AFQMDOOIIF
Code Blue Emergency
James White
11/2/2002

Copyright Information

This eBook file was generated by MobiPocket Publisher Personal Edition.

This eBook file is for personal use only and cannot be sold.

To generate eBooks to be sold or for corporate or public usage, please purchase the commercial version at : http://www.mobipocket.com

Code
Blue Emergency

A
Sector General Novel by

James
White

V1.0

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 1

THeruler of the
ship sat beside Cha Thrat at the recreation deck's viewscreen while the fuzzy
blob of light that was the space hospital grew into a gigantic, complex
structure ablaze with every color and intensity of light that her eyes could detect. She had strong feelings of awe,
wonder, excitement, and great embarrassment.

Ruler Chiang, she
had learned, carried the rank of major in the Monitor Corps Extraterrestrial
Communications and Cultural Contact division. But the ruler seriously confused
her at times by behaving like a warrior. Now it was sitting beside her because it felt some strange, Earth-human
obligation to do so. It had wanted to pay her the compliment of allowing her to watch the approach to the hospital
from its control deck, but as she was physiologically unable to enter that small and already crowded
compartment, it had felt obliged
to desert its post and sit with
her here.

The compliment
was a completely unnecessary piece of time-wasting nonsense, considering wide disparity in the social and
professional levels of the people
involved, but Chiang seemed to
derive some pleasure from the
foolishness and it had, after all, been a patient of hers.

The muted conversation in Control was being relayed with the image on the repeater screen and,
while ChaThrat's translator gave her the equivalent
of every word, the particular technical jargon that the ship's warriors were
using made the total meaning of what they were saying unclear. But suddenly there was a new, amplified voice whose words were simple and unambiguous, accompanied by a
picture of the disgustingly
hairy being who was speaking them.

Sector
General Reception, it said briskly. Identify yourself, please.
Patient, visitor, or staff; degree of urgency; and physiological
classification, if known. If uncertain, please make full visual contact and we
will classify.”

Monitor
Corps courier vessel Thromasaggar, a voice from Control responded.
Short-stay docking facilities to unload patient and staff member. Crew
and patient classification Earth-human DBDG. Patient is ambulatory,
convalescent, treatment nonurgent. Staff member is classification DCNF and is
also a warmblooded oxygen-breather with no special temperature, gravity, or
pressure requirements.”

Wait,
the obnoxious creature said, and once again the image of the hospital filled
the screen. A definite improvement,
she thought.

What is that
thing? she asked the ruler. It looks like a... a scroggila. You know, one of our rodents.”

I've seen
pictures of them, the ruler said, and made the unpleasant
barking sound that denoted amusement with these people. It is a Nidian DBDG, about half the body mass of an Earth-human
with a very similar metabolism. Its species is highly
advanced technologically and culturally, so it only looks like an outsize
rodent. You'll learn to work with much less beautiful beings in that place—”

It broke off as the image of the Nidian returned.

Follow the
blue-yellow-blue direction beacons, the receptionist said. Debark
patient and staff member at Lock One Zero Four, then proceed to Dock Eighteen
via the blue-blue-white beacons. Major Chiang and the Som-maradvan healer are
expected and will be met.”

By what? she wondered.

The ruler had
given her a great deal of helpful advice and information about Sector Twelve
General Hospital, most of which she did not believe. And when they entered the
lock antechamber a short time later, she could not believe that the smooth,
waist-high hemisphere of green jelly occupying the deck between the two waiting
Earth-humans was a person.

Ruler Chiang
said, This is Lieutenant Braithwaite of the Chief Psychologist's Office,
and Maintenance Officer Timmins, who is responsible for preparing your accommodation,
and Doctor Danalta, who is attached to the ambulance ship, Rhabwar...”

Except for minor
differences in the insignia on their uniforms, she could not tell the two
Earth-humans apart. The large blob of green stuff on the floor, she guessed,
was some kind of practical joke, or perhaps part of an initiation ritual for
newcomers to the hospital. For the time being she decided not to react.

... And this is Cha Thrat, it went on, the new healer from
Sommaradva, who is joining the staff.”

Both Earth-humans
moved their right hands up to waist level, then lowered them as the ruler shook its head. Cha Thrat had already told Chiang that grasping a strange person's appendage was considered
quite vulgar where she came from,
and it would have been much more considerate of them if they had given her some indication of their status. Ruler
Chiang had spoken to them as equals, but then it had often done that whileaddressing subordinates on the ship. It was very careless of the ruler
and most confusing for her.

Timmins
will see that your personal effects are moved to your quarters, the ruler
went on. I don't know what DanaJta and Braithwaite have in mind for us.”

Nothing too
onerous, Braithwaite said as the other Earth-human was leaving. On
hospital time it is the middle of the day, and the healer's accommodation will
not be ready until early evening. In midafternoon you are due for a physical,
Major. Cha Thrat is expected to be present, no doubt to receive the compliments
of our medics for what was obviously a very tidy piece of, for a Sommaradvan,
other-species surgery.”

