of them should ride in the ambulance. He clambered in and up next to Badri, who was breathing hard, as if being carried on the stretcher had been too much exertion.
"Badri," he said urgently, "you said something was wrong. Did you mean something went wrong with the fix?"
"I got the fix," Badri said, frowning.
The male medic, attaching Badri to a daunting array of displays, looked irritated.
"Did the apprentice get the coordinates wrong? It's important, Badri. Did he make an error in the remote coordinates?"
Mary climbed into the ambulance.
"As Acting Head, I feel I should be the one to accompany the patient in the ambulance," Dunworthy heard Gilchrist say.
"Meet us in Casualties at Infirmary," Mary said and pulled the doors to. "Have you gotten a temp yet?" she asked the medic.
"Yes," he said. "39.5 C. BP 90 over 55, pulse 115."
"Was there an error in the coordinates?" Dunworthy said to Badri.
"Are you set back there?" the driver said over the intercom.
"Yes," Mary said. "Code one."
"Did Puhalski make an error in the locational coordinates for the remote?"
"No," Badri said. He grabbed at the lapel of Dunworthy's coat.
"Is it the slippage then?"
"I must have -- " Badri said. "So worried."
The sirens blared, drowning out the rest of what he said. "You must have what?" Dunworthy shouted over their up and down klaxon.
"Something wrong," Badri said, and fainted again.
Something wrong. It had to be the slippage. Except for the coordinates, it was the only thing that could go wrong with a drop that wouldn't abort it, and he had said the locational coordinates were right. How much slippage, though? Badri had told him it might be as much as two weeks, and he wouldn't have run all the way to the pub in the pouring rain without his coat unless it were much more than that. How much more? A month? Three months? But he'd told Gilchrist the preliminaries showed minimal slippage.
Mary elbowed past him and put her hand on Badri's forehead again. "Add sodium thiosalicylate to the drip," she said. "And start a WBC screen. James, get out of the way."
Dunworthy edged past Mary and sat down on the bench, near the back of the ambulance.
Mary picked up her bleeper again. "Stand by for a full CBC and serotyping."
"Pyelonephritis?" the medic said, watching the reads change. BP 96 over 60, pulse 120, temp 39.5.
"I don't think so," Mary said. "There's no apparent abdominal pain, but it's obviously an infection of some sort, with that temp."
The sirens dived suddenly down in frequency and stopped. The medic began pulling wires out of the wall hookups.
"We're here, Badri," Mary said, patting his chest again. "We'll soon have you right as rain."
He gave no indication he had heard. Mary pulled the blanket up to his neck and arranged the dangling wires on top of it. The driver yanked the door open, and they slid the stretcher out. "I want a full blood workup," Mary said, holding onto the door as she climbed down. "CF, HI and antigenic ID." Dunworthy clambered down after her and followed her into the casualties department.
"I need a med hist," she was already telling the registrar. "On Badri -- what's his last name, James?"
"Chaudhuri," he said.
"National Health Service number?"
"I don't know," he said. "He works at Balliol."
"Would you be so good as to spell the name for me, please?"
"C-H-A-" he said. Mary was disappearing into the Accident Ward. He started after her.
"I'm sorry, sir," the registrar said, darting up from her console to block his way. "If you'll just be seated -- "
"I must talk to the patient you just admitted," he said.
"Are you a relative?"
"No," he said. "I'm his employer. It's very important."
"He's in an examining cubicle just now," she said. "I'll ask for permission for you to see him as soon as the examination is completed." She sat gingerly back down at the console, as if ready to leap up again at the slightest movement on his part.
Dunworthy thought of simply barging in on the examination, but he
"Badri," he said urgently, "you said something was wrong. Did you mean something went wrong with the fix?"
"I got the fix," Badri said, frowning.
The male medic, attaching Badri to a daunting array of displays, looked irritated.
"Did the apprentice get the coordinates wrong? It's important, Badri. Did he make an error in the remote coordinates?"
Mary climbed into the ambulance.
"As Acting Head, I feel I should be the one to accompany the patient in the ambulance," Dunworthy heard Gilchrist say.
"Meet us in Casualties at Infirmary," Mary said and pulled the doors to. "Have you gotten a temp yet?" she asked the medic.
"Yes," he said. "39.5 C. BP 90 over 55, pulse 115."
"Was there an error in the coordinates?" Dunworthy said to Badri.
"Are you set back there?" the driver said over the intercom.
"Yes," Mary said. "Code one."
"Did Puhalski make an error in the locational coordinates for the remote?"
"No," Badri said. He grabbed at the lapel of Dunworthy's coat.
"Is it the slippage then?"
"I must have -- " Badri said. "So worried."
The sirens blared, drowning out the rest of what he said. "You must have what?" Dunworthy shouted over their up and down klaxon.
"Something wrong," Badri said, and fainted again.
Something wrong. It had to be the slippage. Except for the coordinates, it was the only thing that could go wrong with a drop that wouldn't abort it, and he had said the locational coordinates were right. How much slippage, though? Badri had told him it might be as much as two weeks, and he wouldn't have run all the way to the pub in the pouring rain without his coat unless it were much more than that. How much more? A month? Three months? But he'd told Gilchrist the preliminaries showed minimal slippage.
Mary elbowed past him and put her hand on Badri's forehead again. "Add sodium thiosalicylate to the drip," she said. "And start a WBC screen. James, get out of the way."
Dunworthy edged past Mary and sat down on the bench, near the back of the ambulance.
Mary picked up her bleeper again. "Stand by for a full CBC and serotyping."
"Pyelonephritis?" the medic said, watching the reads change. BP 96 over 60, pulse 120, temp 39.5.
"I don't think so," Mary said. "There's no apparent abdominal pain, but it's obviously an infection of some sort, with that temp."
The sirens dived suddenly down in frequency and stopped. The medic began pulling wires out of the wall hookups.
"We're here, Badri," Mary said, patting his chest again. "We'll soon have you right as rain."
He gave no indication he had heard. Mary pulled the blanket up to his neck and arranged the dangling wires on top of it. The driver yanked the door open, and they slid the stretcher out. "I want a full blood workup," Mary said, holding onto the door as she climbed down. "CF, HI and antigenic ID." Dunworthy clambered down after her and followed her into the casualties department.
"I need a med hist," she was already telling the registrar. "On Badri -- what's his last name, James?"
"Chaudhuri," he said.
"National Health Service number?"
"I don't know," he said. "He works at Balliol."
"Would you be so good as to spell the name for me, please?"
"C-H-A-" he said. Mary was disappearing into the Accident Ward. He started after her.
"I'm sorry, sir," the registrar said, darting up from her console to block his way. "If you'll just be seated -- "
"I must talk to the patient you just admitted," he said.
"Are you a relative?"
"No," he said. "I'm his employer. It's very important."
"He's in an examining cubicle just now," she said. "I'll ask for permission for you to see him as soon as the examination is completed." She sat gingerly back down at the console, as if ready to leap up again at the slightest movement on his part.
Dunworthy thought of simply barging in on the examination, but he
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