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Norton, Andre, 1912-2005

"Plague Ship"


Hope which was snapped out when Ali brought the news that Stotz could not
be roused and must have taken ill during a sleep period. One more inert
patient was added to the list--and nothing learned about how he was
infected. Except that they could eliminate Sinbad, since the cat had been
in custody during the time Stotz had apparently contracted the disease.
Weeks, Ali and Dane, though they were in constant contact with the sick
men, and though Dane had repeatedly handled Sinbad, continued to be
immune. A fact, Dane thought more than once, which must have
significance--if someone with Tau's medical knowledge had been able to
study it. By all rights they should be the most susceptible--but the
opposite seemed true. And Wilcox duly noted that fact among the data they
had recorded.
It became a matter of watching each other, waiting for another collapse.
And they were not surprised when Tang Ya reeled into the mess, his face
livid and drawn with pain. Rip and Dane got him to his cabin before he
blacked out. But all they could learn from him during the interval before
he lost consciousness was that his head was bursting and he couldn't
stand it.


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