Part 26 (1/2)

Amy rummaged through the paper bag and pulled out another Kwik-Stik. ”How about this one?

Penicillium roqueforti . Even more yummy. Roquefort cheese organism. And can't we use this to get penicillin?”

Lori shook her head. ”No, you need a particular strain of penicillium, not just any strain. I forget the exact species. As I recall, Alexander Fleming, the guy who discovered penicillin, had his cultures contaminated by accident. Besides, this one has an October 2000 expiration date as well.”

While Lori had been talking Amy had been rummaging in the bag and she pulled out the next package in triumph. ”Bingo! expiration June 2001!”

”Penicillium italic.u.m, causes blue mold of citrus fruits.” Lori smiled. ”Closer, but still not the right one.”

With a flourish Amy pulled another package from the bag. ”Next to last one. Ring a bell?”

”Penicillium Notatum. High yield. Expiration March 2001. A little out of date, but it still might be viable. Expiration dates are generally conservative. This is the stuff we want.”

”Cool!” Amy said. Moving quickly the two women searched through the remaining paper bags in the refrigerator. Most of the Kwik-Stiks they found were far out of date or of organisms that didn't seem important. Only three werePenicillium Notatum , two labeled low yield, with expiration dates of June 2001, and the one labeled high yield. They transferred the penicillium Kwik-Stiks to the cooler while they finished cleaning the refrigerator, then transferred them back.

”So what should we do with the Kwik-Stiks?” Amy asked.

Lori shrugged. ”I'm not sure. I do know that the chem team took some stuff last fall, so they may already have some penicillium cultured up. Ask Nicki Jo tonight when you see her. If they can use them, I bet Len Trout would be happy to give them up. And they probably won't be viable for much longer.”

That night at the Modi house Amy told her boyfriend, Franz Dubois, and Nicki Jo p.r.i.c.kett about the Kwik-Stiks.

”Penicillium Notatum? Oh yeah, the chem team already has some of that cultured.” Nicki Jo said. ”But it's good to have more. Given the expiration date, I bet the school district will let us have it for free. Use it or lose it, and it's probably too close to the end of the current cla.s.ses to use it in a high school lab experiment.”

Franz Dubois looked puzzled. A second cousin of Colette Modi, he had arrived in Grantville in December 1631 fromHanau nearFrankfurt . Always fascinated by chemistry, he had found himself spending many hours talking with Amy Kubiak. Within a month he had discovered that he was fascinated with Amy Kubiak as well.

”Penicillium Notatum? Used to produce penicillin?”

Nicki Jo nodded. ”Yup. But penicillin isn't really that much of a priority right now. We're in the seventeenth century, not the early twentieth. We need stuff that is going to prevent or cure the major epidemic-type diseases we might see, like typhus, bubonic plague and smallpox. That's why the chem team is concentrating on things like DDT and chloramphenicol and the medical people are working on smallpox vaccinations. Oh, we'll be making some other antibiotics, mainly the sulfa-like drugs, which aren't that difficult if you have the ingredients. Sulfanilamide is even in one of my organic chem books. But synthesizing pure penicillin in sufficient quant.i.ties is pretty difficult, according to the sources we have.

That'll have to wait a few years. In the meantime, we're sending out cultures ofPencillium Notatum , along with instructions, to various hospitals and universities aroundGermany as we get visitors headed in the right direction.”

”But if we can't really make penicillin right now, what good is it to send out the cultures?” Amy asked.

”I think the rationale is not to have all your eggs in just the Grantville basket,” Nicki Jo said. ”If something happens to us, the people in charge wanted to make sure there are plenty of the right penicillium species available for the day when someonecan manufacture it. It probably took a decade of intense effort up-time to mutate the original Fleming strain into even the lower yielding strains we have cultured right now.”

Amy looked over at Franz. ”What about those two men fromCologne you're translating for? Aren't they physicians or something?”

”No,” Franz said. ”One, Gerhard Eichhorn, is a surgeon, and the other, Matthias Wagener, is the praeceptor of a hospitaller order inCologne , the Antonites. They're leaving for home next week though.”

”What's a praeceptor?” Amy asked.

”Essentially just the head monk,” Franz said. ”But with responsibility for overseeing all the hospitals the order administers inCologne and interacting with the city council to ensure things run smoothly.”

