Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile

Episode 53: Black and White Issues

By

Jay P. Hailey

And

The Engage Players

-*-

"Can't you *tell*?" Margli boggled out of the screen at Kylah Dannon.

Kylah Dannon did her best to keep a straight face, and to keep her demeanor calm and reassuring. "First Minister, there is very little contact between your planet and the Federation. I know little of your world."

Margli grimaced. "You really can't tell." He ducked out of the area framed by the screen and rummaged for something. Then the screen split into two pictures. One image was a still picture of Ktar Margli and the other was the First Minister of Sterry speaking from his office. The difference was quite plain. The still image of Margli showed him to be solidly black on his right side, and white on the left side. The live image of Margli was zebra striped, with huge strips of black and white alternating horizontally across his body.

"This is my identification card. The picture shows my natural state." Margli said.

Kylah nodded and said "Your color has changed."

Margli looked about ready to have a conniption. "Captain Dannon-"

"Lieutenant." Kylah corrected him.

"-Do you imagine for even the briefest of possible moments that this is a voluntary change?" Margli snarled.

"It doesn't look bad." Kylah smiled. Actually she though it a much nicer color scheme than the old one. A thought skittered across Kylah's mind. "At least they're not vertical stripes." She ruthlessly suppressed it.

Kylah's observation made Margli even more unhappy. Through gritted teeth, he continued, "One's color is a vital part of our culture, Lieutenant Dannon. Now we are beset by a fierce fever, which, when it has passed, leaves us like this! And not all one arrangement either! Some of us are POLKA-DOTTED!"

Kylah's ability to keep a straight face strained. "I'm sorry." She managed. "How do Starship Captains do this?" She wondered.

"Perhaps you are insensitive to the destruction wrought to our culture, Lieutenant, but we're also seeing deaths on quite a large scale." Margli growled.

Any humor in Kylah's attitude vanished. "Really? How many?"

"About 10,000 people at this point. My experts tell me that this will only grow worse." Margli said.

Kylah muted the microphone and looked inquiringly at Gar Molon, the new Doctor on his way to Deep Space Thirteen.

Molon's face was grim. "We have to go, Lieutenant. We are doctors. It's our job. I suggest you call for back up, though."

Kylah sighed. As the Senior Officer on the Runabout USS Salayam, She was in command. The decision was hers. "This was supposed to be a simple ferry run!" Kylah thought to herself. "Why couldn't this be Commander Giovanni or Lt. Commander Lalonde? They're trained for this!"

"T'Nara, take us to Sterry best speed. Rose, Please send a message to DS13 telling them where we're going and what's going on."

"Aye, Sir." T'Nara, the Vulcan Pilot said, turning the Salayam towards the planet Sterry.

"Lieutenant, the message will take about 20 minutes to reach DS13." Rose Vogel, the Security Ensign said.

"I understand." Kylah said, "We'll be sending a follow up as soon as we learn more."

Gar Molon unmuted the microphone. "First Minister, I'm Doctor Gar Molon of Starfleet. Can you perhaps describe what's happening?"

Margli blinked "Excuse me, but how big is the Federation Starship Salayam? How many doctors and medical people do you have?"

Molon smiled his best reassuring smile. "We're a runabout, Sir, a small passenger ship. Fortunately you caught the one ferrying two doctors to their new assignment."

"A Runabout? How many crew are on a runabout?" Margli looked unhappy.

Kylah broke in. "There are Six of us, Sir. However, I've already put in a call to our base. If we're not enough, then Starfleet will be sending more."

"Our hospitals are over flowing! We're on the verge of a major panic. Please call for all the help you can, lieutenant." Margli said

"We will." Molon said "Now, please tell me all that you can of this disease?"

"It broke out here in Crossriver City about two weeks ago. At first, it was just a few isolated incidents. Soon, though, it began to spread like wild fire. The symptoms are a severe fever. That's when it's deadly. The victims are mainly people who were ill, the very old and the very young." Margli explained.

"How long until we arrive?" Kylah asked T'Nara.

"Approximately 6 hours, 27 minutes, and 30 seconds until we exit warp near Sterry, Lieutenant. I can not estimate how long their traffic control will delay us." T'Nara answered.