It looked in her
direction and for some reason inclined its head forward from the neck, then
went on. Immediately following the examination both of you have
appointments in Psychology: Cha Thrat for an orientation talk with O'Mara, and
you for an investigation, purely a formality in your case, to ensure that there
is no non-physical trauma
resulting from your recent injuries. But until then... Have you eaten
recently?”

No,
said Chiang, and I would welcome a change from ship food.”

The other
Earth-human made soft barking sounds and said, You haven't
tasted a hospital meal yet. But we try hard not to poison our visitors...”

It broke off to apologize and explain hastily that it was making an
in-hospital joke, that the food was quite palatable, and that it had been given full
instructions regarding Cha Thrat's dietary requirements.

But she was only vaguely aware of what it was saying because her attention was on the hemisphere of green stuff, the surface of
which had begun to ripple andpucker and grow pseudopods. It wobbled sluggishly
and heaved itself upright until it
was as tall as she was, its skin coloration became mottled, the wet gleam of what could only be eyes appeared, the number of short, crudely formed appendages increased
until it looked like something a young child on Sommaradva might make from modeling clay. She felt sudden nausea, but
her feelings of curiosity and wonder were even stronger as the body firmed out, became more finely structured,
and the features appeared. Then the clothing and equipment pouch grew into
place, and there was standing before her the figure of another female Sommaradvan identical in every detail to
herself.

If our
Earth-human friends intend subjecting you to the environment of a multispecies
dining hall within minutes of your arrival, it said in a voice that was
not, thankfully, hers, I must counteract their lack of consideration by
providing you with something familiar, and friendly, to whom you can relate. It
is the least I can do for a new member of
the staff.”

Doctor
Danalta, Braithwaite said, barking again, is not as altruistic as it would have you think,
Cha Thrat. Due to the incredibly
savage environment of its planet of origin, the species evolved protective mimicry of a very high order. There are few warm-blooded oxygen-breathing life-forms in Sector General that
it cannot accurately reproduce within a few minutes, as you've seen. But we suspect that any new, intelligent life-form to arrive at the hospital, be it patient,
visitor, or staff, is regarded by Danalta as a challenge to its powers of physical
mimicry.”

Nevertheless,
she said, I am impressed.”

She stared eye
to eye at her utterly alien but identical twin, thinking that the being had displayed concern
forher present mental well-being by using its incredible
talent to make her feel
more comfortable. It was the action of a healer of rulers, and it might even be
a ruler itself. Instinctively she made the gesture of respect to superiors, then belatedly realized that
neither the Earth-humans nor her Danalta-copy would recognize it for what it
was.

Why, thank
you, Cha Thrat, said Danalta, returning the gesture. With
protective mimicry there is an associated empathic faculty. While I don't know
what the limb gesture means exactly, I could feel that I was being
complimented.”

Danalta, she had
no doubt, was also aware of her embarrassment, but as they followed the two
Earth-humans from the compartment the shape-changer did not speak of it.

The corridor
outside was thronged with a menagerie of creatures, a few of whom resembled, in
shape if not in size, nonintelligent
species found on Sommaradva.
She tried not to flinch as one of the small, red-furred bipeds of the species she had seen in charge of Reception brushed past, and she felt acutely anxious when enormous, six-limbed,
multitentacled monsters of many times her body mass bore down on her. But not all of the creatures were frightening, or even ugly. A large crustacean with a
beautifully marked carapace and hard exo-skeletal limbs clickedpast, its pincers opening
and closing slowly as it talked to a truly lovely being who had at least thirty short, stubby legs and an overall coat of
rippling, silvery fur. There were others she could not see clearly because of their protective envelopes
and, in the case of the occupant of a mobile pressure
vessel from which steam was escaping, she had no idea what weird or wonderful shape the vehicle was concealing.

The cacophony of
hooting, chirping, gobbling, and moaning conversation could not be described,
because it was totally unlike anything she had previously experienced.

There is a
much shorter route to the dining hall, Danalta said as a spiney,
membraneous being who looked like some kind of dark, oily vegetable shuffled
past, its physical details clouded by the thick yellow fog inside its
transparent suit. But it would mean a trip through the water-filled
Chalder wards, and your protective envelopes won't be ready for another six,
maybe seven days. How do you feel, and what do you think of the place so far^1?”

It was
disconcerting and embarrassing to have Danalta, who could be nothing less than a wizard-healer of rulers, ask such questions of a mere warrior-surgeon.
But the questions had been asked, and answers were expected. If the being wished to practice its art in the
middle of a crowded corridor, it was certainly not her place to criticize.

