- "Miles considered the peculiar pattern of old worm scars across Corbeau's body. He must have rolled, or been rolled, across a bad nest."
- ―A victim's scars[src]
The Sergyaran worm plague was an ailment caused by some type of burrowing creature found on Sergyar. The presence of these "worms" under a person's skin caused severe bloating. In the initial years of the outbreak, the planet was closed to new colonists.
At first, victims were treated surgically, which could leave extensive scars. Later, however, an effective oral vermicide was developed, allowing the planet to be re-opened to colonization.
- "The so-called worms were a Sergyaran parasite that, upon burrowing into the skin of a human host, became confused in its life-cycle by the rich alien biochemistry it encountered there. Instead of producing crops of new baby worms and dying, they settled in, still in their juvenile form, and hypertrophied. Tiny in their natural habitat, they grew in the adipose tissues to, usually, several centimeters long and a few thick, sluggishly twitching, though some whoppers had been recorded, upon surgical removal, at thirty centimeters and nearly a kilo in weight."
- ―How it works[src]
Behind the scenes[]
The author described the biological underpinnings of the plague in "Re: Questions for Lois II: Billy Budd" well before the in-universe explanation given in Gentleman Jole.
References[]
- Mirror Dance, chapter 13
- Memory, chapter 23
- Diplomatic Immunity, chapters 5,16
- Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, chapter 4
- Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, various but particularly chapter 8