District Chief. Every club or organization wanted
him to speak.
42 This instant popularity made North nervous, but his wife and mother enjoyed the special treatment they got.
43 While all this was happening with North, Morn was having trouble of
his own. When he arrived at the rendezvous with his ship, it wasn't
there! After some hurried messages it was located in one of the
neighboring systems, and the battleship carrying him was ordered to
proceed there at once. Morn sensed trouble, and when he got there, he
found plenty. His cruiser sat at the edge of system with ten ships
surrounding it. Four of them withdrew with the arrival of the
batteship, but the others stayed put.
44 The battleship Commander explained the situation to Morn. An
outlying mining colony had sent in a distress call. Their equipment was
breaking down, and they would soon lose life support. His ship, The
Son's Pride, had gone out with a passenger pod, to pick them up. By the
time they arrived there, the colony's life support was nearly gone, and
many of the colonists had some kind of strange sickness.
45 The colonists had been put on the pod and isolated, and they started
back. A couple of the colonists died, and the ship's Doctor, fearing an
epidemic, ordered the pod sealed. Some of the Miners, however, escaped,
seized the ship's engineering section, and ordered that they be
taken to deep space. Instead, the ship's crew brought the vessel here.
46 So far the crew on board, except for those in engineering, haven't
been affected by the disease. The ship's internal shields have kept it
from spreading. The Second Officer, who was in temporary command,
signaled Order Fifty-Seven, and that's where we stand now."
47 "Can we beam the unaffected crew off the ship?" asked Morn, "and put
them in quarantine?”
48 "The mutineers have shut down the power on the transport tubes,"
explained the battleship's Commander.