"Rose, can you send a request to DS13 for Data on Sterry? I'd like to know what Starfleet already knows about these people." Kylah asked Rose Vogel.

"Already sent, Lieutenant." Vogel said crisply.

Kylah raised her eyebrows at Rose.

"I'm nosy. What else do you think I'm doing in Starfleet?" Rose grinned.

Kylah made a slight smile back. "T'Nara, you have the flight deck, I'm going to take a small break until the messages start coming down."

-*-

Thirty minutes later the first sets of messages started to return to the Salayam.

"To- Lieutenant Kylah Dannon, USS Salayam

From - Commander Maria Giovanni Deep Space 13

Kylah, Respond to the Distress call will all due dispatch. Please bear the safety of your crew in mind as you go.

I'll expect more complete reports as you get information and updates once every four hours, conditions permitting.

I have contacted the nearest Federation starship, the USS Alliance. Her ETA at Sterry is Ten days. You're on your own until then.

I know that you will handle this emergency in the best Starfleet tradition.

Keep in touch

Giovanni out."

Kylah looked at the message carefully.

A smell of strawberries mixed with roses wafted up behind her. "It is a most disturbing situation." The mild voice of a Federation Voder commented.

Kylah turned to see Dr. Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam. A Rhondan, he resembled nothing so much as an over built octopus with too many arms. His skin felt like warm, living linoleum.

"Hello, Doctor." Kylah smiled. She didn't know if Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam could even recognize the gesture.

"Do we now respond to a call for a medical emergency?" The Voder asked. It was tied to one of Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam's major leg/arms by a large strap of Velcro. The Velcro strap was black, with a medical/sciences blue piping, a Starfleet Commbadge and the Pips of a Lieutenant Junior Grade on it.

"That is indeed what's happening." Kylah said. Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam was the most alien person she'd seen in a long time.

"I did not anticipate so heavy an emergency before even reaching the comfort of Deep Space Thirteen." Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam commented, "However, I expect that with your help, Doctor Molon and I will suit the need admirably."

Kylah Smirked. "Is unshakable self confidence a requirement for being a doctor?"

Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam, hesitated, waving in some unseen current. Strawberries in cream almost over rode the Rose petals. "Yes, it is." The Voder said.

Kylah smiled genuinely at the strange alien doctor as Gar Molon came back aft from the flight deck.

"Doctor Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam, I have some information for us. Then I plan to get some rest and some food before we hit ground. Medical emergencies can be quite demanding on the humanoid physiology." Molon said.

"A large scale medical emergency taxes all physiology." Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam said. He turned to follow Molon to a table. His walked looked like it was half dance, half slither and half twirl.

-*-

"What in the world is *that*" Ktar Margli Demanded, pointing at The Rhondan healer.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Kylah answered, "That is Doctor Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam. He's come to rescue you." Kylah tried to ease the tension out of her voice. After all, it was a diplomatic contact, as well as well as a rescue mission.

"Ummm, are you sure it's competent to do medicine on humanoid life forms?" Margli eyed the octopoid suspiciously.

A strong waft of oranges came from Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam and his Voder spoke with some volume. "I assure you, Sir, that I am competent in many forms of xeno-medicine and xeno-biology."

A military man standing next to Margli with lots of decorations and rank markings said "First Minister, they're *all* aliens. I don't know exactly how they can help us anyway."

"Ah, pleased to meet you. You're Lieutenant Dannon?" First Minister Margli said.

"Yes, First Minister. I bring you greetings from the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet. This is my crew. Doctor Gar Molon, Doctor Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam, Ensign T'Nara of Vulcan, Ensign Rose Vogel, and Ensign Parker Ashby."

"Thank you. This is my Minister of Security, Margan Zillo, and my Minister of Public Health, Doctor Heba Kamal. As you can see, we've all suffered the effects of this terrible plague."

They had, too. Both Zillo and Kamal were randomly splotched black and white, with an equal amount of each color on both sides, at least as far as their clothing revealed.

"The disease first appeared two weeks ago in Crossriver City. It starts out with a fierce fever. This is when most casualties occur. The very old or people with impacted immune systems burn themselves out with the massive fever. Heroic measures can save them if the fever is caught in time." Doctor Kamal explained.

