"Tell me."
Joyce strode back and forth a few times, irritated, agitated, then faced Brunner almost angrily.
"Stoltzyn will tell you the rest. I am sorry, Olaf. I can say no more." He turned and left the enclosure.
The chief scientist was more composed. "There will be many corpses. Also, those who still live may be gruesome to look upon, and almost certainly will not be rational. Something in the atmosphere has caused the rapid growth and multiplication of bone cells and calcium deposits….."
Stoltzyn would have continued but the young German lieutenant had lost consciousness and slithered to the floor.
When Brunner came to he found the nurse, the one he did not wish to think about, looking into his face full of concern. All this took only a short time, so that as she and another helped him to his feet, the Soviet and Czech chief scientists (the latter with considerably less detachment) had only begun to discuss the dangers and consequences of such a landing.
"No," said the Russian. "There is no threat of contagion or epidemic. It is not a disease we are dealing with but a bodily reaction to impure atmosphere. We are safe so long as we retain the breathing gear, and probably without it for short periods, though we will not take that chance."
"And if the survivors are mad and beyond healing, as you suggest? What do we do then?"
"That is the purpose of this expedition—-to determine."
"Do the others know?" The Czech made a gesture with his head and left shoulder, taking in the other shuttle but implying all the remaining Coalition forces.