“To learn,” Narang responded. “No other reason. As soon as the Navy is satisfied that they’ve learned everything they can from it, they might, in fact, go ahead and push it into the sun. A hyperbolic orbit that intersects the sun’s surface, and that problem, at least, will be solved.”

Another hand. “Do we seriously expect to cure Pritchard?”

Narang skewered the speaker with her gaze. “We expect to try. We expect to do everything we can for him. Worst case, we expect to learn enough from him to prevent a repeat.” She hesitated for a moment. “This situation is unusual in that there doesn’t seem to be a problem with mortality. No one is sure what we’ll do with Pritchard if, at the end of this, he’s still, um, metallized.”

“Seal him away somewhere?”

“This isn’t the 21st century, Samuelson. We do our best for all our citizens. Don’t lose sight of that.”

Narang again looked around the room, ensuring everyone was paying attention. “This brings up the other thing you have to keep in mind. Because of the nature of this infection, no level of isolation is sufficient except empty space and no contact. The moment you walk into that isolation module, you are part of the quarantine, until we have this thing beat. The tone you set for working this problem will affect how soon you come out of quarantine as well.”

Narang held the silence for a moment. “Therefore, I am giving you one last chance to back out. There will be no recriminations, and it won’t affect your career. You can leave with the same ferry that brought us here. But once the Mad Astra crew is aboard, we are all committed.”

She waited, a full ten seconds. No one moved except Samuelson, who grabbed another doughnut.

One last glare around the room, and Narang said, “If there are no other questions, it’s time to go meet our patients.”

* * *

The ferry ride to the isolation module went by in total silence. Everyone knew that this was a one-way trip, until the problem had been licked. Paranoia was the watchword, and all moves had been carefully planned. Even the order in which the module was populated. With the doctors flying over before the crew of the Astra, the ferry would be allowed to return to base. Once the crew of the Astra was brought over, nothing would leave the module.

A quiet meeting with Lieutenant Colonel Martinson from the naval oversight committee had made it clear to Dr. Narang that any attempt to circumvent this state of affairs would be met with deadly force. If necessary, a missile stood ready to take out the entire installation.

They unloaded through the airlock connection, and each doctor headed for his or her assigned station. Within a half hour, Nakamura walked into Narang’s office. “Everyone has confirmed readiness. No issues.”