Kylah noted the security troopers, too. The Sterrian Ministry of Security uniform ran to black fatigues with lots of pockets, black body armor, and a complex set of straps and attachments from which all sorts of tools, pouches and gizmos hung. They had very serious and lethal looking projectile weapons held at high port across their bodies.

"However, for most people, the fever while unpleasant is survivable and breaks within a half hour of hitting its peak. After that, usually while the victim is sleeping off the effects of the fever, his colors will migrate at random over his body, and then stop." Kamal continued.

General Zillo wore a variation of that uniform without as much encumbrance, and more signage on it.

Margli and Kamal were dressed in suits that seemed somewhat conservative in cut, but loudly colorful. Kylah speculated that because of the nature of the native's faces, that high contrast looked happier to them.

"Gentlemen, In order to be of any help to you I am going to need information, lots of it." Gar Molon said.

Molon stood about as tall as general Zillo, Kylah guessed, maybe six feet, but not as broad. His color scheme was not as loud, either, with his brown hair and startlingly blue eyes.

"And what will you do with this information once you get it, Alien?" Zillo demanded

"We will determine what has caused the plague your world faces, and see if we can treat it." Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam said, Smelling of Oranges with a hint of cherries.

"Won't you please come in and we'll tell you everything we know." Margli said.

General Zillo looked displeased but said nothing.

-*-

"And we really need you to find a way to restore our colors back to their original state." Margli finished.

Kylah struggled towards being fully awake. The conference had consisted of Molon, Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam and several Doctors from the Ministry of Public Health throwing around medical terminology in a haze so thick that she couldn't penetrate it.

A quick look at the rest of the Salayam's crew told her that they were having a similar set of experiences. T'Nara sat very still and stone faced. She almost seemed to be meditating. Parker Ashby lolled in his chair and looked positively drugged. Rose Vogel eyed General Zillo warily and he returned the suspicion.

"What does your color matter?" Kylah asked.

Conversation stopped dead. All the Sterrians in the room stared at her.

"Pfaugh! An Egalitarian." Zillo snarled. It sounded like an insult coming from him.

Margli looked pained. "Lieutenant, the color one's skin is a marker for one's social status, here. We black/white people are the more civilized and advanced people. We have brought our culture to the white/black people, but they have yet to fully grasp it, or show readiness to participate fully."

"Really?" Kylah didn't know exactly what to make of that statement.

Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam wafted strongly of rose petals "I suppose that you have scientific proof of this assertion?" His voder said. Kylah almost though she heard sadness in the bland computer generate voice.

"Oh, yes. Several tests under scientific conditions have shown that the white/blacks are simply not quite as intelligent as we are." Doctor Kamal replied.

"But without the handy visual clue of which side is white and black." Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam continued.

"We can't tell the difference!" Margli all but howled. "The damage to our civilization could be enormous."

"It could be fatal." General Zillo said grimly. "That's what the White/Blacks and you Egalitarians want, isn't it?"

Kylah didn't like the General's tone. "First Minister, the Federation is not in the business of destroying anyone's civilization. We respect all cultures. That is what we do."

"That implies that any culture is as good as any other." General Zillo snarled. "That's a patently false and useless position. If there's no right or wrong, how do you decide what to do?"

"We have our own yardsticks of right and wrong, General. We never said they were the same as yours." Rose Vogel said in a soft, angry tone of voice.

"Enough!" Molon said sharply. "We have an emergency, here, people. Let's focus on first things first."

"And what's your first thing?" General Zillo challenged.

"Saving lives is my first priority, Always." Molon said sternly.

A complex smell came off Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam "I concur." His voder said.

After a beat and half, Margli nodded "That'll have to do us."

-*-

"Once upon a time, on Earth, people of Ensign Ashby's skin color felt very much the same way about people who happened to have Ensign Vogel's skin color, or yours, Lieutenant." Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam said, with a waft of Rose petals.

Kylah Dannon held her hand up to study the color differences between her skin, and those of Ashby and Vogel. They made a nice spectrum of pale to darker. Rose Vogel was mildly dark skinned about the color of coffee with double cream.

Kylah shook her head. "I'd heard something like that in school when I was small, but I didn't believe it. It doesn't make sense."

"True. It does not." Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam said. "But in my reading of Earth's history, I encountered many of the same attitudes and rationalizations that our new acquaintances in the Sterrian Planetary Government."

