Chapter 27

Summary

• The protagonist reacts quickly to a potential contamination issue without initially having a plan.
• They identify that an organism called Taumoeba may have recently contaminated the BOCOA and could threaten the ship's fuel supply.
• The life support system is suspected as the cause of the contamination and is subsequently disabled to prevent further spread of Taumoeba.
• They gamble on shutting down various ship systems, including the heaters, fuel, and spin-drives, as a precaution.
• The protagonist dismisses scientific curiosity for the moment to focus on eliminating the immediate threat of Taumoeba through engineering solutions.
• Nitrogen is selected as an effective method to kill the Taumoeba due to its inability to tolerate high nitrogen atmospheres.
• All life support and related emergency systems are powered down, and the emergency alarm system is disabled to prevent interference with the nitrogen purge.
• They wear a space suit to protect themselves while venting the ship's air and replacing it with nitrogen to create an inhospitable environment for the Taumoeba.
• After waiting for the air pressure to drop sufficiently, the protagonist introduces nitrogen into the ship, aiming to infiltrate all possible Taumoeba hiding spots.
• BOCOA, which is now contaminated, is ejected into space to remove any risk of future contamination.
• Ultimately, the ship's atmosphere is repressurized with nitrogen and then gradually returned to normal using reserve oxygen supplies.
• The protagonist then focuses on isolating every source of Taumoeba within the ship to prevent further contamination.
• Using nitrogen, they test several mini-farms and breeder farms for leaks, sealing them in airtight, visually monitored bins to ensure containment.
• The chapter concludes with the protagonist recognizing the chaotic state of the lab and the work ahead to organize and clean the mess caused by the emergency without the help of gravity.