"Just as I thought, sir!" Hale interrupted. "The crystal in my radio happens to be a point oh nine seven five!" It wasn't, but he had several of them in his pack. "Now, my ship is guarded by several armed natives, and they won't let me in again. They think I have a weapon hidden inside. However, my crystal is intact; it was the modulator section they smashed. "Now; we can do one of two things. We can wait until the Plague has thoroughly decimated the population and they give up guarding my ship, or we can cure them of the Plague and earn their gratitude." Wills thought that one over. "I'm afraid it will have to be the former, Hale; we have nothing on board to cure that disease. As a physician, I hate to do it, but we'll simply have to let those people die." "I think not, sir. How much acetylsalicylic acid do you have aboard?" "Aspirin? Oh, a hundred thousand five-grain tablets, I should imagine, but--" "How about vitamin C--ascorbic acid?" "In the pure form? Why, our food synthesizer could be adjusted for almost unlimited amounts of that, but--" "And you could adjust for thiamine, too?" Hale persisted. "Of course, but--" "Excellent, sir. Then we can whip this thing!" "Now, see here, Hale! Don't tell me you're going to cure the Plague with aspirin and vitamins!" Wills was almost angry. "Of course not, sir! That's merely to relieve the patient and build up resistance. I happen to have on hand a fairly good supply of Doppeltreden's vaccine." "Doppeltreden's vaccine?" "I'm sorry, sir; I keep forgetting you've been away for so long. That's the vaccine that gave Lagerglocke the basis for developing his universal immunity serum. The vaccine works on the E-37 linkage, which is found in every virus; it temporarily suspends the life processes of the virus--any virus--and during that period, the natural body functions take over." "I see. It seems to me I read something about that back in--But that's neither here nor there, Lieutenant. I'll see that you get what you need." There were more mutterings from the speaker. Wills was giving the orders. "We're giving you a good supply of the other vitamins, too, Lieutenant. Might as well do the job right." "Very good, sir," said Hale gratefully. "And--ah--Hale--would you like to come on in? I'd like to talk to you about the newer advances in the field." "I don't think it would be wise, sir," Hale said promptly. "Although I'm immune to the Plague, I still might be a carrier. I have two very sick men on board the ship; I really ought to be out there taking care of them." "You're right, of course. Very well, Lieutenant Hale; carry on. We'll do our part." "Thank you, sir. Just put the stuff on the beach; the fishing crew and I will pick it up." And with that, he began pulling at the oars, rowing back out to the boat. He had no desire to talk any longer with Captain Doctor Wills; the next slip might be his last. CHAPTER VI