Kylah sat down and considered the idea carefully. "Are you saying that you don't believe that the white/black Sterrians are less capable or intelligent than the black/white ones?"

Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam waved for a moment in silence. The smell of Oranges and Rose petals gave way to Strawberries. Colors flowed across his skin, stripes of blue, gray, white, black and all shades in between occurred. It was almost hypnotic. Then he said "History and medical science have proven that ancient Earth people who held those beliefs were mistaken. Humans are all the same race. I suspect that a similar condition may hold here."

"How do we prove or disprove it?" Rose Vogel asked. "I mean, this isn't Earth. No one says that things have to be the same here."

"That should be simple enough to prove or disprove," Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam said, "if you'd like to help. We'll need more information about the Sterrian people anyway."

Gar Molon called Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam from the Runabouts very small lab module. "Doctor, I think I may be on to something here."

"What should we do?" Kylah asked.

"Take tricorders. Beam to different locations in Crossriver City. Interact with people while scanning them with the tricorders." Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam explained.

"I bet that would make General Zillo angry." Rose Vogel said with a smile. For her that seemed to be argument enough.

"Hmmmmmm." Kylah thought about it.

-*-

The place was called Zilli's Place. It turned out to be a restaurant of some kind. It was mainly a large open space with tables and chairs. Food and drink were served. A stage dominated one end of the room, and on it, a trio of musicians played a happy sounding song:

- "It's the end of the world as we know it, it's the end of the world as we know it, it's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine." -

Everyone at the club has the parti-colored after-effects of the fever.

A server waiting for customers looked at Kylah and gasped. "Oh, goodness! It's getting worse!"

Kylah quickly reassured her "No, no, sorry, we're aliens. We're supposed to be these colors."

The waitress blinked at her. "Really? But I thought aliens were yellow and occasionally green."

Rose looked grim. She was describing the Orions. "Not all of us." She explained. "There's more different types of people in space than we can imagine."

The waitress looked dubious. "Are you sure you're safe? Are you supposed to be here? When Aliens get around to stopping by they usually stay with the First Minister and his cronies at the government complex."

Kylah smiled what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "We're explorers. Meeting new people is what we do. We've already met the First Minister."

The Waitress grabbed a couple of menus. "Okay, well, we have the best food in this part of the city. C'Mon in. I'm Bejel, your hostess."

The waitress showed the Starfleet women to a table near the center of the room.

"Excuse me," Kylah said. "Do mind if we scan you?"

"What's that mean?" Bejel asked.

"It's like taking a picture."

"Oh, well I haven't really done my hair-"

"It's not like that, it's for scientific purposes."

"Why?" Bejel asked.

Rose looked embarrassed. "The government people told us some things about black/white people and white/black people that we're trying to prove or disprove."

Bejel looked sour. "They tell you that we're not as intelligent and not as civilized?"

Kylah replied "We're not sure if we should believe them."

Bejel sniffed "You shouldn't."

Rose held up the tricorders "Mind if we get some concrete evidence of that?"

Bejel thought for a few minutes and then nodded. She held her arms away from her sides. "Go ahead."

Rose scanned the Sterrian woman for a few moments. The tricorders whirred and beeped. Completing the scan Rose said "Thank you."

"Hey," One of the patrons called "What happened to you?"

Another patron, one eating alone at a table in the corner got up and walked briskly out of the restaurant.

The band stopped playing and restaurant patrons started paying attention to Kylah's explanation with helpful additions from Bejel.

Another man asked "So what was up with that little box with all the flashy lights and stuff?"

Another round of explanations.

A woman raised her hand tentatively. "We're all had the fever. We're all swirled and splotched."

"- And polka dotted," The percussionist of the band added. He seemed to have acquired that color scheme.

"And polka dotted." The woman amended. "How can you tell if we were white/blacks or black/whites to begin with?"

Kylah shrugged. "It doesn't matter. If you people are really two different types of people, that will appear when we run a statistical anaylsis of the scans. If we don't find two distinct groups of people in the scans, then it means that you're all the same underneath."

Most of the people in the restaurant volunteered to be scanned.

Bejel thought about it. "What if the changes from the fever are more than skin deep?"

Kylah nodded, "Good point. We'll have to find some folks who haven't gotten the fever yet and scan them, too."

