Jack looked up. "How do you mean?"

"Well, Fuzzy was infected, we know that. He might have died too, if we
hadn't caught it in time--but as it worked out, he didn't. In fact, he
looks pretty healthy right now."

"That's fine for Fuzzy," Jack said impatiently, "but I don't see how we
can push the whole population of 31 Brucker VII through a virus filter.
They're flesh-and-blood creatures."

"That's not what I mean," Dal said. "Maybe Fuzzy's body developed
antibodies against the virus while he was infected. Remember, he doesn't
have a rigid body structure like we do. He's mostly just basic protein,
and he can synthesize pretty much anything he wants to or needs to."

Jack blinked. "It's an idea, at least. Is there any way we can get some
of his body fluid away from him? Without getting bit, I mean?"

"No problem there," Dal said. "He can regenerate pretty fast if he has
enough of the right kind of food. He won't miss an ounce or two of
excess tissue."

He took a beaker over to Fuzzy's platform and began squeezing off a
little blob of pink material. Fuzzy seemed to sense what Dal wanted;
obligingly he thrust out a little pseudopod which Dal pinched off into
the beaker. With the addition of a small amount of saline solution, the
tissue dissolved into thin, pink suspension.

In the laboratory they found two or three of the guinea pigs in the last
stages of the infection, and injected them with a tiny bit of the pink