“But … but … I just received a shipload of valuable runners from Keroon!”
Capiam sighed. “I know, Lord Ratoshigan. Master Quitrin informed me that the dead men worked in the beasthold. He’s also had
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Moreta: Dragonlady of Pem
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an urgent message of illness from the hold at which the men and the beasts halted overnight on the way from the coast.”
Ratoshigan and Sh’gall at last began to appreciate the gravity of the situation.
“We’re in the middle of a Pass!” Sh’gall said. /
“This virus is as indifferent to us as Thread is,” Capiam said.
“You have all those Records in your Crafthall. Search them! You have only to search properly!”
Sh’gall had never had an unfruitful Search, had he? thought Capiam, and suppressed his errant sense of humor. One day, though, he meant to record the various and sundry ways in which men and women reacted to disaster. If he survived it!
“An exhaustive search was initiated as soon as I saw the reports on the Igen Sea Hold death toll. Here is what you must do. Lord Ratoshigan.”
“What / must do?” The Lord Holder drew himself up.
“Yes, Lord Ratoshigan, what you must do. You came to seek my diagnosis. I have diagnosed an epidemic. As Masterhealer of Pem, I have authority over Hold, Hall, and Weyr in these circumstances.” He glanced at Sh’gall to be sure the Weyrleader was listening, too. “I hereby order you to announce by drum that a quarantine exists on this Hold and the one your beasthandlers used on the way from the coast. No one is to come or go from the Hold proper. There is to be no travel anywhere in your Hold, no congregating.”
“But they must gather fruit and”
“You will gather the sick, human and animal, and arrange for their care. Master Quitrin and I have discussed empiric treatments since homeopathic remedies have proved ineffectual. Inform your Warder and your ladies to prepare your Hall for the sick”
“My Hall?” Ratoshigan was aghast at the idea.
“And you will clear the new beastholds of animals to relieve the crowding in your dormitories.”
“I knew you’d bring that subject up!” Ratoshigan was nearly spit-ting with rage.
“To your sorrow, you will find that the healers’ past objections have validity!” Capiam vented his pent-up anxieties and fears by shouting down Ratoshigan’s objections. “You will isolate the sick and care for them, which is your duty as Lord Holder! Or come the end of the Pass, you’ll find you hold nothing!”
The passion with which Capiam spoke reduced Lord Ratoshigan to silence. Then Capiam turned on Sh’gall.
“Weyrleader, convey me to Fort Hold. It is imperative that I re-turn to my Hall as quickly as possible. You will wish to waste no time alerting your Weyr.”
Sh’gall hesitated, but it was not to speak to his dragon.
“Weyrleader!”
Sh’gall swallowed. “Did you touch that animal?”
“No, I did not. Talpan warned me.” Out of the comer of his eye, Capiam saw Ratoshigan recoil.
“You cannot leave here, Master Capiam,” Ratoshigan cried, skittering fearfully to grab his hand. “I touched that animal. I might die, too.”
“So you might. You went to Ista Gather to poke and prod a caged creature that has exacted an unexpected revenge for cruelty.”
Sh’gall and Ratoshigan stared at the usually tactful Masterhealer.
“Come, Sh’gall, no time is to be wasted. You’ll want to isolate those riders who attended Ista Gather, especially those who might have been close to the beast.”
“But what shall I do, Master Capiam, what shall I do?”
“What I told you to do. You’ll know in two or three days if you’ve caught the sickness. So I recommend that you order your Hold as quickly as possible.”
Capiam gestured Sh’gall to lead the way to the courtyard where the bronze dragon was waiting. The great glowing eyes of Kadith guided the two men to his side in the predawn darkness.
“Dragons!” Sh’gall halted abruptly. “Do dragons get it?”
“Talpan said not. Believe me, Weyrleader, it was his primary concern.”
“You’re positive?”
“Talpan was. No whers, watchwhers, or wherries have been affected though individuals of all those species had contact with the feline at Igen Sea Hold or Keroon Beasthold. Runners are seriously affected but not herdbeasts or the indigenous whers and wherries. Since dragons are related …”