Finishing the scans, Rose uploaded the results to the runabout computer. "That's it for these folks. Thank you all."

General "you're welcome" noises came back.

Kylah asked, "This fever is a terrible plague. Ten thousand people have died already. But you don't seem especially worried or unhappy about all this."

Bejel looked up sharply "Ten thousand? Really? That many?"

"Has anyone here lost anyone, or know anyone who's lost someone?" Rose asked.

One patron with large splotches of black and white skin raised his hand. "My friend Keja lost his old Auntie when it hit his house, but she was real old. It's a tragedy, sure, but it's not like she wasn't dyin' anyways."

"This isn't anything to be celebrating," Bejel said "but for years and years a lot of us have been hearing how we're not as intelligent, or that we're not allowed to go certain places or have certain jobs because we were White/black. Now, no one can tell what you were before the fever hit. The black/whites are scared to death that somewhere, somehow a white/black person might forget and actually do something he's capable of."

This statement got a lot of jovial agreement.

Bejel continued. "It's like the world's biggest practical joke on the black/whites. And, well, yeah, a lot of us are enjoying that part of it."

Screeching tires and the growl of engines announced the arrival of several ground vehicles.

The patrons of the restaurant looked tensely at the front or the back entrance.

"I guess the Government didn't want you here after all." Bejel told the Starfleet women.

Thinking quickly, Kylah and Rose moved towards the restrooms. "We'll leave. We're sorry for the inconvenience." Kylah said as they ran.

"There's no way out back there!" Bejel said

Kylah and Rose ran into the nearest bathroom. They surprised a swirled black and white Sterrian man using the urinal. "Hey!" he snapped.

"It's a raid," Rose said, deliberately not looking.

The man was zipping himself up. "Get in the stall, and I'll try to cover you. But they always check the bathrooms thoroughly."

"No need." Kylah said. She tapped her commbadge "Dannon to Salayam. Two to beam up."

As they sparked into the transport effect Kylah said "Sorry for the intrusion."

The man realized what was happening and started laughing.

-*-

The Hospital was over crowded and quite chaotic. Ground cars were scattered as if by a giant child. People moved around the place, in and out and to-and-fro. Some moved quite energetically, some less so.

Ashby watched the chaos with a grimace. "That doesn't look like any fun at all."

T'Nara looked at him quizzically. Fun seemed like a very small side issue at this point.

"Umm, it's a figure of speech." Parker explained.

The diminutive Vulcan woman nodded. "Precision in language is preferable during a crisis."

Parker blinked and said as clearly what he meant as possible. "The situation in that hospital looks extremely unpleasant and I'd like to avoid it."

T'Nara's eyes twinkled ever so slightly "I concur. However the more examples of a scan of a Sterrian we can give to Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam, the more accurate his statistical analysis will be."

Parker sighed. "Let's do it."

The approached the hospital.

On the street in front of the Hospital across a wide, flat paved lot filled with ground cars, there was a bench mounted on the sidewalk.

"This looks like pictures I've seen of 20th century Earth." Parker said.

"Including the mass chaos and uncertainty?" T'Nara asked.

"Unfortunately, yes." Parker replied.

On the bench, two Starfleet officers could see two Sterrians sitting, a male and female. The male was a larger man. The female was slim and only slightly larger than T'Nara was.

Both people looked very unhappy. The female leaned into the male and cried aloud. They were both victims of the fever, the male with randomized blotches of black and white, and the female with an elegant set of tiger stripes in black and white.

As the two Starfleet Officers approached, Parker made up his mind not to bother them. However, the male looked up and gasped in horror at Parker and T'Nara.

Warned by Kylah and Rose, Parker spoke up quickly. "Alien! I'm an alien. I'm supposed to look like this."

The man stared for a moment and then asked, "Have you come to help us?"

"We are taking all possible steps." T'Nara said. A Federation starship is on its way with more resources."

The female looked up. She was a young girl. "Will you be able to help me get back to normal?"

Parker took a deep breath. "We'll do the best we can. We have two Starfleet Doctors working on finding a solution right now."

T'Nara took out the tricorder she was carrying and began to scan the pair.

"Please, do what you can. I don't know how long we can continue like this." The man said.

