“Okay, okay. Sorry, I’m just upset.” Pia didn’t want to get thrown off the floor. “I’ve been working with both men for more than three years on the salmonella strains that are probably involved, and I thought I might be able to help.”

“Okay,” said Springer. He relaxed a degree. He sensed Pia’s intentions were good even if totally unrealistic.

“I have to tell you that both men are delirious. Even if I let you in there, you wouldn’t get anything out of Dr. Rothman. Follow me.” Springer took off the protective gear and tossed it into the covered hamper. Pia did the same.

Springer took Pia back to the nurses’ station and, sitting down, itemized the laundry list of tests that had been ordered, including a complete blood count, electrolytes, blood cultures, urine cultures, stool cultures, stat DNA microbiology tests, and the appropriate X-rays. At that point the tests that had come back confirmed that the infectious agent was one of the salmonella strains Rothman and Yamamoto were working on, which Rothman had named the alpha strain, the most virulent of the three grown in space. He also mentioned that the white cell count showed a mild leukopenia, meaning the white cell count was mildly depressed, something often seen with typhoid fever. He declared the electrolytes, meaning primarily sodium, chloride, calcium, and potassium, were normal. Springer concluded by telling Pia that Rothman’s and Yamamoto’s temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, degree of oxygenation of blood, urine output, and central venous pressure were being monitored, and that at the moment the only thing abnormal was the temperature.

“They’re both in bad shape, especially considering how quickly the illness came on,” Springer added.

“What antibiotic are they on?” As Pia knew from her studies with Rothman, there was debate about which was the best to use in serious salmonella cases.

“That’s a good question,” Dr. Springer said. “Actually Dr. Rothman briefed me recently on findings he had made in his studies of antibiotic sensitivity on these zero-gravity strains. All three strains he was working on are very sensitive to chloramphenicol. That’s an antibiotic that at one time was considered the best choice for typhoid, but it went out of favor in the seventies because newer strains of salmonella were becoming resistant. Dr. Rothman said that because these strains were grown in space, they were more virulent but somehow they’d also lost their chloramphenicol resistance. He was interested because drug resistance is a big problem with salmonella.”

“Have you thought of trying ceftriaxone?” Pia asked, referring to a newer antibiotic.