Chapter 33 Chapter Thirty-One

Worst of all, he meant it when he said it.I tried to give him soft ones, but that didn't work either. There was a high-level meeting later that afternoon and I was told to go, but I avoided it.After a while, a petite female officer told me very politely that the commander was waiting for me and could I go right away. I had to go, but try not to participate in the discussion.My father has always had a skill: Even if he is not the chairman of the meeting, he has the demeanor of controlling the meeting, looking at him with expectant eyes when he wants to hear someone's opinion.It was a subtle tactic that could steer the meeting in the direction he wanted without the attendees knowing it.

But I know.Everyone's eyes are on you, and instead of being silent, it's better to express your opinion, especially, I found that I really have an opinion to express. Much of the meeting consisted of a bunch of people complaining about not approving the use of nine-day fever against slugs at all.They admitted that the germ would kill slugs and even the most vigorous Venusians.But it will definitely kill the human race, and I just married the only survivor.For most people, this virus is fatal.Seven to ten days after being attacked by the virus, death is inevitable. "What do you think, Mr. Nivens?" My father was asking for my opinion by calling me that.I said nothing, but he kept staring at me, waiting for me to speak.

"I think a lot of people at this meeting are giving up hope. A lot of what's being said here is based on assumptions that may themselves be wrong." "how to say?" I couldn't think of any examples for a while, so I just blurted out: "This...for example-I keep hearing people mention nine-day fever. It seems that there is an iron fact: this disease lasts for nine days. Actually, it is not," A senior military officer shrugged impatiently, "It's just for the convenience of calling it. This kind of disease will last about nine days." "That's right—but how do you know it lasts nine days? I mean, for slugs."

As soon as the voice fell, there was a chatter immediately.It can be seen that I hit the jackpot again this time. In a few minutes, I'll be asked to talk about why I think slugs don't have this disease for as long as people do, and if so, what it means. I began to regret that I shouldn't be the first to stand up and express my opinion, but I had no choice but to bite the bullet and say: "About the first point, according to the video we saw this morning, we learned that the slug does die in less than nine days Now, far less than nine days. This video is also the only evidence. Anyone who has seen the video of my wife - and I think everyone in this room has seen it - knows that the slug on her body is in the eighth day of danger. fell off her and died several days ago. While the data alone cannot draw a curve, if it is true and can be confirmed experimentally, then the question is quite different. A person infected with the disease A man might be out of the slug's grip in four days, and we'd gain five days to catch him and cure him."

The general whistled, "That's really a bold idea, Mr. Nivens. How do you think he should be cured? Let's talk about how to catch him first. What do you think? I mean, if we To really sow nine-day fever in the Red Zones, we would have to move incredibly quickly—and don't forget, there would be stubborn resistance from the enemy. We would need to find them, and heal their diseases." It was a hot potato and I had to push it out.I don't know how many "experts" have achieved success through buck-passing like me. "About the second point, this is a deployment issue, a tactical issue, and it's not my business. This is a matter for you to consider. As for the first point, you have experts." I pointed to Dr. Hazelhurst, " Ask him what he thinks."

Hazelhurst gasped heavily.I know what's on his mind.The previous technology was not sufficient...Further research is needed...Experiments are needed...He remembered another thing, saying that some work had been done on anti-drug therapy for nine-day fever, but due to the effectiveness of the vaccine Great, the anti-toxin work was discontinued.He couldn't remember whether the antitoxin had been researched to the point of perfection.Anyway, anyone who goes to Mars is now vaccinated before leaving.In the end, he wretchedly concluded that the study of this Venusian virus must still be in its infancy.

As he was finishing, the general interrupted him: "This antitoxin—how long will it take you to figure it out?" Heidelhurst said that he would do it right away. There is a person at the Sorbonne University in Paris who is doing research in this area, and he wants to give him a call. "I'll fight right away, let's go." The commander said. Hazelhurst rang my doorbell before breakfast the next day.I was pissed off, but tried not to flare up as I walked out to meet him in the hallway. "Sorry to wake you up," he said, "but you're right about the antitoxins."

"Ok?" "They sent me some antitoxin from Paris and it's coming right away, hopefully it's still working." "What if it fails?" "Well, we have a way of replicating it. Of course, we'd have to make millions of doses if we did that." "Thank you for telling me," I said, "that the General will be delighted." I was about to turn and walk away when he stopped me. "Well, Mr. Nivens—" "what?" "On the subject of vectors—" "Vector vector?" At this moment, my mind was in a mess, and I couldn't understand anything.

"Virus carriers. We can't use rats. I wonder if you know how this virus is spread on Venus? It's through a small flying insect called a rotifer, the only insect on Venus. But on Earth There's no such bug, and it's the only way the virus can be carried." "You mean, no matter how hard you try, you can't infect me with this virus? Even if you have a large number of live bacteria to cultivate?" "You're right—sure, I could inject you with the virus. But having a million paratroopers drop into the red zone, catch slug-possessed people and inject them... I can't imagine." He was helpless spread out his hands.

My brain finally started to turn slowly...a one-time airdrop of one million people... "Why do you ask me?" I said, "It seems like a medical question." "Of course. I just thought—well, you seem to have figured out a way to—" He broke off. "Thank you for your trust." My brain was struggling to think about two problems at the same time, entangled for a while, and the traffic was chaotic.What is the population of the red zone? "Is it so," I said, "that if you have the disease and I don't, I can't catch it from you?" He replied: "At least not that easily. If I took a smear of live mucus from my throat and put it in your throat, you would have a good chance of getting it. If I cut my veins and put a small amount of blood Put it in your vein, and you're bound to get the disease."

