I glanced at my watch. All this had occurred in two hours. "What happened to it?" Mae had taken out her magnifying glass and was bent close to the animal. She looked here and there, moving the glass quickly. Then she said, "It's been partially eaten."
"Eaten? By what?"
"Bacteria."
"Wait a minute," Charley Davenport said. "You think this is caused by Theta-d? You think the E. coli is eating it?"
"We'll know soon enough," she said. She reached into a pouch, and pulled out several glass tubes containing sterile swabs.
"But it's only been dead a short time."
"Long enough," Mae said. "And high temperatures accelerate growth." She daubed the animal with one swab after another, replacing each in a glass tube. "Then the Theta-d must be multiplying very aggressively."
"Bacteria will do that if you give them a good nutrient source. You shift into log phase growth where they're doubling every two or three minutes. I think that's what's happening here."
I said, "But if that's true, it means the swarm-"
"I don't know what it means, Jack," she said quickly. She looked at me and gave a slight shake of the head. The meaning was clear: not now.
But the others weren't put off. "Mae, Mae, Mae," Charley Davenport said. "You're telling us that the swarms killed the rabbit in order to eat it? In order to grow more coli? And make more nanoswarms?"
"I didn't say that, Charley." Her voice was calm, almost soothing. "But that's what you think," Charley continued. "You think the swarms consume mammalian tissue in order to reproduce-"
"Yes. That's what I think, Charley." Mae put her swabs away carefully, and got to her feet. "But I've taken cultures, now. We'll run them in Luria and agerose, and we'll see what we see."
"I bet if we come back in another hour, this white stuff will be gone, and we'll see black forming all over the body. New black nanoparticles. And eventually there'll be enough for a new swarm."
She nodded. "Yes. I think so, too."
"And that's why the wildlife around here has disappeared?" David Brooks said.
"Yes." She brushed a strand of hair back with her hand. "This has been going on for a while." There was a moment of silence. We all stood around the rabbit carcass, our backs to the blowing wind. The carcass was being consumed so quickly, I imagined I could almost see it happening right before my eyes, in real time.
"We better get rid of those fucking swarms," Charley said.
We all turned, and set off for the shed.
Nobody spoke.
There was nothing to say.
As we walked ahead, some of those small birds that hopped around the desert floor under the cholla cactus suddenly took to the air, chittering and wheeling before us. I said to Mae, "So there's no wildlife, but the birds are here?"
"Seems to be that way."
The flock wheeled and came back, then settled to the ground a hundred yards away. "Maybe they're too small for the swarms to bother with," Mae said. "Not enough flesh on their bodies."
"Maybe." I was thinking there might be another answer. But to be sure, I would have to check the code.
I stepped from the sun into the shade of the corrugated shed, and moved along the line of cars toward the door of the storage unit. The door was plastered with warning symbols-for nuclear radiation, biohazard, microwaves, high explosives, laser radiation. Charley said, "You can see why we keep this shit outside."
As I came to the door, Vince said, "Jack, you have a call. I'll patch it." My cell phone rang. It was probably Julia. I flipped it open. "Hello?"
"Dad." It was Eric. With that emphatic tone that he got when he was upset.
I sighed. "Yes, Eric."
"When are you coming back?"
"I'm not sure, son."
"Will you be here for dinner?"
"I'm afraid not. Why? What's the problem?"
"She is such an asshole."
"Eric, just tell me what the problem-"
"Aunt Ellen sticks up for her all the time. It's not fair."
"I'm kind of busy now, Eric, so just tell me-"
"Why? What are you doing?"
"Just tell me what's wrong, son."
"Never mind," he said, turning sulky, "if you're not coming home, it doesn't matter. Where are you, anyway? Are you in the desert?"
"Yes. How did you know that?"
"I talked to Mom. Aunt Ellen made us go to the hospital to see her. It's not fair. I didn't want to go. She made me anyway."
"Uh-huh. How is Mom?"
"She's checking out of the hospital."
"She's finished all her tests?"
"The doctors wanted her to stay," Eric said. "But she wants to get out. She has a cast on her arm, that's all. She says everything else is fine. Dad? Why do I always have to do what Aunt Ellen says? It's not fair."
"Let me talk to Ellen."
"She isn't here. She took Nicole to buy a new dress for her play."
"Who's with you at the house?"
"Maria."
"Okay," I said. "Have you done your homework?"
"Not yet."
"Well, get busy, son. I want your homework done before dinner." It was amazing how these lines just popped out of a parent's mouth.
By now I had reached the storage room door. I stared at all the warning signs. There were several I didn't know, like a diamond made up of four different colored squares inside, each with a number. Mae unlocked the door and went in.