Read Online Leviathans of Jupiter by Ben Bova - Free Book Online Page A

impossible!”
    Gesturing to the wall screens, “Impossible or not, your scans show the rabies virus lurking in your bloodstream. It can infect your brain, you know.”
    â€œI can’t have rabies,” Deirdre insisted. “You get rabies from an animal bite, don’t you? I haven’t been bitten by any animal. We don’t allow pets on Chrysalis II ; not animal pets, anyway.”
    His strained smile still in place, Dr. Pohan said gently, “How you acquired the virus is puzzling, very puzzling. But the important thing at the moment is to neutralize the virus before it reaches your brain and you begin to show symptoms.”
    â€œNeutralize it? You mean kill it?”
    â€œIf possible,” said the doctor. “There are injections that can eliminate the virus, but unfortunately we don’t carry such medications aboard ship. Who would expect cases of rabies to show up on an interplanetary liner?”
    Deirdre caught the plural. “You said cases?”
    â€œYes. The woman you are replacing, she died of rabies on the trip out from Earth.”

INFIRMARY
    â€œI could die?” Deirdre cried.
    â€œIf untreated,” said Dr. Pohan.
    â€œBut you said you don’t have the vaccine.…”
    â€œThe treatment requires human rabies immunoglobulin. We were able to fabricate a small amount of same in the ship’s pharmacy but it wasn’t enough to save my patient. The virus had spread through her nervous system and into her brain.”
    Deirdre fought down an urge to scream. Forcing her voice to stay calm, steady, she asked, “Could you produce enough of it to treat me?”
    For a century-long moment Dr. Pohan did not reply. At last he steepled his fingers and said softly, “We can try, Ms. Ambrose. It’s a rather difficult synthesis, but we can try.”
    â€œAnd if you can’t…?”
    The doctor shrugged. “The alternative is to freeze you until we arrive at Jupiter. I’ve already contacted the medical officer at station Gold and he has instructed his staff to produce the medication. It will be ready for you when you arrive there.”
    â€œRabies,” Deirdre repeated, her voice trembling just a bit.
    â€œIt is very strange,” said Dr. Pohan. “Neither you nor the unfortunate woman who died was bitten or scratched by a rabid animal. She was from Selene, a well-respected biologist. Of course, she frequently visited Earth. She could have contracted the disease there.”
    â€œAnd she died.”
    â€œApparently she had been infected some time before boarding this ship. The preboarding medical examination missed her condition entirely. The automated scans were not programmed to check for rabies, unfortunately. By the time she began to exhibit symptoms, it was too late to save her.”
    â€œAnd she died,” Deirdre repeated, in a whisper.
    Dr. Pohan put on his professional smile once again. “Please do not worry unduly. We have caught your case early. You will not die from it, I am almost certain.”
    That word almost blared in Deirdre’s mind.
    *   *   *
    Deirdre walked like an automaton from the infirmary to the elevators and went blindly, unthinkingly, back to the dining room. It was closed: too late for breakfast, too early for lunch. It didn’t matter; she had no appetite.
    How could I get rabies? she asked herself a few thousand times as she headed back to her stateroom. By the time she got there, the room had already been cleaned, the bed made neatly, the lavatory sparkling.
    Deirdre plunked herself down on the spongy little chair in front of the compartment’s computer. Rabies, she repeated silently. She told the computer to look it up.
    She heard a thump on her door. With a sigh, she got up and slid it open.
    Dorn was standing there, his broad body filling the door frame. Behind him Deirdre saw Andy Corvus, grinning shyly at her, and Yeager, his smile almost a