T'Nara's eyebrow rose. "You are currently experiencing distress? My scan shows that the disease has already run its course for you. You should experience no further symptoms if what we have been told is accurate."

"Don't you see? Our lives are ruined!" The man looked visibly angry. "We come from a good family, with a good history. Now look at us."

"Your pigmentation has been rearranged." T'Nara said flatly.

"Now we look just like any other survivor of the fever," the man explained. The girl leaned into him and started crying again. "My Daughter Jeen was the Harvest Festival Queen this year. She had good prospects for marrying the right boy."

Jeen turned into her father's chest and heaved sobs.

"Now we wouldn't know a boy of the right class if he was standing in front of us. And he couldn't recognize us!" The man became more agitated "My daughter's purity is no longer self evident. She might almost as well be white/black this way."

Jeen wailed miserably at the thought. "Daddy!"

He held on to her. "My poor, poor baby girl."

T'Nara looked at Parker with a raised eyebrow.

"Thank you very much for speaking with us." Parker said "You've been very helpful."

"Help us, Aliens, please. You're our last hope." The man said, tears streaming down his face.

Jeen wailed.

T'Nara and Parker continued on their scanning mission.

-*-

Kylah said, "Okay, the briefing will come to order." She was nervous. It was her first command briefing as the commander of the mission.

The crew of the Salayam sat up straight or nodded at Kylah to let her know they were ready.

Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam started. "My analysis shows that of several hundred people you scanned, most of whom were affected by the fever, it was impossible to tell which had been black/white and which had been white/black. Overall, Sterrians before and after the onset of the fever are identical physiologically. With a blind analysis the computer could not tell who has or has not been affected by the fever, or who was one color or the other. Their studies with regard to skin color and intelligence are fiction. There is further information but for now I will defer to Doctor Molon."

"Doctor Molon, what have you discovered?" Kylah asked.

"The disease is a virus, but one with some unusual modifications. It's infectious. Once a Sterrian has it, he can pass it on to others by breathing or by touch. The virus spores can survive for maybe a few days outside of the host and can infect new people."

"Are we contaminated? Are we in danger?" Kylah asked.

"We're in no danger." Molon answered. "The virus is very carefully tuned to the Sterrian DNA. We're essentially invisible to it, Humans, Betazoids, Vulcans and Rhondans, although we are carriers. I have reprogrammed the Salayam's bio-filter to remove all traces of the virus from us. By tomorrow all traces of the Virus should be gone from the Salayam."

"Please continue." Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam asked Molon

"The fever is the beginning of the infection. The virus infects the host and the host's body, detecting the invasion, makes a last ditch effort with the fever, trying to kill the invader. Once fully infected the virus goes through a reproduction phase and then a pigmentation change phase. I don't understand what value this has for the virus. It amounts to suicide. In changing the hosts' pigmentation, the virus changes shape becoming vulnerable to the host's immune system. Once someone's skin has changed they usually fight off the disease utterly in 24 to 48 hours." Dr. Molon explained.

The smell of oranges with a hit of cherries wafted from the Rhondan. "Interesting."

"What have you discovered, Doctor?" Kylah asked.

"There are records of a disease with similar symptoms in the Sterrian medical literature. It is called Kalfar's Syndrome. The patient suffers, if that is the proper term, from randomly swirled black and white pigmentation. There are 35 known cases of Kalfar's Syndrome in Sterrian medical history. All the different patterns of coloration we have seen are represented in the 35 original cases." Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam reported.

"When did these original cases occur?" Kylah asked.

"They happened over a period of 250 years in Sterrian history." Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam said.

"35 cases in 250 years doesn't sound like a virus," Molon commented.

The smell of strawberries wafted from the alien doctor "Kalfar's Syndrome is not caused by a virus. It is a genetic disease."

Molon's eyebrows drew together. "Really? So why is there a virus out there creating symptoms of an obscure genetic disorder?"

Oranges mixed with the Strawberries. "That is an excellent question. I believe my studies have revealed someone well worth asking. Doctor Zil Marga is a Sterrian genius. I believe he may be a galactic class intellect."

Molon's eyebrows raised "Really? You don't meet one of those people every day."

"Indeed not. For that reason alone I would like to meet him." Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam's voder held the smallest hint of eagerness, but the smell of cherries wafted strongly from him.

