# Medic Craig Tau — Plague Ship character guide

> Medic Craig Tau in Plague Ship by Andre Norton.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Craig, Tau, Medic Tau

**First appearance:** 0000-i-perfumed-planet

## Snapshot

Ship's medic Craig Tau isolates the sick, runs his tests, and holds to the Oath even when the patients' shipmates are wanted by the Patrol.

## Who they are

Tau is the Queen's quiet scientific conscience, the man who shuts Frank away and works the problem while the rest of the crew trades rumors in the mess cabin. His shrewd, unhurried competence turns a terrifying mystery into a solvable one — the claw poison, the narcotic sleep, the possibility of a medical use. Without him the crew has fear; with him they have a hypothesis, and that difference carries the middle of the book.

## In the story

### [I: Perfumed Planet](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plague_ship_se/chapters/i-perfumed-planet)

Medic, prepared the equalizer pellets for the crew to handle Sargol's strong odors.

### [III: Contact at Last](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plague_ship_se/chapters/iii-contact-at-last)

Confirms the catnip's safety after testing with the storm priests; acts as intermediary in the trade dispute.

### [IV: Gorp Hunt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plague_ship_se/chapters/iv-gorp-hunt)

Leads the discussion on catnip and anisette as potential trade items, presenting the properties of anisette to the crew.

### [VIII: Headaches](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plague_ship_se/chapters/viii-headaches)

Works tirelessly to diagnose the mysterious illness; isolates Mura and Kosti.

### [IX: Plague!](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plague_ship_se/chapters/ix-plague)

Falls victim to the plague early; his notes provide no clue about the disease.

### [X: E-Stat Landing](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plague_ship_se/chapters/x-e-stat-landing)

Mentioned as having medical plants in the hydro that he had been observing.

### [XIV: Special Mission](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plague_ship_se/chapters/xiv-special-mission)

Mentioned as the medic the crew desperately needs; his absence drives the mission.

### [XV: Medic Hovan Reports](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plague_ship_se/chapters/xv-medic-hovan-reports)

Roused from coma by Hovan's treatment, though immediately relapses into semi-coma.

### [XVIII: Bargain Concluded](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plague_ship_se/chapters/xviii-bargain-concluded)

Reports that the illness is proven to be from poison bugs, not plague, and that Terra-Lab is bidding on the specimens.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plague_ship_se/characters/medic_tau
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plague_ship_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plague_ship_se/characters