Hale took a deep breath. This was it. "I'm afraid it's not as simple as that, sir. You see, I landed my ship here not knowing that the--ah--natives were hostile. I landed near their village. They pretended to be friendly, so I went out to meet them. They overpowered me and went into my ship. They smashed my sub-radio and took away parts of my drive unit." He paused for effect. "I'm afraid, sir, that their ship will be ready to go shortly, and we have no way to contact Health Central." The sudden tumbling of a gigantic house of cards was marked by an awful roar of silence. Hale waited. He had plenty of time. * * * * * When it finally came, the voice of Captain Doctor Latimer Wills was distorted with frustration, anger, fear, and despair. "Then that's the end. It--it isn't your fault, of course, Lieutenant Hale. You couldn't have known." It was obvious that his first emotional reaction had been violently against "Lieutenant" Hale, and he had suppressed it with effort. "Nevertheless, sir, I feel that it's my responsibility," Hale said nobly. "And I think I see a way out." "What? What? A way out? How?" Wills didn't dare let himself hope again. "Well, sir, the Plague seems to have broken out again on the mainland. There are more than fifty down with it in the village now, and it seems to be spreading." "What? Ridiculous!" The captain doctor was almost sputtering. "Lieutenant, I assure you that they're immune! The population of Cardigan's Green _can't_ have an epidemic of the Plague! Oh, I'll admit that an individual might be conceived now and then without the immunity gene intact, but the foetus would never come to term! An epidemic is impossible!" "Nevertheless, sir," said Hale complacently, "we have a major epidemic on our hands." He knew he was treading on thin ice at that point, so he turned and called loudly to the boat in the local dialect. "Tell Captain Doctor Wills why we are here!" Then, to Wills: "Will your directional pickup reach that man, sir?" "I think so. Yes." The first officer of the fishing smack was shouting: "The Plague is here, good sir! Please help us! Give us the medicine!" Hale snarled under his breath. He wasn't ready to say anything about the medicine yet. Oh, well--water over the dam, spilt milk and all that. "I'm afraid I don't understand, Lieutenant Hale," said the captain doctor. "How will this help us get off Cardigan's Green? And what's all this about medicine? We don't have any medicine that will cure the Plague." "Let me ask you a question, sir. What size frequency crystal do you need for your sub-radio?" There was a murmured consultation from the speaker. Evidently, the ship's commander was conferring with his communications officer. "We need a point oh nine seven five," Wills said at last. "Why? What's that got to do with--"