"Of course I did, but after I came out of the shower I noticed a little dampness. I checked the suit and found a defective shoulder seam where the helmet joins on. I suppose the ferret's claws opened it up. With all that movement I could have sucked some infected air into the suit."
"I don't know. With a separate air supply it doesn't seem too likely unless the claws carried virus inside like a hypodermic injection. It didn't scratch you, did it?"
"A little bit, I think, but it was on a place where I couldn't see it. I washed it with disinfectant later."
"Oh my God, what next?" I exclaimed. "But you've been having some irregular bleeding before this. Maybe it would have happened anyway. You don't have any signs of the flu?"
"I feel a bit stuffy and aching as if I were getting a cold."
"Well, we'll see. You rest here while I figure out what to do."
The fact that this might be the mutation we were looking for didn't penetrate just then. All I cared about was that Pat was sick and I had to take care of her, if possible, without a scandal. I was standing beside the bed, my mind racing over the various possibilities when she groaned and whispered, "John, the pain is really bad now. I think I'm bleeding too."
I got her a couple of codeine tablets and then dialled the Chief. This was one situation I couldn't handle myself, for obvious reasons, and I needed someone with understanding and discretion.
He was there in less than fifteen minutes, fortunately having just returned to the club house when I called. He heard my report. He checked Pat himself. She was well along now and we both agreed that there was no chance of stopping the miscarriage.
"Have you been close to many other people in the last three days?" he asked her, looking very disturbed.