With Tau--their one hope of fighting the disease gone--they had
a black future facing them.
They did not have to search for Sinbad. Dane coming down to his own
section found the cat crouched before the panel of Van Rycke's cabin, his
eyes glued to the thin crack of the door. Dane scooped him up and took
him to the small cargo space intended for the safeguarding of choice
items of commerce. To his vast surprise Sinbad began fighting wildly as
he opened the hatch, kicking and then slashing with ready claws. The cat
seemed to go mad and Dane had all he could do to shut him in. When he
snapped the panel he heard Sinbad launch himself against the barrier as
if to batter his way out. Dane, blood welling in several deep scratches,
went in search of first aid. But some suspicion led him to pause as he
passed Van Rycke's door. And when his knock brought no answer he pushed
the panel open.
Van Rycke lay on his bunk, his eyes half closed in a way which had become
only too familiar to the crew of the Solar Queen. And Dane knew that when
he looked for it he would find the mark of the strange plague on the
Cargo-master's body.
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