Hall and Stone continue to watch Dutton on the monitor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“He can’t keep breathing like that forever,” says Hall. “He’ll hyperventilate, pass out. We’ve got to get him something to alkalize his blood.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Well, we can’t in there,” says Stone. He looks at the monitor, startled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Charlie?” says Stone, “Behind you! That cage – – “<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the monitor, Dutton makes an about-face and looks into the hot room. A rat is sniffing the air. Six petri dishes are scattered around the rat’s cage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s alive!” says Hall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“That rat’s been exposed as long as I have – – longer!” says Dutton. ” I exposed it to the cultures before the seal broke.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Precisely,” says Stone. “Andromeda’s mutated to a non-infectious form.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A red glow fills the console display. “Holy!” says Stone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In red letters on the display:
EARLY DEGENERATIVE CHANGE IN GASKET
> L5Y-001 <<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Where does that gasket lead?” asks Hall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Central Core,” says Stone. “Connects to all the labs.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A series of Level 5 gaskets failures fill the screen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The gaskets are – – decomposing!” says Stone. “It’s Andromeda!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Display shows:
GASKET INTEGRITY ZERO
LEVEL V CONTAMINATED<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A siren sounds The red emergency indicator on the wall flashes, and the countdown clock resets to five minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hall struggles with his disarming key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Next sector!” yells Stone. “There’s – “<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Never trust polycron gaskets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":712,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"http:\/\/www.andromedaminute.com\/cm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/as122.mp3","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"26:29","filesize":"24.78M","date_recorded":"24-02-2021","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"25982547"},"tags":[],"series":[4,11],"episode_featured_image":"http:\/\/www.andromedaminute.com\/cm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/as122.jpg","episode_player_image":"http:\/\/www.andromedaminute.com\/cm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/AndromedaCover1400.jpg","download_link":"http:\/\/www.andromedaminute.com\/cm\/podcast-download\/814\/minute-122-gasket-integrity-zero.mp3","player_link":"http:\/\/www.andromedaminute.com\/cm\/podcast-player\/814\/minute-122-gasket-integrity-zero.mp3","audio_player":"\n