They were both
hopelessly bad chemists and biologists, but there was no one else to do
the work.
Chris worked harder than ever during the day.
Just after sundown, Jake came in with a heavy box. He dropped it onto
the floor. "Mice!"
Doc ripped off the cover, exposing fine screening. There were at least
six dozen mice inside!
"Harkness found them," Jake explained. "A hormone extraction plant used
them for testing some of the products. Had them sent by regular
shipments from Earth. Getting them cost a couple of men, but Harkness
claims it's worth it. He's a good man on a raid. Here!"
He'd gone to the doorway again and came back with another box, this one
crammed with bottles and boxes. "They had quite a laboratory, and
Harkness picked out whatever he thought you could use."
Chris and Doc were going through it. The labels were engineering ones,
but the chemical formulae were identification enough. There were dozens
of chemicals they hadn't hoped to get.
"Anything else?" Doc finally asked as they began arranging the supplies.
"More runners. A lot more. We're still holding things down, but it's
reaching a limit. Panic will start in the camps if this keeps on. But
that's my worry. You stick to yours."
Several of the new chemicals showed promise in the tubes. But two of
them proved fatal to the mice and the others were completely innocuous
in the little animal's bodies, both to mouse and to germ.
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