Promptly she replied,
I feel confused, frightened, repelled, curious, and unsure of my ability
to adapt. My confusion is such that I am unable to be more specific. I'm
beginning to feel that the two Earth-humans walking in front of us, member of a
species that a short time ago I would have considered totajly alien, have an almost welcome normality about them.
And I feel that you, because you have made yourself the most familiar and reassuring entity in the
hospital, are by your very
nature the most alien of all. I haven't had enough time, nor have I sufficient direct experience, to form any useful impressions or opinions about the hospital, but it may well be that the empathic faculty you possess has already made you aware of my feelings.

Is the
environment of the dining hall, she added worriedly, much worse
than this?”

Danalta did not
reply at once, and the two Earth-humans had been silent for some time. The one
called Braithwaite had fallen slightly behind the other, and its head was
turned to one side so that the fleshy protuberance that was one of its
auricular organs would be better able to pick up her words. It seemed that her
feelings were of interest not only to the shape-changer. When Danalta did
speak, its words resembled a lecture rather than a simple reply to her question.

A low level
of empathy is common in most intelligent life-forms, it said, but
only in one species, the natives of Cinruss, is there a perfect empathic
faculty. You will meet one of them soon because it, too, is curious about newly
discovered life-forms and will want to seek you out at the first opportunity.
You can then compare my limited empathic faculty with Prilicla's.

My own
limited faculty, it went on, is based on the observation of body
movements, tensions, changes in skin coloration, and so on, rather than the
direct reception of the subject's emotional radiation. As a healer you, too,
must have a degree of empathy with your patients, and on many occasions are
able to sense their condition, or changes in their condition, without direct
physical investigation. But no matter how refined the faculty may be, your thoughts are still private, exclusively
your own property, and it is simply your stronger
feelings that I detect—”

The dining
hall, Braithwaite said suddenly. It turned into the wide, dooriess
entrance, narrowly avoided colliding with a Nidian and two of the silver-furred
beings who were leaving, and barked softly as they made derogatory remarks
about its clumsiness. It pointed.
Over there, an empty table!”

For a moment Cha
Thrat could not move a single limb as she stared across the vast expanse of
highly polished floor with its regimented islands of eating benches and seats,
grouped by size and shape to accommodate the incredible variety of beings using
them. It was much, much worse than her experience of the corridors, where she
had encountered the creatures two or three at a time. Here there were hundreds
of them, grouped together into species or with several different life-forms
occupying the same table.

There were beings
who were terrifying in their obvious physical strength and range of natural
weapons', others who were frightening, horrifying, and repugnant in the color
and slime-sheen and nauseous growths covering their teguments; and many of them
were the phantasms of Sommaradvan nightmare given frightful solidity. At a few
of the tables were entities whose body and limb configurations were so utterly
ridiculous that she had trouble believing her eyes.

This
way, said Danalta, who had been waiting for Cha Thrat's limbs to stop
trembling. It led the way to the table claimed by Braithwaite, and she noticed
that the furiture suited neither the physiologies of the Earth-humans nor the
trio of exoskeletal crustaceans who were vacating it.

She wondered if
she would ever be able to adapt to the ways of these chronically disorganized and untidy beings. At least on Sommaradva the people knew
their place.

The
mechanism for food selection and delivery is similar to that on the ship, Braithwaite said as she lowered herself
carefully into the dreadfully uncomfortable chair and her weight made the menu display light up.
You tap in your physiological classification and it will list the food
available. Until the catering computer hasbeen programmed with details of the
combinations, consistencies, and platter displays you favor, it is likely to
come in unsightly but nutritious lumps. You'll soon get used to the system, but
in the meantime I'll order for you.”

Thank
you, she said.

When it arrived
the biggest lump looked like an uneven block of tasam. But it smelled
like roasted cretsi, had the consistency of roasted cretsi, and,
she found after trying a small corner, it tasted like roasted cretsi. She
realized suddenly that she was hungry.

It
sometimes happens, Braithwaite continued, that the meals of your
fellow diners, or even the diners themselves, are visually distressing to the
point where it is affecting your appetite. You may keep one eye on your platter
and close all the others; we won't be offended.”

She did as it
suggested, but kept one eye slightly open so that she could see Braithwaite,
who was still watching her intently while pretending, for some odd, Earth-human
reason, not to do so. While she ate, her mind went back to the incident with
the ship ruler on Som-maradva, the voyage, and her reception here, and she
realized that she was becoming suspicious, and irritated.

On the
subject of your stronger feelings, Danalta said, seemingly intent upon
resuming the lecture it had broken off at the entrance, do you have any
strong feelings against
discussing personal or professional
matters in the presence of strangers?”

The ship ruler,
Chiang; paused with what looked like
a piece of what had once been a liying creature halfway to its eating orifice. It said, On Sommaradva they prefer
to hear directly what other people think of them. And conversely, the presence of interested witnesses during a
discussion of their affairs is often considered beneficial.”

Braithwaite, she
saw, was concentrating too much attention on its disgusting meal. She turned as
many eyes as would bear on the
shape-changer, ignoring the many things she did not want to see in the background.

