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=                            Plague_Ship                             =
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                            Introduction
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'Plague Ship' is a science fiction novel by  Andre Norton under the
pseudonym Andrew North. It was published in 1956 by Gnome Press in an
edition of 5,000 copies. The book is the second volume of the author's
Solar Queen series.


                            Plot summary
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The main protagonist of the novel is Dane Thorson,
Cargo-master-apprentice on the Free Trader rocket ship the Solar
Queen. Free Traders take on trading contracts on remote and recently
discovered planets, which can be dangerous and unpredictable.

The Solar Queen has recently obtained a valuable trading contract on
the planet Sargol and are building a relationship with one of the
races on the planet, the cat-like Salariki.  The process goes slowly
till the Salariki discover that the Solar Queen is carrying catnip and
other plants from Terra that are unknown on Sargol.  The traders
exchange what little of the plants they have for the rare and valuable
Koros stones and collect a native red-colored wood to exchange at
home. At the last minute the storm priests of the Salariki demand that
the Solar Queen take a pre-paid contract to return within 6 months
with more plants.

A few days after leaving the planet, several members of the crew
suffer from attacks, which start with severe headaches and end in a
semi-coma state.  Only 4 of the younger members of the crew are
unaffected, including Dane Thorson.  Upon exiting hyperspace on return
to the vicinity of Terra, the crew discovers that they are pariah and
have been declared a plague ship.

On the short hop to earth, the crew discovers that pests have invaded
the ship and are the cause of the illness.  In a final bid to prove
their case they kidnap a medic and present his evidence by video to a
solar-system-wide audience, which is successful.

In the meantime the rest of the crew have recovered, and after a final
effort of negotiation the Solar Queen preserves its reputation by
selling the contract with the Salariki to a large intergalactic
trading company in exchange for credits and a quiet inter-solar mail
route, which should lead to no more trouble.


                           External links
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*
*[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16921 'Plague Ship'], available on
Project Gutenberg


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Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_Ship