Stepping inside the ranch of Ganz and Vinsra Rovad, Nathaniel and Leeza were breaking any number of quarantine laws, though the well-being of their friends was of greater importance to them.

Walking up to the door of the primary bedroom, both paused a moment to listen for any activity. All was still, even after Nathaniel rapped his knuckles on the door a few times.

Venturing into the bedroom, they found Ganz and Vinsra quietly unconscious, totally oblivious to their surroundings, appearing comatose. They lay in each other's arms under thick covers, their bodies paralyzed, and the glands under their necks bloated.

A nudge from Leeza did nothing to rouse them, though getting so close to her friends was reassuring. They were still breathing, though for how much longer was not certain.

The illness generally ran on a two week course. By the end of the second week, an infected Lesher would either snap out of it or die. For those two weeks, it swelled glands, diminished the body's ability to absorb heat, and enfeebled the musculature, leaving the victims paralyzed and unable to move.

Returning to the dining room, Nathaniel and Leeza sat down at the table. Nate kept a stoic pose, remaining calm, but Leeza folded her arms on top of the table and buried her head, sobbing.

After several minutes of crying, Leeza spoke, her voice muffled by tears and her arms. "I did not tell you before, why I am alone. I did not know the words before.

"I had a mate, and four children, until three years ago. The last plague killed them all. I did not get sick. I do not know why. I got over the deaths, learned to forget, but..."

"But now you're faced with it again, only this time your friends and neighbors are dying," Nathaniel said.

Leeza pulled her head up and looked at Nathaniel. "Why must they die? Why must I sit by and watch them die?"

Nathaniel could give no answer.

"Do people die on your world?" Leeza asked, curtailing her tears.

"Of course. We're only mortal," Nathaniel replied. "We are all born, we live our lives, and we die. Science and Technology have taught us how to extend life considerably, but in the end we all die from something."

"Your science, it can cure plagues?" Leeza asked.

"Yes. We used to have sweeping plagues like your Skate Chills, but that was a thousand years ago. My people still get sick, and sometimes die, but not in such numbers."

"Your world must be a comforting place," Leeza said, calming her nerves.

"You'd think so," Nathaniel mentioned, recalling the turmoil that persisted in everyday life among his own people.

"Do you believe I could ever go there, visit your world?" Leeza asked.

"I don’t know. Right now, I’ll be lucky if I ever see it again."

Staring across the room, Leeza saw a motionless timepiece, an old, wind-up clock that sat upon the brick mantle above the fireplace. One winding lasted a full week, yet its hands sat motionless on the dial, showing the length of time which had passed since the onset of the plague.

"We should not have come," Leeza said, standing up. "If the wardens spot us leaving a quarantined building, they'll shoot to kill."

"Hold on a minute," Nathaniel said, digging into a large pocket halfway down his right thigh. Pulling out a plastic box which contained part of his med-kit, he set it on the table and snapped the latch. "I had something in mind when I asked to come here."

"What is that?" Leeza asked, looking at the box.

Inside the open container was much in the way of medicine. A dozen thin vials filled with a yellow fluid, jars of pills, and several hypodermic needles.

"These are antibiotics, medicines which can cure many kinds of infection."

"You are hoping to cure Vinsra and Ganz with this anbitiks?" Leeza said, stumbling over the new word.

"Remember how we found your hired man yesterday on the porch? How I swabbed that wound on his forehead? I ran that blood through a hematological analyzer, which told me that this Skate plague is a bacterial infection. After careful inspection of the bacteria, the analyzer gave me a treatment regiment, but that's geared toward someone with human physiology. I don't know how a Lesher's body will react."

"Then you are also a healer?" Leeza asked.

"I'm no doctor. I only know how to use these gadgets in the medkit."

"But there is a chance you could cure," Leeza said eagerly.