Very
well, Danalta said, turning its alien mimic's eyes on her. You must already have
realized, Cha Thrat, that your
situation is unlike that of the other staff members who join the hospital for a probationary period. Appointments to Sector
General are much sought after, and candidates must pass rigorous professional examinations and deep
psychological investigation on their home worlds to ensure that they will have
a fair chance of adapting to a multispecies hospital environment so that they will profit from our training.

You were
not screened in this manner, her alien twin went on. There were no professional examinations, no
birth-to-maturity psych profiles, no objective measure of your worth as a
healer. We know only that you come with a very high recommendation, from the Cultural Contact department of the Monitor Corps
and, presumably, your professional colleagues on Sommaradva, a world and
society about which we know little.

You
appreciate our difficulty, Cha Thrat? it continued. An untrained, unprepared,
single-species-oriented being could cause untold harm to itself and to the hospital staff and
patients. We have to know what exactly it is that we're getting, and quickly.”

The others had stopped eating and so did she, even though there was a mouth free for speaking. She
said, As a stranger arriving and expecting to take up an
appointment here, I thought that my treatment showed a lack of sensitivity, but I decided that alien
behavior patterns, of which I have very limited experience, were to blame. Then I began to suspect that the harsh and insen-sitive treatment was
deliberate, and I was being tested in some fashion. You have confirmed this
suspicion, but I am seriously displeased that I was not informed of the test.
Secret tests, to my mind, can often show a failure in the examiner.”

There was a long
silence. She looked at Danalta and away again. The shape-changer's body and
features and expression were the mirror of her own, and told her nothing. She
turned her attention to Braithwaite, who had been taking such a continuous and
covert interest in her, and waited for a reaction.

For a moment the
Earth-human's two recessed eyes looked calmly into her four, and she began to
feel very sure that the being was, in fact, a ruler and not a warrior as it
said, A secret test is sometimes given to avoid the unpleasantness of
telling a candidate that it has failed. By pretending that no test took place,
another and more acceptable reason, one that does not imply any lack of
professional competence or psychological or emotional weakness, can be given
for refusing the candidate an appointment. I'm sorry that you are displeased by
the covert nature of the test, but in the circumstances we decided that it was
better to... to...”

It broke off and
began to bark quietly, as if there was something humorous in the situation, then went on. We
Earth-humans have an expression that
covers your position very well. We threw you in at the deep end
of the pool.”

And
what, Cha Thrat said, deliberately omitting the gesture of politeness due a ruler,
did you discover from this secret test?”

We
discovered, Braithwaite said, and this time it did not bark, that you are a very good swimmer.”

Chapter 2

BRAITHWAITE left
before the others had finished eating, saying that O'Mara would have its
intestines for hosiery supports if it was late back from lunch two days in a row. Cha Thrat knew nothing of
the entity other than that it was
a greatly respected and feared ruler of some kind, but the punishment for tardiness sounded a bit extreme. Danalta said that she should not
worry about it, that Earth-humans
frequently made such ridiculously exaggerated statements, that there was no
factual basis to the remark,
and that it was some kind of linguistic code they used among themselves which had a tenuous connection with the mental
associative process they called humor.

I understand, Cha Thrat said.

I
don't, Danalta said.

Ship ruler Chiang barked quietly but did
not speak.

As a result,
the shape-changer was their only guide on an even longer and more complicated journey to the place where Chiang was to undergo its examination— one of the
casualty reception and observation wards, she was informed, reserved for the treatment of
warmblooded, oxygen-breathing patients. Danalta had returned to its original body configuration of a large, dark-green, uneven ball that guided itself, with surprising speed and accuracy, through the wheeled and walking traffic in the corridors. Was the Sommaradvan form
too difficult to maintain, she wondered, or did it now feel that such
psychological props were no longer necessary?It was a surprisingly large compartment, rendered small by the number and variety
of examination tables and
associated equipment covering the floor and walls. There was an observation
gallery for the use of visitors and trainees, and Danalta suggested that she
choose the least uncomfortable chair while they were waiting. One of the
silver-furred beings had already taken Chiang away to be prepared for the
examination.

We shall be
able to see and hear
everything that is happening, Danalta said, but they will not hear us unless you press the transmit
button, just there, on the side of your chair. You may have to use it if they
ask questions.”

Another
silver-furred being, or perhaps it was the same one, undulated into the compartment, performed a seemingly purposeless act on
an as-yet incomprehensible piece of equipment, then looked up at them briefly
as it was leaving.

And now we
wait, Danalta went on. But you must have questions, Cha Thrat. There is enough time to answer a few of them.”

The shape-changer
had retained the form of'a lumpy green hemisphere, featureless except for one bulbous eye and a small fleshy protuberance
that seemed to combine the functions of hearing
and speech. In time, she thought, one could become used to anything—except the lack of
discipline among these people, and their unwillingness to define properly their areas of authority and responsibility.

Choosing her
words with care, she said, As yet I am too ignorant and confused by all this to ask the rightquestions. But could 1 begin by asking for a detailed clarification of your own
duties and responsibilities, and the class of patient you treat?”

