The action starts out in the small town of Piedmont Arizona, which has
been decimated by an unknown bacterium. Afterwards, the scene shifts to
an underground government laboratory in Flat rock Nevada. The rest of
the story takes place here as scientists try to unlock the mystery of
the Andromeda strain. Because the story takes place in the late sixties,
it is influenced by several aspects from the Cold War, including the ramifications
of using nuclear weapons and the anti-military attitudes that were coming
during the American involvement in Vietnam.
Dr. Jeremy Stone
Dr. Stone is a Nobel prize-winning scientist and the acknowledged
leader of the Project Wildfire team. In 1963, Stone wrote a letter to
the President concerning the possibility of alien bacteria infecting earth
aboard returning American satellites. Based on his ideas, the government
organized a protocol for disinfecting all men and equipment returning
from space. Stone also formed a committee that submitted a Life Analysis
Protocol, which detailed the way any living thing could
be studied. This protocol resulted in the construction of the Project
Wildfire facility in Flatrock, Nevada. When the lab was completed
and a group of five scientists needed to be selected to study new organisms,
Stone was an obvious choice. Although he is pleased to see the government
adopt his ideas, he does not realize that he is being used in the hopes
that he can help the military advance its development of biological weapons.
Dr. Mark Hall
Of all the Wildfire scientists, Dr. Hall pays it the least
amount of attention. He agreed to join the team in 1966 when approached
by Leavitt, but did not follow the updates he was given and doubted anything
would ever come of the project. His inattention to the details annoyed
Leavitt, and Stone felt that Hall's surgical abilities would be of little
if any help at the facility. In actuality, Hall had not been Stone's first
choice, but was brought on in a compromise with army officials. He was
the last person notified of the incident at Piedmont and the least well
informed about the Flatrock installation. Much of what the reader learns
about Project Wildfire comes from explanations designed
to get Dr. Hall up to speed.
Dr. Charles Burton
A fifty-four year old pathologist and professor at Baylor medical
school. He made his reputation working on various strains of the staphylococcus
virus before eventually being brought on to the project. Burton has
a brilliant mind, but is rather lackluster as a physical specimen. Stone
is constantly annoyed with his sloppy and unkempt appearance. While working
in the pathology lab he makes a series of critical mistakes, which delay
the discovery of Andromeda's nature.
Dr. Peter Leavitt
A clinical microbiologist trained to treat infectious disease.
He has seen enough plagues and epidemics to know the importance of quick
action. Leavitt recruited Hall to the project in 1966, while they were
working at the same hospital - Leavitt was the Chief of Bacteriology.
Although Stone has the most confidence in him, Leavitt ultimately proves
the most unreliable of the team members. He fails to disclose his history
of epileptic seizures brought on by flashing lights. During the climax
of the novel, when the bacterium is spreading throughout the Wildfire
facility, Leavitt is incapacitated by seizures and spends the remainder
of the novel in the infirmary.
Arthur Mancek
Major Mancek is the army officer in charge of recovering the
"Scoop" satellite. He makes the decision to call in the wildfire
team to the Flat Rock facility in Nevada. Mancek has the ability to think
clearly in a crisis, which is why he's in charge of this operation. He
also gets called to investigate the crash of a Phantom jet that goes off
course and flies through Piedmont airspace. Even though he oversees the
Wildfire project he has no direct contact with the four scientists in
Nevada.
Peter Jackson
The old man from Piedmont, that seems so mysterious at first,
turns out to be the key to unlocking the Andromeda mystery. Stone and
Burton transport Jackson as only one of two survivors to the Wildfire
facility where Hall studies him overall the next few days. Jackson has
a chronic bleeding ulcer, which he treats by downing a bottle of aspirin
a day and following it up with Sterno. This makes his blood extremely
acidic and helps him survive through the Andromeda Strain contamination.
Jackson helps identify the baby survivor and recounts what happened in
Piedmont on the night the satellite landed.
Dr. Robertson
The Head of the President's Science Advisory committee in Houston.
Robertson serves as a liaison between the White House and the scientists
working on Project Wildfire. Stone blames the President's initial refusal
to drop a bomb on Piedmont on Robertson, saying that he's not doing his
job. When the telex printer malfunctions, Robertson is their only link
to the outside world. He informs the Wildfire team about the Phantom crash
in Utah.
Officer Willis
An Arizona highway patrolman who happens to drive through Piedmont
as the bacteria is spreading. Because of his diabetes, his blood was too
acidic to coagulate completely, and so Andromeda started to eat away at
his brain tissue. Willis went insane and shot several customers at a highway
diner before turning the gun on himself.
Dr. Smithson
The medical officer for the Arizona highway patrol west of Flagstaff.
Dr. Hall calls him to get Officer Willis' medical history and whereabouts
on the night the satellite landed in Piedmont. After their conversation,
Hall has him arrested by military authorities on order to prevent the
spread of rumors concerning Piedmont.
Clapsaddle, Diane. "TheBestNotes on A Long Way Gone".
TheBestNotes.com.
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