Invasion

"Careful!" he warned. "They look perfectly smooth but they can sting. It's kinda spooky because I've not been able to find a sharp edge. Yet I've been stuck several times already. Feels like a bee sting."

Taking Alfred's advice, Jesse took a ballpoint pen from his pocket and used it to push around one of the discs. To his surprise it was not easy. They were indeed heavy. It was particularly hard to get one of them to flip over. Jesse gave up.

"Well, you're on your own," Jesse said. "I don't have any idea what they are."

"Thanks for looking at them," Alfred said in between coughs.

"You sound like you've gotten worse just while I've been standing here," Jesse said. "Maybe you'd better go home."

"I'll stick it out," Alfred said. "I just came on duty at five."

Jesse headed for his desk planning on staying another half hour tops, but he didn't get far. Behind him he heard a fit of coughing and then a crash.

Turning around Jesse saw that Alfred had disappeared from view. Running back to the counter he could hear thumps like someone kicking the cabinets. Pulling himself over the counter Jesse looked down. There on the floor was Alfred with his back arched and his body quivering. He was having a convulsion.

"Hey everybody!" Jesse shouted. "We got a man down in property booking."

Jesse went over the top of the booking desk head first, knocking most of the clutter on its surface to the floor, including the twenty or so black discs. Intent on the convulsing figure of Alfred, Jesse didn't notice that all of the discs landed lightly and right side up.

The first thing Jesse did was get Alfred's keys and plop them on the counter so others could unlock the cage door. Although Jesse had a key, most people didn't. Next he forced a pad of paper between Alfred's tightly clenched jaws. He was about to unbutton the top button of his shirt when he saw something that startled him. A foam was oozing out of Alfred's eyes!

Shocked by this spectacle, Jesse straightened up. He'd never seen anything like it. It was like bubble bath.

Within seconds Jesse was joined by other officers. All were equally amazed at the burgeoning froth.

"What the hell is that foam?" one of the officers asked.

"Who the hell cares," Jesse said, breaking the trance. "Let's get an ambulance. Now!"

There was a loud clap of thunder simultaneous with the gurney as it slammed through the main ER doors of the University Medical Center. It was being pushed by two burly EMTs. A few steps behind was Jesse Kemper. On the gurney Alfred Kinsella was still convulsing. His face was blue, and foam was still bubbling from his eyes like two bottles of disturbed champagne.

Sheila, Pitt, and Cassy emerged from Sheila's office where they'd been most of the day collating all the flu cases, including all the cases seen that day. Sheila had heard the commotion and had responded immediately. She'd been forewarned by the head nurse that a strange case was on its way. The EMTs had called ahead as they'd left the police headquarters.

Intercepting the gurney, Sheila glanced at Alfred. Seeing the foam, she directed the EMTs to take the patient into the bay reserved for contaminated cases. She'd never seen anything like it and wasn't about to take any chances. As the gurney was quickly pushed away, Sheila got the head nurse's attention and told her to page a neurologist stat.

Jesse grabbed Sheila's arm. "Remember me? I'm Detective Lieutenant Jesse Kemper. What's wrong with Officer Kinsella?''

Sheila pulled away. "That's what we would like to find out. Pitt, come on with me; this will be a trial by fire. Cassy, take Lieutenant Kemper into my office. The waiting room is too crowded."

Cassy and Jesse watched Sheila and Pitt run down the hall after the gurney.

"I'm glad I'm not a doctor," Jesse said.

"You and me both," Cassy said. Then she pointed toward Sheila's office. "Come on! I'll show you where you can wait."

The wait was not long. Within a half hour Sheila and Pitt appeared at the door. Their expressions were funereal. It wasn't hard to guess the outcome.

"No luck?" Cassy asked.

Pitt shook his head.

"He never regained consciousness," Sheila said.

"Was it the same flu?" Cassy asked.

"Probably; his lymphokines were very high," Pitt said.

"What the hell are lymphokines?" Jesse asked. "Is that what killed him?"

"Lymphokines are part of the body's defense against invasion," Sheila said. "They are a response, not a cause of disease. But tell me, did Mr. Kinsella have any chronic disease like diabetes?"

"He didn't have diabetes," Jesse said. "But he had a serious problem with his blood. He had to have transfusions every so often."

"I have a question," Cassy said suddenly. "Do you know if Sergeant Kinsella had ever mentioned anything about a black disc about this big," Cassy made a circle about an inch and a half in diameter with her thumbs and forefingers.

"Cassy!" Pitt moaned.

"Quiet!" Cassy said to Pitt. "At this point we don't have much to lose and a lot to gain."

"What's this about a black disc?" Sheila asked.