“They know what is going on around here better than any of us,” Alexander chuckled. “The grapevine is amazingly efficient. Well—what’s the story?”
“Liver fluke.”
“Hmm—not good.”
“I think it can be stopped. I looked at the records. It doesn’t seem to have been here too long.”
“I hope you’re right. How long will it take?”
“Several months, maybe a year, maybe more. I can’t say. But I’ll try to clean it up as quickly as possible. I’m pretty sure of the fluke, and it’s a hard one to control.”
“Hepatodirus?”
Kennon nodded.
“That’s an offworld parasite, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It originated on Santos. Parasitized the Varl originally, but liked humans better. It’s adapted to a hundred different planetary environments, and it keeps spreading. It’s a real cutie—almost intelligent the way it behaves. But it can be licked.”