The Andromeda Strain Summer Book Synopsis

The Andromeda Strain, by Michael Crichton, is a scientific thriller about a team of scientists trying to help with the sudden outbreak of a deadly extraterrestrial microorganism found in a little town called Piedmont, Arizona. It all starts when two men working for the government to try and find new bacteria in the upper atmosphere are driving to collect the fallen shuttle. The men are radioing into the main facility, tracking their progress and how close they are to the shuttle.

When the finally reach the destination, the radio becomes almost instantly silent. Immediately the facility sends out jets to take aerial pictures of the scene to try and figure out what could’ve happened. After a few hours of tirelessly waiting, the pictures came back and what they found was truly haunting. In the little town of Piedmont Arizona, hundred of lifeless bodies lie on the ground. “Nothing ever happened at night.” (pg. 13, Crichton) Said one of the office employees.

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Everyday seemed like the same, boring tasks, little did he know what was yet to come. What seemed like an average night at the hub suddenly becomes an urgent call to the Wildfire program.

The Wildfire program was a group of scientists created years ago in case a microorganism or bacteria outbreak occurred in which could potentially threaten a larger number of US residents. Working as quickly as possible, two of the doctors flew down to the town and the others waited at the new Wildfire lab. When the two doctors got down to Piedmont, they suited up in very protective suits so that no type of bacteria could get inside.

They walked around the town for a while and were dumbfounded at what they found. Many people were lying in the streets holding their chests, frozen as if they were trying to take one last breath and those who didn’t look as if they died naturally killed themselves. After investigating for a while they noticed something very peculiar, vultures were starting to eat the bodies but there was no blood. There was no blood. Anywhere. They took out a scalpel and cut open a man. All of his blood was completely clotted. “’A cut like that,’ he said, ‘on the face. Broken capillaries, shattered bone, torn scalp veins—it should bleed like hell.’” (pg. 72, Crichton) Just like everyone else in the town. In the midst of talking to each other about any possibilities, they heard a cry. The men ran to the sound and they were amazed to find that this deadly outbreak did not kill everyone. There were still two living beings, an old man, and a young baby. They scooped up the living beings and flew them back to the lab to meet the other doctors.The Wildfire lab was an amazing creation. Since it is a part of the government, no one knows anything about it and even the doctors didn’t know what to expect. Employees told them instructions about the floors and the self-destruct button. There were five floors, each more sterile than the next. To get down to the fifth level, they would have to go through days worth of decontamination and sterilization. They were later informed about the self-destruct button. There was a nuclear bomb ready to blow in case a deadly virus ever escaped and they needed to demolish it. There was only one key to stop and start it and they gave that role to the only unmarried male because he had the best statistics for making the right decision. This put a lot of weight on the doctor because the popular city of Las Vegas was not far, and pulling the trigger would inflict countless amounts of harm on the residents there.

After finally finishing the sterilization process, all the doctors were on level 5 and they could finally try and solve the mystery of the instant, blood clotting death for a whole town. Hours of investigation finally unfold showing that the deaths were caused by a crystal-structured extraterrestrial microbe which was transported by a meteor that hit the shuttle. The microbe contains the chemicals needed for life but lacks in DNA, RNA and amino acids. “It was a perfect, six-sided hexagon, and it interlocked with other hexagons on each side.” (pg. 226, Crichton) They named the microbe Andromeda and it starts to mutate more and more with its biological elements changing quicker and quicker. They soon realize that the Andromeda will only grow within a certain PH level, the blood of the baby and old man does not match the level that Andromeda thrives in and so that finally answers why they are still alive. The scientists think that they have gotten really far in this discovery, but they then realize that they have not made the discoveries fast enough. The Andromeda has mutated so quickly that it has escaped its containment. The Andromeda latches to a rubber hinge of the door and time is running out for the scientists to escape. The mutating virus is creeping up quicker so the self-destruct button is automatically activated. Dr. Hall, the scientist chosen to keep the key, gets trapped and needs to find a way to turn off the bomb. Just in time, he stops the self-destruct button right before it would take out all of the air in the level that the Wildfire team and their assistants are in. They suspect that the Andromeda traveled to the upper atmosphere where there is less oxygen and the mutation can thrive. And that is The Andromeda Strain.