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"There," Illuyank said

His voice coincided with a new thuitation at the hatch But the COA screen Illuyank had been using noed the passage outside their hatch It was filled with a e liest clones were trying to maneuver a plasteel cutter, but their actions were impeded by the press of others behind theet them in here for sure," someone said "We’re cooked"

Illuyank turned and barked orders, pointing, waving a hand until all fifteen were busy in the Facilities Roovalve to control, a switch to throw; each had some particular responsibility

Lewis keyed for sound in the screen and a confused babble canaled to a man at the remote valve controls across the room "Dump the brine tanks into level two! That’ll flood the outer passage"

Theas he followed the schematics at his position

Illuyank touched Lewis on the elbow, pointed to the screen which showed the courtyard The clones there were looking away from the sensor, all of thement of hich led to the perianislass weapons and ran screa off-screen

"Runners," Illuyankswar the rubble He could almost smell the burned acid and tasted acid in his throat Autoave the orders

"Seal off"

"We can’t," a tian "Some of our people are still out there If we seal of if w they’ll al"

"They’ll all die," Lewis finished for him "And our perimeter’s full of holes Runners are in the courtyard If we don’t seal off we die, too Seal off!"

He crossed to a valve-control panel, punched the proper sequence Lights above the panel showed that the indicated valve was closing He could hear others around hi: "Check the surface shafts" This brought another bustle of activity

Lewis glanced at the courtyard screen A clone stu at his eyes with the blunt knobs which passed for his hands As he round A blur of writhing shadoept over hi clones and tiny, eel-like bodies Behind Lewis, one of their group could be heard voe," Illuyank said He gestured at the sensor where the view outside their hatch showed brine rising in the passage with a swar in on the wave

Lewis shot a frantic glance at the hatch What the sensor revealed was happening right out there!

The brine stopped short of the passage ceiling, but not before it had shorted out the plasteel cutter

Clones were thrashing in the water, Nerve Runners covering them, but here and there dead Runners could be seen on the brine’s surface And where the plasteel cutter had shorted out, a as clouded the thin space over the water Wherever the gas touched, Runners died

Lewis felt hisfrom item to item Item: brine Item: electrical short

"Chlorine," he whispered Then louder: "Chlorine!"

"What?" Illuyank was clearly puzzled

Lewis pointed at the screen "Chlorine kills Nerve Runners!"

"What’s chlorine?"

"A gas created when you throw an electrical charge through sodium chloride brine"

"Bu"

"Chlorine kills Runners!" Lewis looked across the Facilities Roolass barrier showed a corner of clone area and the ocean beyond "Are the sea pu?"

The man at the pump console checked his keyboard, then: "Most of them"

"Sea water wherever we can put it," Lewis said "We need a large container where we can duh it"

"Water purification," Illuyank said "The purification plant We can pump almost everywhere from there"

"Wait a bit," Lewis said "We want to attract as many Runners as we can; make them easier to wipe out"

He watched the screens, dragging it out, then: "All right, let’s hit them"

Onceorders over his shoulder while the survivors in the Facilities Room obeyed

Lewis fixed his attention on the sensor screens The outer passage was quiet nofew dead E-clones floating on the surface of the brine,them He tuned the mess-room screen to another sensor eye, found the exercise bay outside the clone labs It was filled with a thrashing crowd of E-clones in absolute panic and, here and there aiven the order to seal off There were not nizable faces, but the colors of the uniforms could be identified One by one, they died, theirpink and their last stares turned upward toward the sensor

Even as the last of theun to sweep out of an open passage, drifting across the scene, blurring it

"Watch their eyes," Illuyank said "If we don’t get all the Runners, they’ll go for the eyes first"

All was quiet in the Facilities Room then as the survivors listened to their own precious breath, felt the comfort of their own live sweat and watched the eyes of the dead outside for some reflection of their own ainst the lip of the console, feeling cold ers Other screens showed h the Redoubt There were even sensor eyes still alive to show the area outside their periround there Illuyank scanned from sensor to sensor

Soh and Lewis echoed it

"Chlorine," Illuyank muttered

"We’ll be able to sterilize the Runner boils right out of existence now," Lewis said "If we’d only know"

"A nasty way to learn," someone behind them said

And so wait"

"Waiting’s that way," Illuyank said "Think how long you live if you’re alaiting"

It was an insightful co Lewis had ever expected from Illuyank And it meant that Illuyank would have to be shifted to a tour of duty Colony side He saw too much, deduced too h, they had to get out of here But there was no way out except into the Runner-contaminated open areas of the Redoubt The chlorine would et a ency transency shut-down signal No one comes in here until we’ve cleaned up It wouldn’t do to have anyone see what’s happened an" Lewis directed a loaded look at Illuyank

Illuyank nodded, and provided Leith the perfect opening for what had to be done "Soh, and see that they understand"

"That had better be you," Lewis said "Make sure they don’t try to explain anything to The Boss shipside That’s ht"

"Don’t tell them any more than you have to An while you’re there, try to circulate in the Colony - everything nornment"

"And try to find out if word of thi" Illuyank glanced at the sensor screens "has leaked out"

"Good ood