Robertson immediately agrees, but political advisor Grimes insists on a more cautious approach. While Stone, Hall and, separately, the baby, old man and satellite are transferred to a secret location, Manchek requests authorization to destroy Piedmont. Stone contacts Manchek to request that Piedmont be 'neutralized' by a thermonuclear blast to prevent the spread of the mysterious infection. Hall is then nearly attacked by an old man brandishing a cleaver but when the man collapses on the ground writhing in pain, he is also taken aboard the helicopter. Urged on by their protective suits' dwindling oxygen supply, Stone summons the helicopter, which air-lifts the baby aboard. At a nearby house they find a live baby crying lustily. Recognizing that whatever infected the citizens of Piedmont is not from Earth, the men prepare to depart with the satellite when they are startled by a sound. Hall then inspects the dead physician and when he cuts the man's arm, powdered blood pours out, revealing clotting throughout the entire system. The men track the satellite to the town doctor's office, where Stone is indignant to find the capsule has been opened. As the pair proceeds through the town, Hall notices a car accident victim whose injuries did not bleed. Examining several bodies, they conclude that some victims died quickly while others appeared to have had mental breakdowns before dying. The morning after the satellite crash, Stone and Hall, wearing protective gear, are flown by helicopter to Piedmont. Stone is privately briefed on SCOOP, created by the army's Biological Research Division to collect organisms existing in outer space that could be used as potential biological weapons. Mark Hall, led by Nobel Prize-winning biologist Dr. Ruth Leavitt and surgeon and blood chemistry expert Dr. Arthur Manchek to declare a state of emergency and summon a special scientific investigative team that includes pathologist Dr. A reconnaissance photography flight over Piedmont reveals dead bodies scattered throughout the small town, prompting duty officer Maj. When the men report their discovery of two dead bodies to Vandenburg Air Force Base mission control, they are ordered to return immediately, but the controllers then lose contact with the men. After a space satellite launched by the United States as part of a top-secret biological research project code-named SCOOP crashes near the small town of Piedmont, New Mexico, two military recovery technicians arrive.

The andromeda strain novel