"Good. Foreign infections can be deadly." Re-l paused and then snapped her fingers. "I must add that to my list of questions. We must have at least residual resistance to the anti-bodies in the air, otherwise we'd be dead by now. But how did we get them? Are they built into our bodies?"

Her mind ran down a hundred possible avenues of thought at once, and she had no time to consider any of them. They had finally reached the oasis, and there was indeed a pool of water. There was no connecting stream, but there was no algae either. The water looked as clean as it was possible for desert water to look.

"A year ago, I would never have thought to drink water straight from the ground, but we can't be picky." She dunked her canteen under the surface, and watched the bubbles rise. When it was finished she took a drink herself, ignoring the flicker of embarrassment in her stomach as she raised her cupped hands to her face and drank greedily. When her thirst was quenched she splashed more water over her face, soaking her hair and her throat. It would evaporate soon, but it was a blessing while it lasted.