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Margaret noticed that Clarence was staring at Tim. Not in disbelief, or in surprise or admiration, but in suspicion.

“Tim,” he said, “you have a runny nose?”

Margaret felt the room grow cold. Clarence’s hand had drifted near the pistol strapped to his left side.

Tim, however, didn’t seem to notice. “A little,” he said. “I’m kinda wired and worn out, you know? f.u.c.k-all long days it’s been.”

Then he, too, saw Clarence’s stare, and understood. Tim leaned back, held up his hands.

“Don’t get crazy, big fella. I just tested negative like ten minutes ago. Besides, the yeast probably made me immune.”

“Probably,” Clarence said. “But if you were already infected for more than a day or two, the yeast doesn’t do anything, right? You were here during the attack, treating dozens of sailors. You could have been exposed.”

Margaret reached out, put a hand on Clarence’s arm.

“Just test him again,” she said. “Remember, he’ll test positive well before he’s contagious to us, so calm down. I doubt he’s infected.”

Clarence raised his eyebrows: how do we know that?

“I’ve got the sniffles, too,” she said. “And my body hurts all over.”

Clarence took a step back, giving himself enough s.p.a.ce to watch both her and Tim.

Margaret sighed in exasperation. “Clarence, for f.u.c.k’s sake. Tim and I are working around the clock here — at some point, the body breaks down. You get the sniffles, you get headaches. So how about we all test now, together, just to be sure? We can test again every time we step out of the suits.”

Clarence relaxed slightly, almost imperceptibly, but he wasn’t convinced.

“Okay,” he said. “But unless you’re in your suits, I need you two to stay away from each other. And both of you keep your distance from me, got it?”

She let out a sarcastic huff. “Good to see you’re consistent.”

Now he looked only at her. There was hurt in his eyes. She wanted to take those words back, but she couldn’t.

Clarence put both hands on his face, pressed hard, rubbed. He lifted his head, blinking rapidly, sniffing in a big breath.

“If Tim’s theory is right, we have to a.s.sume well over half of the Pinckney is infected, about to convert and become violent. I need you both to suit up and finish whatever you’re doing in the lab. Get samples of your work packed up and ready to travel on a moment’s notice.”

Margaret had been thinking only of numbers, but Clarence’s urgency drove home a harsh reality: the Pinckney was a heavily armed wars.h.i.+p, one that might soon be overwhelmed with the Converted.

THE SEAL