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Sara Yaeneticist who had spent eleven years in recombinant DNA research If it developed that Snowfield had been stricken by a anisation She would direct the study of the y, and when that was co to deteruchi had begun to wonder if Isley and Arkhaation than she had thought This , their area of expertise had seeht of what had taken place since the team’s arrival in Snowfield, she was forced to admit that Isley’s and Arkhaly pertinent

And like Dr Valdez, she orried

Dr Wilson Bettenby, chief of the civilian scientific arm of the CBW Civilian Defense Unit’s West Coast team, sat at a computer ter an autoram on several water samples The samples were inserted into a processor that distilled the water, stored the distillate, and subjected the filtered-out substances to spectrographic analysis and other tests Bettenby was not searching for anisms; that would require different procedures than these This machine only identified and quantified all mineral and chemical elements present in the water; the data was displayed on the cathode ray tube

All but one of the water samples had been taken from taps in the kitchens and bathroo Vail Lane They proved to be free of dangerous chemical impurities

The other water sample was the one that Deputy Autry had collected from the kitchen floor of the apart to Sheriff Hammond, puddles of water and saturated carpets had been discovered in several buildings By this , however, the water had pretty much evaporated, except for a couple of damp carpets from which Bettenby wouldn’t have been able to obtain a clean sample He put the deputy’s sample into the processor

In a few minutes, the computer flashed up the complete chemical-mineral analysis of the water and of the residue that remained after all of the liquid in the sample had been distilled:

PERCENT PERCENT PERCENT PERCENT

OF OF OF OF

SOLUTION RESIDUE SOLUTION OF RESIDUE

H 11188 00-00 HE 0000 0000

LI 0000 0000 BE 0000 0000

B 0000 0000 C 0000 0000

N 0000 0000 0 88812 0000

NA 0000 0000 MG 0000 0000

AL 0000 0000 SI 0000 0000

P 0000 0000 S 0000 0000

CL 0000 0000 K 0000 0000

The co up the findings for every substance that ht ordinarily be detected The results were the same In its undistilled state, the water contained absolutely no traces of any eleen And complete distillation and filtration had left behind no residue whatsoever, not even any trace elements Autry’s sample couldn’t have come from the town’s water supply, for it was neither chlorinated nor fluoridated It wasn’t bottled water, either Bottled water would have had a nominal mineral content Perhaps there was a filtration systean unit-but even if there was, the water that passed through it would still possess more mineral content than this What Autry had collected was the purest laboratory grade of distilled andall over that kitchen floor?

Bettenby stared at the co

Was the small lake at Brookhart’s liquor store also coo around town eallons of distilled water?

And where would they find it in such quantity to begin with?

Strange

Jenny, Bryce, and Lisa were at a table in one corner of the dining room at the Hilltop Inn

Major Isley and Captain Arkham, ore the deconta on two stools, across the table They had brought the news about Corporal Velazquez They had also brought a tape recorder, which was now in the center of the table

"I still don’t see why this can’t wait," Bryce said

"We won’t take long," Major Isley said

"I’ve got a search teah every building in this town, take a body count, find out how , and look for some clue as to what the hell killed all these people There’s several days of work ahead of us, especially since we can’t continue with the search past sundown I won’t let o off at any second Dale’s eaten face The hollow eye sockets

Major Isley said, "Just a few questions"

Arkha hard at the irl’s mind

"We’ll start with you, Sheriff," Major Isley said, "In the forty-eight hours prior to these events, did your office receive any reports of power failures or telephone service interruptions?"

"If there were probleenerally call the utility companies, not the sheriff"

"Yes, but wouldn’t the utilities notify you? Aren’t power and telephone outages contributory to criminal activity?"

Bryce nodded, "Of course And to the best of e, we didn’t receive any such alerts"

Captain Arkham leaned forward "What about difficulties with television and radio reception in this area?"

"Not that I’m aware of," Bryce said

"Any reports of unexplainable explosions?"

"Explosions?"

"Yes," Isley said, "Explosions or sonic booms or any unusually loud and untraceable noises"

"No Nothing like that"

Jenny wondered what in the devil they were driving at