The answer left her feeling more confused than ever.

I don't treat patients, Danalta replied, and unless there was a major surgical emergency, I would not be asked to do so. As for my duties, I am part of the medical team on Rhabwar.
That is the hospital's special ambulance ship, which carries an operational
crew of Monitor Corps officers
and a medical team that assumes overall authority once the ship has reached the location of the vessel in distress or, as the case may be,
the site of the disaster.

The medical team, it went on, ignoring Cha Thrat's confusion, which is led by the Cinrusskin
empath, Prili-cla, also comprises
Pathologist Murchison, an Earth-human female; Charge Nurse Naydrad, a Kelgian experienced in space rescue work; and myself. My job is to use the shape-changing ability to reach and
render first aid to casualties
who might be trapped in areas inaccessible to beings of limited physical
adaptability, and do whatever I can to help the injured until the rescue crew is able to extricate and move them to the
ambulance ship for rapid transfer to
the hospital here. You will understand that by extruding limbs and sensors of
any required shape, useful work can be done in the very restricted conditions found inside a badly
damaged space vessel, and there are
times when I can make a valuable contribution. But in honesty I must say that the real work is done by the hospital.

And that, it concluded, is how I fit into this medical madhouse.”

With every word, Cha Thrat's confusion had increased. Able and physically
gifted this entity might be,but was it, in truth, merely a servant? But if
Danalta had j sensed her confusion, it mistook the reason for it.

I have other uses, too, of course, it went
on, and \ made a very Earth-human barking sound with its un-Earthly mouth. As a comparative newcomer to the hospital, they
send me to meet new arrivals like you on the assumption that—Pay attention, Cha
Thrat! They're bringing in your ex-patient.”

Two of the
silver-furred beings, identified by Danalta as Kelgian operating room nurses,
moved Chiang in on a powered litter, even though the ship ruler was quite
capable of walking and was constantly reminding them of this fact. The
Earth-human's torso was draped in a green sheet so that only its head was
visible. Chiang's protests continued while they were transferring it to the
examination table, until one of the nurses, in a manner completely lacking in
the respect due a ruler, reminded it that it was a fully grown, mature entity
who should stop acting like an infant.

Before the nurse
had*finished speaking, a six-legged, exoskeletal being with a high, richly
marked carapace entered and approached the examination table. Silently it held
out its pincers and waited while a nurse sprayed them with something that dried
into a thin, transparent
film.

That is
Senior Physician Edanelt, Danalta said. It is a Melfan,
physiological classification ELNT, whose reputation as a surgeon is—”

Apologies
for my personal ignorance, Cha Thrat broke in. Beyond the fact that
I am a DCNF, the
Earth-human is a DBDG, and the
Melfan is an ELNT, I know nothing of your classification system.”

You'll
learn, the shape-changer said. But for now, just watch and be
ready for questions.”

But there were no
questions. While the examinationproceeded, Edanelt did not speak and neither
did the nurses or the patient. Cha
Thrat learned the purpose of one of the mechanisms, a deep scanner that showed in minute detail the subdermal blood supply network,
musculature, bone structure, and even the movement of the deepest underlying organs. The images were relayed
to the observation gallery's
screen, together with a mass of physiological data that was presented
graphically but in a form that was completely unintelligible to her, That is something else you will learn, Danalta said. Cha Thrat had been watching the screen
closely, so captivated by Edanelt's meticulous charting of her surgical repair work that she
had not realized that she had been thinking aloud. She looked up in time to see the arrival of yet another and even more incredible
being. That, Danalta said simply, is Prilicla. It was an insect, an enormous, incredibly
fragile, flying insect that was tiny in comparison with the other beings in the room. From its tubular, exoskeletal
body there projected six
pencil-thin legs, four even more delicately formed manipulators, and four sets
of wide, iridescent wings that were beating slowly as it flew toward the examination table and hovered above it.
Suddenly it flipped over, attached
its sucker-tipped legs to the ceiling, and curved its extensible eyes down to regard the patient.

From somewhere in
its body came a series of musical clicks and trills, which her translator relayed as Friend Chiang, you look as if you've been in a war.”

We're not
savages! Cha Thrat protested angrily. There hasn't been a war on Sommaradva for eight generations—”

She stopped
abruptly as the long, incredibly thin legs and partly folded wings of the insect began to shake. It was as if there were a strong wind blowing
through theroom. Everyone on and around the examination table was staring at
the little being, and then they were turning to look up at the observation
gallery. At her.

Prilicla is
a true empath, Danalta said sharply. It feels what you are feeling.
Please control your emotions!                          •It was very difficult to control her
emotions: not only her anger at the implied insult to her now unwarlike race
but also the feeling of utter disbelief that such control was necessary. She
had often been forced to hide her feelings before superiors or patients, but
trying to control them was a new experience. With a great effort, which
in some obscure fashion seemed to be a negation of effort, she made herself
calm.