"Direct contact, right?" How many people can a paratrooper do that for?ten?Er Shang?thirty?or more? "If that's the only difficulty, it's fine." "What?" he asked. "What's the first thing a slug does when they meet another slug they haven't seen in a long time?" "Combine, exchange genetic components!" "'Direct talk,' I always like to say that. Do you think this disease can also be transmitted through pair-bonding?" "I think? I'm sure! Right here in the lab, we've demonstrated that organisms exchange live proteins during mating. There's no way they can escape this direct transmission, and we can infect whole colonies all at once." .Why didn't I think of it myself?" "Don't serve it half-baked," I said. "Better try it first. But I think it will work this way." "I will, I will!" He turned to leave, but stopped again. "Oh, Mr. Nivens, if you mind--I know that's asking too much--" "What? Come on, I haven't had breakfast yet." "Well, could you please consider my report this morning announcing this method of spreading the disease? Credit goes to you, it will be stated in the report. The general has high expectations for my report, and with your Comments, and this report is complete." His wistful look almost amused me. "I don't mind at all," I said. "It's your specialty." "You are so generous, I will definitely repay you in the future." He turned around happily and left.I'm also happy, starting to feel like a "genius". After sorting out the major elements of this large-scale airdrop in my mind, I opened the door and entered our small bedroom.Mary opened her eyes and gave me an angelic smile.I leaned over and smoothed her hair and said, "Hello, my sweetheart, do you know that your husband is a genius?" "Know." "Really? You never said that." "You never asked me." Hazlehurst did me a favor by using the term "Nevens vector" in his report.It seems I should comment, my father is already looking in my direction. I began to speak: "I agree with Dr. Hazelhurst. The confirmatory experiments are ready. However, there are some issues that the Dr.'s report did not cover, which he deliberately left for us to discuss, because these issues are not relevant. Not medically. The whole Titans will be infected with the plague at once through contact, but there is a matter of time. Time is very important, I should say crucial." By breakfast I had already laid out my draft, and I had already thought of where to stop.Thank goodness Mary didn't gossip with me over dinner! "—needs to spread the virus in multiple densely populated centers. If we want to truly save everyone in the red zone, it's necessary to try to get the entire slug colony infected almost simultaneously so that the rescue team can't catch the slugs. Enter the red zone after there is any threat, and use antitoxin to revive the host before the dangerous period of onset. This problem is more suitable to be solved by mathematical analysis—” Speaking of this, I thought to myself: Sam, you guy , what an old liar, pretending to be an expert, you can't solve this problem even if you use an electronic integrator to calculate for twenty years, "—this matter should be left to the analysis department. Let me briefly define the factors: Set the number of infectious sources as 'x' and the number of airdropped personnel as 'y'. There will be a variety of simultaneous rescue methods with an indeterminate number. Of course, the best solution depends on the calculation results of each factor. It has not yet been carried out. Through precise mathematical calculations—"Actually, I did the best I could with a slide rule, but I didn't mention it,"—I know all too well about the habits of slugs myself, and based on this unfortunate experience, My guess is one" They listened to me go on, and the room was so quiet that you could hear a needle drop on the ground, if there were any needles on these naked people in the room. I came up with an estimate of "x," which was a bit low, when the general interrupted me, "Mr. Nivens, I think we can guarantee you enough volunteers to act as vectors." I shook my head and said, "General, you can't recruit volunteers." "I understand why you object. It takes time for the disease to take hold in a volunteer, and time is of the essence for the volunteer's own life. But I think we can overcome this difficulty, and in his body Drugs like antitoxin capsules embedded in the tissue. I believe the staff can develop this drug." "I believe that too," but I didn't say that the real reason for my objection was a deep-rooted aversion to humans being possessed by slugs, "You can't use human volunteers, sir. Slugs know all the mental activities of their hosts, Not only will it make it impossible for him to have a direct meeting, but he will verbally warn the other slugs." I don't know if I'm right, but it sounds reasonable, "No, sir, we have to use a large number of monkeys, Animals like dogs that can't talk and are big enough to hold a slug and infect the entire Red Zone with the blight before the slug gets it." I continued to quickly sketch out the blueprint for the last airdrop, and vividly called it the "Extrication Plan". "Think of it this way: once it is confirmed that there is a sufficient dose of antitoxin to supply the second airdrop, the first airdrop, 'Project Relief', can begin. In less than a week, there will be no more There are live slugs." Although no one applauded, I could still feel their respect for me. The general broke off the meeting, left in a hurry, called Air Force Admiral Rexton, and sent his aide to invite me to lunch with him.I sent word that if my wife was also invited, I would be glad to come, otherwise I could not accept the invitation. Dad was waiting for me outside the meeting room. "Hey, how was my speech?" I asked him, anxious to know his reaction. He shook his head and said, "Sam, you're running 'em all over the place. You've got the qualities of a politician. No, I think I'll sign you up for twenty-six weeks of Stereovision." I tried my best to hide my overjoyed feeling.I have expressed all my views heartily at the meeting, without even a single pause.I feel like I've been transformed.