“As far as I know,” Yosh told her, “Toni hasn’t been off the first level. There’s cleaning supplies in the closet, but I know that Iso keeps them locked. And then there’s the kitchen. But even then, none of the cleansers would leave an oily feel. And Bill’s cooking oils wouldn’t cause this kind of a paralysis.”

Gabarron stepped to the sink, washed her hands. Dried them. Rubbed her fingers and scowled as she washed them again with a more stringent soap. Again she dried them. “This stuff doesn’t wash off. Until I know what I’m dealing with, I don’t know what to give him besides an antihistamine to ameliorate any allergic reaction. If that’s what’s causing this paralysis.”

Pounding steps in the hallway preceded Mikoru’s arrival. The woman’s panic was plain to see, her lips trembling. Anxiously she pushed past Michaela, crowding forward as she demanded, “Toni? What’s wrong with my boy?”

Michaela eased out into the hallway just as Kevina Schwantz thundered up the stairs, asking, “What’s the emergency. Jaim said it was a boy. Tell me it’s not Felix.”

“It’s Toni. He got into something. Some oily chemical. It’s all over his body.”

“He did it this morning?”

“Yosh says he found him in bed after he slept late. Must have got into it last night. But do me a favor. Go down and check Iso’s storeroom. She keeps it locked. Maybe it was left open by mistake.”

Kevina whirled, thundering back down the stairs as others started up. She was calling, “It’s Toni. He’s poisoned. Some kind of reaction.”

Michaela hurried to the head of the stairs, stopping Kel, Jaim, and Casey as they climbed. “Go back, everyone. Have breakfast. There’s no sense filling the hallway and making things worse. Yes, it’s Toni. I’ll be down with a report as soon as there’s anything to know. Casey, I need you to check with Tomaya and the rest of the children. See if they know about Toni getting into any kind of oil.”

“Got, it!” Casey said, wheeling on the stairs and heading back down.

“You need anything,” Kel told her, “you call.”

“Thanks. Anna will probably figure it out. She’s giving him antihistamines. But I need the rest of you to go eat. We’ve got a busy day. We’re taking the subs out under the new protocol.”

She gave them a “go back” wave before retreating to the clinic door. Inside, Yosh and Mikoru bent over the table. Mikoru clung to the boy’s hand while Yosh stroked his son’s hair.

Gabarron was bent over the med com, having inserted a blood sample, and was studying the analysis as it came up on the screen.

Michaela slipped past the parents, crowding into the space beside Gabarron to ask, “What have you got?”