Thank you,
new friend, the empath trilled at her. It was no longer trembling as it
returned its attention to Chiang.

I'm wasting
your valuable time, Doctors, the Earth-human said. Honestly, I feel
fine.”

Prilicla dropped
from the ceiling to hover above the site of Chiang's recent injuries, and
touched the scar tissue with a cluster of feather-light digits. It said,
I know how you feel, friend Chiang. And we are not wasting our time.
Would you refuse us, a Melfan and a Cinrusskin who are both keen to enlarge our
other-species experience, the opportunity of tinkering with an Earth-human,
even a perfectly healthy one?”

I suppose
not, Chiang said. It made another soft, barking sound and added,
But you would have found it more interesting if you'd seen me after the
crash.”

The empath
returned to the ceiling. To the Melfan it said, What is your assessment,
friend Edanelt?”

The work is
not as I would have performed it, the Melfan replied, but it is adequate.”

Friend
Edanelt, the empath said gently, with a briefglance in the direction of
the gallery, we are all aware, with the exception of the newest member of our staff, that you consider as merely adequate the kind of
surgery which Conway himself would describe as exemplary. It would be
interesting to discuss the pre- and postoperative history.”

That was my
thought as well, the Melfan said. There was a rapid, irregular tapping of its six boney feet, and it turned to face the observation gallery.
Will you join us, please.”

Quickly Cha Thrat
disentangled herself from the alien chair and followed Danalta into the ward and across to the group at the table,
aware that it was now her turn to undergo an even more searching examination,
one that would establish her professional rather than her physical fitness to
practice in Sector General.

The prospect must have worried her more than she realized because the empath was beginning to
tremble again. And it was
disconcerting, even frightening, to be so close to the Cinrusskin. On Sommaradva, large insects were to be avoided because they invariably
possessed lethal stings. Her instincts told her to swat or run away from this one. She had hated insects and
always avoided looking closely
at them. Now she had no choice.

But there was a subtle visual attraction in the intricate symmetry of the extraordinarily fragile body and
trembling limbs, whose dark sheen seemed to be reflecting colors that were not present in the room. The
head was an alien, convoluted
eggshell, so finely structured that the sensory and manipulatory organs that it supported seemed ready to fall off at the first sudden
movement. But it was the complex structure and coloration of the partially folded wings, seemingly made of
iridescent gossamer stretched across a framework of impossibly thin twigs, that made her realize that, alien or not,
this insectwas one of the most beautiful creatures she had ever-seen—and she
couid see it very clearly because its limbs] were no longer trembling.

Thank you
again, Cha Thrat, the empath said. Youi learn quickly. And don't
worry. We are your friends and| are wishing for your success.                                       ,_Edaneit's feet were making
irregular clicking noises against the floor, a sound that might possibly be
indicating impatience. It said, Please present your patient,1 Doctor.”

For a moment she
looked down at the Earth-human,: at the pink, oddly formed alien body that, as
a result of the accident, had become so familiar to her. She remembered how it
had looked when she first saw it: the bleeding, open wounds and the fractured,
protruding bones; the general condition that strongly indicated the immediate
use of comforting medication until casualty termination. Even now she could not
find the words to explain why she had not ended this Earth-human's life. She
looked up again at the Cinrusskin.

Prilicla did not
speak, but she felt as if waves of reassurance and encouragement were emanating
from the little empath. That was a ridiculous idea, of course, and probably the
result of wishful and not very lucid thinking, but she felt comforted
nonetheless.

This
patient, Cha Thrat said calmly, was one of three occupants of an
aircraft that crashed into a mountain lake. A Sommaradvan pilot and another
Earth-human were taken from the wreck before it sank, but they were already
dead. The patient was taken ashore and looked at by a healer who was
insufficiently qualified, and, knowing that I was spending a recreation period
in the area, he sent for me.

The patient
had sustained many incised and lacerated wounds to the limbs and torso caused
by violentcontact with the metal of the aircraft, she went on.
There was continuing blood loss. Differences in the appearance of the
limbs on the right and left sides indicated the presence of multiple fractures,
one of which was visible where it projected through the tegument of the left
leg. There was no evidence of blood coming from the patient's breathing and
speaking orifices, so it was assumed that no serious injuries had been
sustained in the lung and abdominal areas. Naturally, very careful
consideration had to be given before I agreed to take the case.
Naturally, Edanelt said. You were faced with treating a
member of an off-planet species, one possessing a physiology and metabolism of
which you had no previous experience. Or had you previous experience? Did you
consider sending for same-species medical assistance?”

I had not
seen an Earth-human before that time, Cha Thrat replied. I knew
that one of their ships was in orbit around Sommaradva and that the process of
establishing friendly contact was well advanced. I had heard that they were
traveling widely among our principal cities, and that they often used our air
transport, presumably to gain some
experience of our level of technology. I sent a message to the nearest city
hoping that they would relay it to the Earth-humans, but it was unlikely that it would arrive in time. The area is remote,
mountainous, heavily forested, and
thinly populated. The facilities were limited and time was short.”

