When they heard the computer announce an alien life form, right away there was shouting and arguing that it had been transported by the two officers and the woman. Hunter silenced the crew and had the computer locate the source - it was in both the crew's quarters and the cargo bay.

Instantly, to the horror of the crew, Hunter rushed to the controls and blew the bolts, severing the cargo bay along with the five men inside.

"Bloody murderer!"

"They were already dead with that thing in the cargo bay."

The crew started to argue and threaten, forcing the two officers to hold them back with their weapons. The scream from the hatchway startled everyone and they turned to see what was left of the missing crew member. The slime had moved from the hatchway and was spreading into the command centre.

Yelling over the sudden panic, Hunter ordered everyone below to the emergency escape shuttles. There was a mad scramble as men pushed and shoved their way to the ladder. Chesterton was first below, waving the men past. When Hunter and Diane climbed down there was no time left and the three crammed into one, two seat shuttle and sealed themselves uncomfortably inside.

Through the portal they could see crewmen fighting one another for a spot as the slime dropped to the emergency lock floor. Hunter tapped a code into the computer to achieve lift off from the planet, and detached their shuttle from the ship. When the Encounter reached orbital apogee he programmed an acute decon procedure, completely purging the ship.

Chesterton and Diane watched, stunned as the operation took place.

"They'll all be killed!"

"They were dead anyway and you know it. You saw what it did and how fast. Our shuttle would have been next and you saw with the Medpod that it could get through seals."

Diane hunched down, crying and Chesterton turned away, silently fuming.

After a long period of waiting the computer signalled the operation complete and Hunter steered the shuttle back to the ship. He docked and accessed the computer to proceed with decontamination for entry. The trio climbed out of the shuttle, noting that nothing that wasn't fastened down was left . . . including the remains of the crew.

"What the hell happened?" Chesterton looked at the open hatches on the other shuttles still anchored in their stalls. "They didn't even get in the shuttles!"

"They fought one another to get inside and were too late."

"You mean you purged the ship before they had a chance."

"You saw them fighting, they had lost all control. Would you rather I had stayed?"

"My God, there's only the three of us left!" Chesterton exclaimed.

"And very lucky at that. Pressure is good, we can get up to the command deck and get the hell out of here."

"Where is everything?" Diane asked, looking about.

"If it wasn't fastened to something it's gone. An acute decon purge is just that. The entire ship, every nook and cranny, blown out all the hatches. It's usually done in maintenance if a ship is suspected of carrying contaminants. It isn't used much but I'm glad as hell we had the option. Just keep your gloves on for a while, nothing serious, but some surfaces get extremely hot in the process and may be still."

"Can we get back?" Diane was hugging the pack she had carried from the lab close to her chest.

"With what's left of our ship, faster than we got here for sure."

He turned to Chesterton, "Mark, set a course and kick it" He walked Diane to a seat in the command centre. "What's in the pack?"

"Proof of the success of our experiments in condensing organisms. Howard . . ." her voice caught. "Howard had this idea that if we could condense the sample organisms we studied into a solid state, we could store them anywhere with no fear of contamination or loss of properties. It would revolutionize the ease and convenience of studying anything!"

Hunter waved his hand. "Okay, whatever." He took his chair at the console and soon they were on a fixed course for home. The log entries made to the computer kept conversation to a minimum.

********

A hearing was held at HEEP headquarters and Hunter was subjected to a severe grilling from the principles. Computer logs were presented, interpreted and argued over. Some wanted to know why there was no evidence of the alien substance and dismissed the argument that the camera recording was lost with the doctor.

Hunter tried to explain that the acute purge of the ship, necessary to save their lives, destroyed all evidence of the slime. Diane's testimony was looked on as supportive and biased because of her alleged rescue. One of the more level-headed board members, however, insisted on hearing her account prior to the arrival of the Encounter.

Diane took a seat in front of the board and related her memory of the period in question.

Senior Scientific Technician, Howard Cusack laughed as his first assistant, Diane Sommers struggled into the pale green bio-suit, her left arm missed the sleeve and was trapped down along her side.

"I'm not going to be much use like this." She shook her head and joined her boss's laugh.

"I'll get Ruth to give you a hand; it takes a bit of skill but you'll get it in no time.

She kept fiddling until Ruth Iwai arrived, beginning her own soft chuckle.

"Howard said you were fooling around in here instead of getting to work."

"He would. I just- oh, just get me in or out of this thing, Ruth.

Properly dressed and contamination secured, Diane joined Ruth and Howard in the analyzing lab. A hazy grey light shone through the flexi-glass dome and shadows were few and faint. On the portable steel lab tables stood a vast array of electronics. Computer screens with various coloured charts and scrolling figures, microscopes, agitators, chromatographers. Everything required to examine, analyze, sort and record the elements collected from the planet.

"Peter called in, they are on their way back with some new plant specimens. He seemed quite excited about the find. Says it holds great promise for learning about sustainability here."

"I would rather we could breathe the air outside than wear this outfit all the time."

"You don't need the helmets in the housing dome at least."

Diane shrugged inside the suit but the others didn't know. She actually enjoyed the work in the lab, the anticipation of seeing new examples of living organisms, the amazing patterns and designs they displayed.

In only three weeks after landing they had an operating laboratory up and running full tilt. Now, six months later they had catalogued hundreds of plant and soil samples and were making great headway with analyzing organisms. Amazing.

"Doctor Sommers, if you could get to the pertinent facts please.

"Sorry, I was just . . . sorry. While we were working a message came through that the collection team had returned.

"Ruth, Peter and the others are at the airlock, see to the decon procedure would you, please." Howard asked.

Ruth went to the dome entrance and established communication with the collection team. She opened the outer lock and then when the men were inside, released the hydrogen peroxide gas. When the decon was completed and the gas evacuated the men passed into the second chamber, took off the cumbersome space suits and donned the temporary pass thru lab suits.

"Howard, get your study samples and I'll put these in the sterile cabinet right away." Peter was bouncing around like a kid at Christmas.

"Just set it there, Peter, I have to close these up first."

"These are going to be amazing! I've never seen anythi−" His sealed container hit the edge of the table and knocked it from his hand. It fell to the floor and the lid popped open, spilling some contents.

"Oh crap!"

"Get the vacuum, quick!" Howard hurriedly closed his samples up and put them safely away while Diane handed Peter the bio-vacuum. He frantically swept it around the spill, muttering and swearing .

"Slower, Peter! You're just scattering it more."

Diane took a sip of water and continued. "We thoroughly cleaned the spill and left the lab for the living quarters. Something must have eluded us and that started the horror."