He removed the slides from the microscope and placed them with the blood-filled syringe into the medical cabinet. Nobody but him would have any reason to open the drawers, so it provided the closest thing to a hiding place available on the small spacecraft. He turned towards the door, and caught his reflection on the reflective door.
I look like I got hit by a bus. He frowned, finger-combed his hair, wiped his face, and proceeded back towards the bridge. The rest of the crew would be there reading through the reports of the water samples.
He started down the hallway and noticed he was already feeling better. Fingers on wrist, he checked his pulse: 91. Huh...I only took the beta-blocker a minute ago. Placebo effect, maybe? Regardless, he appreciated the improvement and with a new resolve was determined to get back to those sample reports.
"Ah! Dr. Banks! Where have you been? We've been waiting for you! They're all done! They're finally ready!" It was Rebecca, the physicist. Her blonde hair was always pulled back tightly into a no-frills bun, but the grin on her face revealed the California surfer-chick she was on her rare vacations.
The other members of the crew looked up and acknowledged Dr. Banks. There was excitement in the air -- for nobody knew what answers the sample reports might reveal.
"Oh, sorry. I just needed to che.."
"Nevermind! Here they are! Let's get reading!"
In all the excitement, nobody seemed to even notice I was gone. This might work out perfectly. I'll cure myself, we'll "discover" the organism in the samples, and the mission will be a success.
Dr. Banks took a seat in the bridge next to Timothy, the dark-skinned engineer with a British accent.
"What have you got?" inquired Dr. Banks.
"Well, to be honest it's a bit outside my field. I'm no biologist or chemist. But here's the report for the chemical breakdown of the samples. I don't really know what of it all."
He passed a sheet of paper over to Dr. Banks. Printed in small font was a bunch of text regarding standard deviations, statistical methods, and spectrometer details, but he skimmed down to the meat of the report; the breakdown. It read as follows:
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS: Primary Solute - H2O Major Solvents (>1%): CHLORIDE - 42.5% SODIUM - 28.6% SULFATE - 10.2%% MAGNESIUM - 3.4% CALCIUM - 2.9% POTASSIUM - 2.4%
Minor Solvents (<1%): BROMINE LITHIUM BERYLLIUM BORON CARBON FLUORINE NEON SILICON PHOSPHORUS
The list continued, with numerous other solvents noted in the samples. More detailed breakdown of specific compounds and their relative make-up were available on subsequent pages.
"Huh," said Dr. Banks. "Pretty darn close to Earth's oceans. Not exactly the same, of course, but it's pretty much the same stuff."
Timothy replied, "Well, good! That means all the ingredients for life are right here, right? Right below us?"
"Well, let's not get too excited," Dr. Banks replied. "It takes a lot more than a bunch of elements in water to make a living being. Remember, we've been trying for decades to make life in a lab but have yet to succeed."
Timothy nodded in understanding.
Dr. Banks knew the implications. *Almost the same stuff as on Earth. Who knew? No wonder it's affected me so easily. I'm hardly foreign for it! This means that it could probably survive on Earth, as well. I need to be extra careful not to bring it back with me.