At the town meeting, one of the colony doctors stood, very short in stature with large owlish eyes. Her face was gray from exhaustion, but she wore a small smile that seemed out of place and an expression of weary relief. "I think I have good news." She didn't notice the eager indrawn breaths. "After analyzing samples from fifteen victims of Orange Spot, my team and I have isolated the infectious organism. I'm happy to say that it's completely unrelated to the virus that causes Ildiran blindness fever."

On a portable projection screen she displayed several electron micrographs showing blobs and strange shapes. Davlin recognized human blood cells along with large unfamiliar masses. "Orange Spot is a simple amoeboid monocellular creature, not as tough as a virus or even a bacterium. In humans it affects mainly the skin and the lungs. It's probably in the water or in something we harvested, a natural part of Crenna's ecosystem."

"Is it going to kill us all?" asked someone.

"No, but you might have to get used to your orange spots." The doctor smiled a little more. "That symptom is an inflammation of the skin and a discoloration of melanin. Possibly permanent, but not too dangerous."

"But my Arkady is dead!" an old woman said.

"Arkady already had scarred lung tissue, and he was particularly vulnerable. Orange Spot is as serious as, say, pneumonia. But treatable, too. All we require is a broad-spectrum antiamoebic. I have some samples in my pharmacy, but not enough to treat the whole population."

"Well, we can't just run to the local drugstore and pick up a prescription," grumbled another colonist.

A man named Branson Roberts, one of the newest colony members, stood. "I can." He was a thin and lanky white man with big callused hands and a dandelion puff of gray-white hair on his head.

The man had flown in with a small merchant vessel; new plating indicated where the name and serial number had been changed. Either Roberts had stolen the craft or he was hiding from something. But the Crenna colonists welcomed anyone with a private ship who could make under-the-table runs and obtain black-market supplies.

"My ship has enough fuel for a couple more trips, as long as I don't go too far." He pushed his hands into his jumpsuit pockets. His grin was infectious. "I have a few connections around the Hansa."

Of course you do,Davlin thought.

Two days later, the Crenna medical staff had treated-and cured-the five most severe cases of Orange Spot. Davlin worked on the water filtration system, adding additional precautions to screen the amoeba from the local drinking supply. Seeing the recovery of their fellow colonists, the people calmed.

Branson Roberts went around the settlement to compile a "shopping list" so he could bring back a full cargo load in addition to the necessary antiamoebic medicine. If he was going to use his diminishing stardrive fuel to make a run for pharmaceuticals, he might as well make the whole trip count.