### 178

You try to recall what you know about the sickness called Bita Fever. During your studies of the Kai curing skills you were told about this tropical disease, but all you can recall is that it originated in the Bita Swamp of Dessi and that it is usually only fatal in the very young or the old. Healthy adults rarely die from it, although the symptoms in those affected are unsightly. Victims suffer a scarlet rash that often affects the face and hands. A normally healthy person who contracts the disease will usually recover completely within a month.

When you look at the faces of the mourners you notice that many of them are red and swollen. The marines have never before encountered this disease, and when you tell them what you know, they insist on leaving at once, before the quarantine is put into force.

Turn to 148.