After examination, Herr Friedrich was diagnosed with an unknown malady, due to both bacterial contamination and viral infection. His skin had taken on a blotched, multi-colored hue and he was delirious. Upon questioning, his fellow countrymen shared that similar symptoms have been reported in the villages of Kirkuk, Erbil, Mosul, and Deir ez Zor. In Northern Egypt, as well as Tunisia, certain soldiers had been returned carrying the illness and had been sent post-haste to Berlin or bivouacked to the Bavarian Alps for respite and treatment.

It was of the opinion of the ship’s doctor that Herr Friedrich be bedridden but confined within an area on board reserved for both the infirm and unruly, lest the infection spread and a ship-wide pandemic result. Why they did not isolate young Freidrich will never be known, for what followed is unimaginable.

What is known is that not a single survivor of that night has been…

When he was done, Captain Loren tossed the teletype into the fire and drained the remaining whiskey he held for times such as this.

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