"What makes you think this guy, Marga, is such a genius?" Rose Vogel asked.

"In the last 35 years, genetic science on Sterry has advanced to the same degree that took Earth between the years 1980 and 2050, old calendar, to accomplish." Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam's voder said. The Rhondan's skin flushed brightly, showing a lot of color and contrast, pale blues alternating with black, red and yellow strips. "Most of this progress is based heavily on the work of Zil Marga. Zil Marga is also responsible for several studies, done with excellent methodology, that show that the White/Black and Black/White Sterrians are, in fact the same race and species. He wrote several very definite articles about this earlier in his career."

"Wait." Kylah said. "A noted genius, genetic science, a plague that mimics the effects of an obscure genetic disorder and attacks the foundation of Sterrian Society. Does anyone smell a rat here besides me?"

Molon nodded. "I'd like to talk to him, certainly."

-*-

"We don't know where he is." Ktar Margli said. "Or else we'd certainly have him available here."

General Zillo looked sour. "Ahem."

"Oh, yes, well." Margli looked uncomfortable. "We have reports of aliens in clothes like your moving around our Capital city."

"It was necessary for us to investigate somewhat on our own to gather data necessary for us to help you with this plague." Kylah said reasonably.

Zillo looked fierce.

Margli looked even more uncomfortable. "Well please don't. You movements have caused some panic and civil disorder."

Kylah's face showed surprise. "Really? None of that was apparent."

"Obviously your understanding of our culture is lacking." Margli said definitely.

Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam slithered into the screen over Kylah's shoulders. "Our medical science has confirmed the accuracies of many of Dr. Marga's earlier studies on the issue of race among the Sterrians. I refer particularly to your Sterrian Journal of Medical Science issue -"

"Marga had backed away from that nonsense!" General Zillo barked. "No respected Sterrian scientist or scholar agrees with Radical Egalitarianism anymore."

"Or is it that they're afraid to?" Rose Vogel said very softly from the tactical station.

Kylah worked to keep her face neutral.

Strawberries and cherries wafted from Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam "You speak as though this Radical Egalitarianism was once an active social force, General."

"Those days are long gone. Radical college students and leftists thought that they could change the world. They lost faith in the core values of our society. I was a street trooper then, fresh out of the academy. We put down the protests, and restored order! Let me tell you, I saw things in those days that would make you white all over." General Zillo said loudly. "Thank the Great Maker we had the full support of the government and society away from those centers of radical thinking. We discredited and all but eliminated The Leftist Egalitarian movement. So let's hear no more of that sort of nonsense!"

"Hmmmmm." Oranges wafted from Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam "no more such nonsense." He agreed reluctantly.

-*-

"We still need to get more information" Molon said.

"Can you cure this plague?" Kylah asked.

"Should we cure it?" Rose Vogel asked.

"There are tens of thousands of lives at stake." Molon said. "I can cure it. But if we can find Marga and discover if he's involved with it, somehow, I believe that would make it easier and more quickly done."

Kylah sighed. "General Zillo has lots of security troops and it's his home territory. If he can't find Marga what chance do we have?"

Hup-Nast-Zam-Zam swayed gently as if in some unseen current. "The fact that we are not Internal Security Troopers may, in fact, be an advantage. And the Sterrian Journal of Medical Science does list the university where Marga did his work."

Kylah shrugged "Is it in transporter range?"

-*-

Soft smelling creeper vine filled the Campus in almost every available niche. Blue bricks made up the large portion of the buildings there. A thorough grid governed the layout of the campus. The Sterrian sun rose over the scene casting a happy morning light.

People milled about. Kylah noted that they were dressed more gaudily and colorfully than the average Sterrian from the day before.

Kylah and Molon walked along the main walkway of the campus, watching the inhabitants of the University. Students noticed them but avoided making eye contact and simply avoided them.

Most of the students present showed the swirled color effects of the disease. Several were dressed lightly, with bare arms and legs, showing that the swirled colors went all over.

Kylah saw a large, hand written sign showed a scale, like the kind on Earth used to denote justice in a certain corner of the quad, where picnic tables and miscellaneous items were gathered. People gathered there, showing off their new colors, talking happily, and dancing to some music that blared from a portable radio.

Kylah made her way towards the group with Molon close behind. As she got close to them, Kylah realized that she was a few