I understand, Edanelt said. Describe your procedure.”

Remembering, Cha
Thrat looked again at the network of scars and the dark, contused areas where the subder-mal bleeding had not completely dispersed.

At the time
of treatment I was not aware of the fact that native pathogens have no effect on life-forms which evolved on a
different planet, and it seemed to me thatthere was a grave danger of
infection. It was also thought] that Sommaradvan medication and anesthetics
would bel ineffective if
not lethal. The only indicated procedur^. was to thoroughly irrigate the
wounds, particularly those] associated with the fractures, with distilled
water. While j reducing the fractures, some minor repairs were required to
damaged blood vessels in the area. The incised, wounds were sutured, covered, and
the fractured limbs | immobilized. The work was done very quickly because the
patient was conscious and...”

Not for
long, Chiang said in a low voice. I passed out.”

... and the
pulse seemed weak and irregular, she went on, even though I didn't
know the normal rate. The only means available to counteract shock and the
effects of blood loss were external heating, provided by wood fires placed
downwind so that smoke and ash would not contaminate the operative field, and
pure water given intravenously when consciousness was lost. 1 was unsure
whether our saline solution would be beneficial or toxic. I realize now that I
was being overcautious, but I did not want to risk losing a limb.”

Naturally,
Edanelt said. Now describe your postoperative treatment.”

The patient
regained consciousness late that evening, Cha Thrat went on. It appeared to be mentally and
verbally lucid, although the exact meaning of some words were unclear since they referred to the consigning of the faulty aircraft,
the whole current situation, and
myself to some hypothetical but extremely unpleasant afterlife. Since the native edible vegetation was
likely to prove harmful, only water administered orally could be given. The
patient complained of severe discomfort at the site of the wounds. Native
pain-relief medication could not be given because it might prove toxic, so thatthe
condition could only be treated, however inadequately, by verbal reassurance
and encouragement—”

For three
days she never stopped talking, Chiang said. Asking questions about
my work, and what I would be doing after I returned to active duty, when I was
pretty sure that I would be returning in a box. She talked so much, sometimes,
that I just fell asleep.”

There was a slight tremor apparent in Prilicla's
limbs. Cha Thrat wondered if the Cinrusskin was sensitive even to the
Earth-human's remembered pain.

She resumed.
In response to several urgent requests, five members of the patient's
species, one of whom was a healer, arrived with supplies of suitable food and
supportive medication. Progress toward recovery was rapid thereafter. The
Earth-human healer gave advice on diet and medication dosage, and it was free to examine the patient at any time, but I would not allow further
surgical intervention. I should explain that on Sommaradva, a surgeon will not share or in any other way avoid
personal responsibility for a patient. There was strong criticism, both personal and professional, of my
standpoint, particularly from the Earth-human healer. I would not allow the patient to be moved to its ship until eighteen days after the operation, when I was convinced
that full recuperation was assured.”

She watched
over me, Chiang said, barking softly, like an old mother hen.”

There was silence
for what seemed to Cha Thrat to be a very long time, during which everyone looked at the Melfan while it regarded the patient. It was
tapping one hard-tipped leg against the floor, but the sound it made was a thoughtful rather than an impatient one.

Finally it said, Without immediate surgical attention you would undoubtedly have died as a result of
your injuries, and you were
fortunate indeed to receive thenecessary attention from an entity completely
unfamiliar j with your physiological classification. Fortunate, too, in that
the entity concerned was not only skilled, resource-, ful, and deeply concerned
with your aftercare, but made the proper use of the limited facilities
available to it. I can find no serious fault with the surgical work performed
here, and the patient is, indeed, wasting the hospital's time.”

Suddenly they
were all looking at her, but it was the empath who spoke first.

From Edanelt,
Prilicla said, that is praise indeed.”

Chapter 3

THE private
office of the Earth-human O'Mara was large, but the floor area was almost
entirely covered by a variety of chairs, benches, recliners and frames designed for the use of the entities
having business with the Chief Psychologist. Chiang took the indicated Earth-human chair and Cha
Thrat chose a low, convoluted cage that looked as if it might not be too uncomfortable, and sat
down.

She saw at once
that O'Mara was an old Earth-human. The short, bristling fur covering the top
and sides of its head, and the two thick crescents above its eyes, were the
gray color of unpainted metal. But the heavy muscle structure apparent in the
shoulders, upper limbs, and hands was not that of the other aged Earth-humans
she had seen. The flexible, fleshy covers of its eyes, which were similar in
color to its hair, did not droop as it studied her in every physical detail.

You are a
stranger among us, Cha Thrat, it said abruptly. 1 am here to help
you feel less strange, to answer questions you have been unable or unwilling to
ask of others, and to see how your present abilities can be trained^and
extended so that they may be put to the best possible use by the hospital.”