Nicki Jo nodded. ”Well check with them to see if they'd like some of the penicillium. The Kwik-Stiks would be more convenient to transport than the actual cultures. I'll check with Greg to get the okay and he can arrange for permission from Len Trout.”

Matthias Wagener turned one last time to look back at Grantville before urging his horse into a canter to catch up with Gerhard Eichhorn.

”An interesting six weeks, wouldn't you say, my friend?” Matthias said when his horse came level with Gerhard's.

Gerhard snorted. ”You've always had a gift for understatement, Matthias. Do you finally believe they are really from the future?”

Matthias shrugged. ”Of course. Or from some future. But the philosophical questions are the most fascinating. Why did G.o.d decide to send them here? And why now?”

Gerhard smiled. ”So you don't subscribe to the opinion of some of the Protestants we met? That G.o.d sent Grantville back in time to punish Catholics for Tilly's sack ofMagdeburg ? The timing would certainly indicate a correlation of some kind.”

Matthias waved his hand in dismissal. ”Highly unlikely, Gerhard, in my opinion. G.o.d is not so petty. If anything, G.o.d sent them back for the children. Think of how many children will be saved now that we know more about disease and the reasons for early mortality.”

Matthias shook his head. ”And not just children. Now that we know about the importance of sanitation, we can focus on building better sewage systems.”

”Well, I will help when I can. But your position as praeceptor of the Antonites should be sufficient to enlist the city council behind the changes that need to take place.”

”Easier said than done, my friend.” Matthias shook his head again. ”Too many will resist the changes because the Americans are starting to ally themselves with Gustavus Adolphus. Others because they will see no economic benefit, just expense. Still others will say it is good that so many children die young, rather than to grow up into misery and pain and starve to death.

”As for you, Gerhard,” Matthias continued, ”I would be very careful if I were you with the knowledge you've gained in Grantville. Franz Wilwartz is always looking for ways to make your life more miserable.”

Gerhard grimaced. It was true. Franz Wilwartz, like many barber-surgeons inCologne , was more barber than surgeon. He had always been jealous of Gerhard's skill in treating wounds and other ailments. Twice in the past five years he had threatened to file a complaint against Gerhard with the Beleidmeister about not following guild regulations. And now that his daughter had married one of the more prominent physicians inCologne . . .

”Oh, I'll be careful, Matthias. I just hope I can convince the guild of the need to change some of their regulations. I'll need your help in that, of course.”

”You'll have it, Gerhard.” Matthias said. ”So what did you do with thePenicillium Notatum the Americans gave you?”

Gerhard turned and slapped the box tied to his saddle. ”On ice, as the Americans would say. Hopefully I can keep it relatively cool until we can get back toCologne . And yours?”

Matthias smiled. ”Given the fact that the package was already out of date, I decided it was important to get it back toCologne as soon as possible, so I hired a special courier. Gysbert should have it in four days, at the most, G.o.d willing.”

”Gysbert Schotten? The herbalist?”

Matthias nodded and smiled again. ”The greenest thumb inCologne . If anyone can get the mold to grow, he can. I just wish I could see his face when the package arrives.”

Insane, thought Gysbert Schotten, Matthias Wagener has been driven insane.

How else to explain this enigmatic package on his desk and the fact that it had been delivered by special courier?

For weeks he had been receiving letters and ma.n.u.scripts from the praeceptor. His enthusiasm for the ”new science” had been contagious. But this . . .

Gysbert shook his head. He had done what he could to prepare a room for experimentation. But the doc.u.ments he had received indicated that he would have to take extensive precautions to keep the cultures from being contaminated, and how was that going to be possible? He had no autoclaves, although perhaps a regular oven might work. Dry heat instead of steam. He had no microscopes, no thermometers, nothing.

”Father, should we begin?”

Gysbert looked at his a.s.sistant, Wolfram Muysgin. Wolf was a good boy. Eager, enthusiastic. Good instincts for many things. But now those instincts would have to be retrained for an environment very different from what they had a.s.sumed. No more ”humors” or blood that was ”too hot” or ”too cold.” Oh no. Disease caused by small animals called ”bacteria.” Or even smaller ones called ”viruses.” And a constant . . . what was the word? Ah yes, a constant ”evolutionary” war fought between bacteria, yeasts, molds and fungi. An ongoing, ever-present need to keep things as sterile as possible. What was the phrase the praeceptor had stressed so emphatically? Ah, yes. ”Cleanliness is next to G.o.dliness.”

”Father?”