Hall runs back into the lab and tells Stone about his discovery. Together
they decide to tell Burton to breathe deeply in order to alkalinize his
bloodstream. But Hall can see that a rat within the pathology lab, which
should have been killed by Andromeda, is still alive and breathing normally.
As he tries to comprehend this, the computer console notifies them that
another seal has been breached in another sector. Finally, Hall puts it
all together. He explains why Burton and the rat are still alive, why
the seals are bursting, and why none of the National Guardsmen around
Piedmont have yet fallen victim to Andromeda. The organism has mutated
into a variation harmless to humans, but harmful to polymer plastics.
While Hall explains this to Stone, another seal bursts and the corridors
begin to close off. Stone warns Hall that he must get out because there
is no substation in the lab, but the doors seal off before Hall can escape.
He and Stone are now trapped in the lab with no way to stop the three-minute
countdown towards self-destruction detonation.
Burton is still alive because the virus has mutated and is now harmless
to both him and the rat. Instead of humans or animals, the bacterium now
attacks polymer plastics. It is now impossible to contain the Andromeda
strain because all the seals are made of this plastic. They realize that
the nuclear device that had been designed to destroy the Wildfire facility
in the event of exposure will only succeed in spreading and further mutating
it into another form that may or may not be dangerous. The destruction
must be stopped.
Stone explains that Hall can get to a substation on another level by
climbing up through the central core of the facility. As he climbs, machine
sensors shoot Hall with tranquilizer darts that were intended to prevent
any of the lab animals from escaping through the central core. When he
finally reaches the next level, he has been hit twice and is losing strength.
He comes across a lab assistant, but she thinks he's been infected and
runs away. Somehow he manages to drag himself the last few feet, inserts
his key, and cancels the self-destruct sequence.
Hall wakes up in the infirmary on level IV. Stone congratulates him
on stopping the countdown and informs Hall that the organism must have
mutated into a harmless form. By Stone's calculations, it should be over
Los Angeles by now and no deaths have been reported. He explains that
everything is under control, and the important thing is that we now understand
how the organism works.
The happy ending. Hall's ingenuity was a big part of the team's survival,
yet without the organism's chance mutation into a harmless strain, most
of Los Angeles would have been wiped out by now. Survival demands luck.
Stone's phrase the important thing is that we now understand indicates
that knowledge has been advanced, but at what price?
The epilogue is a question and answer session that follows the burn
up of a manned spacecraft during re-entry into the atmosphere. NASA decides
to postpone all manned spaceflights indefinitely, and places Jeremy Stone
on the committee to investigate the disaster. The NASA spokesman attributes
the crash to a mechanical, not human, error, and tells reporters that
the subject of future launches is out of our hands.
We are left to guess that the reason for the NASA crash is the danger posed
by the Andromeda Strain, which is still out in space. Despite all the
technology and research and planning, NASA coordinators are still unable
to exert control over the various forces of the universe. The final phrase
describing the future of the launch programs as out of our hands is
a testament to the powerlessness of humanity in the face of the universe
in which we live.
Clapsaddle, Diane. "TheBestNotes on A Long Way Gone".
TheBestNotes.com.
>.