could be," said Dr. Gerard seriously. "We'll have to keep him isolated, but I'm afraid some of us have already been exposed. We may have real trouble on our hands." "What's the remedy?" inquired McClellan. "Well, sulfonilamide, if we had it," replied Dr. Gerard. "But we don't have any medicine at all." "What--what will we do?" asked Jackson apprehensively. The doctor shrugged. "If I had access to a chemical laboratory," he said, "I could synthesize some sulfa, but I doubt if the Kralons would let me use theirs." "They might, at that," said Randall, watching Jackson out of the corner of his eye, "If they knew an epidemic might wipe out their entire colony of humans after all the work they've done in getting them from the future." "Maybe they would," said Jackson eagerly. "Should I talk to them about it?" "Couldn't hurt anything," replied Randall casually. "And it might help." Together the group made its way to the locked gate in the stockade wall. There they set up a disturbance until a Kralon guard came and unlocked the gate. At the same time the speaker blared: "One human will follow." Jackson stepped out from the group and followed the Kralon down the path and into the Hive. "Do you really think the Kralons will let us have access to their chemical laboratory?" asked McClellan. Randall shrugged. "They might," he said, "if Jackson is convincing enough. I know they don't want to lose all their human guinea pigs." In less than an hour Jackson was back. "The Kralons said that Dr. Gerard could use the laboratory," he said. "And I'm to help him with his work." "Okay," said the doctor briskly. "We'd better hurry." Together, the two men followed the guide back to the Hive.