personnel---in breathing suits and
armed---emerged from an opened passage and made their way to the two
large landing vessels, one of them a hospital ship, he opened the hatch
of his own vehicle and moved weakly down the steps.

Colonel Joyce approached him with another, as if for support. Brunner
recognized him from an earlier visit---Chief Scientist Stoltzyn. He
had no patience left.

"Why only two Coalition parties? Didn't you contact the other ships?"

"Two will be enough. . .to represent your peoples."

"Represent? What the HELL IS GOING ON?" Some of the Soviet
technicians within the enclosure---there were perhaps two dozen,
wheeling in odd gear, among its contents special breathing masks for
the Czechs---looked over in surprise to hear a Soviet Colonel addressed
in this way.

But none were more taken back than Joyce himself. He seemed unable to
look Brunner in the eye or speak the words he had to speak, a thing
which he had never experienced. Finally it was Stoltzyn who spoke.

"There's been some kind of plague."

Brunner felt his heart heave, then fall in upon itself like collapsing
leprous flesh. His voice a fainting whisper.

"What? Sergei?"

Joyce finally master himself and spoke, though slowly. "Of the two
million inhabitants, perhaps two hundred still live. Five of the six
domes are emptied of life. You will be going to the sixth. But I. .
.want you to be prepared."

"Tell me."

Joyce strode back and forth a few times, irritated, agitated, then
faced Brunner almost angrily.

"Stoltzyn will tell you the rest. I am sorry, Olaf. I can say no
more." He turned and left the enclosure.

The chief scientist was more composed. "There will be many corpses.
Also, those who still live may be gruesome to look upon, and almost
certainly will not be rational. Something in the atmosphere has caused
the rapid growth and multiplication of bone cells and calcium
deposits....."

Stoltzyn would have continued but the young German lieutenant had lost
consciousness and slithered to the floor.

When Brunner came to he found the nurse, the one he did not wish to
think about, looking into his face full of concern. All this took only
a short time, so that as she and another helped him to his feet, the
Soviet and Czech chief scientists (the latter with considerably less
detachment) had only begun to discuss the dangers and consequences of
such a landing.

"No," said the Russian. "There is no t