Stone and Leavitt continue to puzzle over the geometric structure of the organism, until they look at the electron density scans and discover that the shape of the bacteria is not as uniform as they had originally thought. Stone comments that he wished they had brought a physical chemist along instead of Dr. Hall.
In the cafeteria, Hall looks over the messages on the telex machine
and comes across the AP report of Officer Willis's death. Newspapers reported
that Willis had gone into a diner and told the waitress that someone was
after him. Next he pulled out his gun and shot several people before killing
himself. Remembering his conversation with Jackson, Hall decides to contact
a Dr. Smithson, the medical officer for the Arizona highway patrol. Dr.
Smithson reveals that Officer Willis had diabetes, but didn't always take
his medication and would sometimes go into acidosis. After confirming
that Officer Willis had gone through Piedmont on the night of his death,
Hall hangs up the phone. Shortly after this conversation, Hall hears an
emergency bell sound and a bright yellow light begins to flash.
There is a great deal of dramatic irony surrounding Dr. Hall. Given Crichton's introduction of the surgeon, especially Stone's opinion of his talent, we do not expect him to contribute much to the project. Yet while Stone and Leavitt are following clues that will lead them nowhere, Hall is on the verge of discovering the key to beating Andromeda. Stone, Project Wildfire's foremost authority, thinks Hall is useless. As readers, we know otherwise.
As for Officer Willis, his failure to take his insulin probably caused
him to go into acidosis on the night of the Piedmont contamination. Since
his blood pH prevented him from clotting, he must have died from brain
hemorrhaging. This would explain his bizarre behavior at the diner.
As Hall runs down the corridor, a voice announces that contamination has occurred in the autopsy lab. This means Burton is in danger. Before Hall can get to the autopsy lab he notices Leavitt standing still in the hallway, staring at the flashing yellow lights. Suddenly, Leavitt collapses to the floor and goes into seizures. Hall instructs a lab assistant on how to medicate Leavitt, then goes down to the autopsy lab.
Upon arriving at the autopsy lab, Hall informs Stone that Leavitt has
gone into epileptic shock due to the flashing lights. Meanwhile, Burton
stands ashen-faced in the autopsy room while Stone instructs him to remain
calm. Hall notices it's been four minutes since a seal ruptured, causing
the leak, and wonders how Burton could possibly still be alive after that
amount of time. Stone mentions that Burton looks scared to death', which
suddenly gives Hall the answer to the entire mystery.
This unusual turn of events immobilizes half the team's scientists.
Leavitt has gone into seizures and will be in the infirmary for the rest
of the novel, while Burton is now trapped in the autopsy lab with slim
chance of surviving the bacteria leak. This leaves only Stone and Hall
left to deal with whatever new problems arise.
Dr. Hall continues to ponder how the old man (whose abuse of aspirin
and sterno would have made his blood overly acidic) was similar to the
baby (whose constant crying would have made its blood overly alkaline),
when he finally comes up with what he labels the highway diagnosis.
He realizes that Andromeda Strain grows within a narrow range of pH in
the bloodstream. A little too acidic or a little too basic and the bacteria
could not live. Hall assumes his discovery will end their troubles, but
he could not have been more wrong.
Since the entire novel has been building towards the discovery of how Andromeda
works and what could prevent it, this moment seems to signal the end of
the crisis. Unfortunately, there is still the small matter of bacteria
that now eats polymer seals and an atom bomb.
Clapsaddle, Diane. "TheBestNotes on A Long Way Gone".
TheBestNotes.com.
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