It turned its
attention to Chiang. My intention was to interview you separately, but
for some reason you wish to be present during my initial talk with Cha Thrat.
Can it be that you have heard, and believed, some of the things the staff say
about me? Do you have delusions of being a gentleman and Cha Thrat a lady,
albeit of a different physiological classification, who if not actually in
distress is a friend in need of moral support? Is that it,Major?”

Chiang barked
quietly but did not speak.

A  question,   Cha Thrat  said.  Why
do  Earth-humans make that
strange barking sound?”

O'Mara turned its
head to regard her for a long moment, then it exhaled loudly and said, I
had expected your first question to be more... profound. But very well. The
sound is called laughing, not barking, and in most cases it is a psychophysical
mechanism for the release of minor degrees of tension.  An Earth-human laughs because of a sudden
relief from worry or fear, or to express scorn or disbelief or sarcasm, or in
response to words or a situation that is ridiculous, illogical, or funny, or
out of politeness when the situation or words are nor funny but the person
responsible is of high rank. I shall not even try to explain sarcasm or the
Earth-human sense of humor to you, because we don't fullyunderstand them
ourselves. For reasons that will become clearer the longer you stay here, I
rarely laugh.”

For some reason
Chiang barked—laughed—again.

Ignoring it,
O'Mara went on. Senior Physician Edan-elt is satisfied regarding your
professional competence and suggests that I assign you to a suitable ward as soon as possible. Before
that happens you must become more
familiar with the layout, operation, and work of the hospital. You will find
that it is a very dangerous and frightening place to the uninformed. At
present, that is you.”

I
understand, Cha Thrat said.

The people
who will impart this very necessary information, it went on, are of
many different physiological types and medical and technical specialities. They
will range from Diagnosticians, Senior Physicians, and healers like, or totally
unlike, yourself, to nursing staff, and laboratory and maintenance technicians.
Some of them will be your medical or administrative superiors, others will be
nominally subordinate to you, but the knowledge they impart is equally valuable. I'm told that you are averse to sharing patient responsibility. While learning you may, at the
discretion of the doctor in charge, be allowed to practice, but under close
supervision. Do you understand, and agree?”

1 do,
Cha Thrat said unhappily. It was going to be her first year in the School for
Warrior-Surgeons on Sommaradva all over again but, hopefully, without the attendant
nonmedical problems.

This
interview, O'Mara went on, will not decide whether or not
you are accepted as a permanent member of the hospital staff. I cannot tell you what
or what not to do in every situation that will arise; you must learn
by observation and attention to the words of your tutors and decide that for
yourself. But if there are really serious problems that you are unable to solve for yourself, youmay come to me for guidance. Naturally, the fewer visits you make to
this office the better disposed I shall feel toward you. I shall be receiving
continuous reports on your progress, or lack of it, and it is these that will
decide whether or not you remain here.”

It paused briefly
and moved the digits of one hand through*the short gray head-fur. She watched
carefully but saw no sign of dislodged parasites, and decided that the movement
was an unthinking one.

This
interview, O'Mara continued, is intended to explore some of the nonmedical
aspects of your treatment of Chiang. In the short time available I would like
to learn as much as possible about you as a person: your feelings, motivations,
fears, likes, and dislikes, that sort of thing. Is there any area in which you
would not want to answer questions, or would give obscure or false answers,
because of moral or parental or community tribal conditioning during childhood
or maturity? I must warn you that I am capable of detecting a lie, even the
weird and wonderfully complicated lies that some of our extraterrestrials tell,
but it takes time and 1 have none of thatto waste.”

She thought for a
moment, then said, There are matters involving sexual encounters that I
would rather not discuss, but all other answers will be complete andtruthful.”

Good!
O'Mara said. I have no intention of entering that area and, hopefully,
may never have to do so. At present I am interested in your thoughts and
feelings between the time you first saw your patient and the decision to
operate, any relevant discussion between the healer who was first on the scene
and yourself, and the reason for the delay in starting the operation when you
did take charge. If you had any strong feelings at thattime, please describe
and explain them if you can, and speak as the thoughts come to you.”

For a moment Cha
Thrat tried to recall her exact
feelings at the time, then she said, I
was spending but not enjoying an enforced vacation in the
area, because I would have preferred to continue
working in my hospital instead of trying to devise ways of wasting time. When I heard of the accident I was almost pleased, thinking at first that the survivor was a Sommaradvan, and there was proper work for me to do. Then I saw the
Earth-human's injuries and knew that the local healer would not dare touch it because he was a healer of serviles. Even though the survivor was not a Sommaradvan
warrior, it was plainly a warrior injured in the course of its duty.

I am uncertain about your units of time measurement, she went on. The crash occurred just before sunrise, and 1 reached the shore of
the lake where Chiang had
been placed shortly before the time of the morning meal. Without proper medication or knowledge of the body structure, many things had to be
considered. The sensible course would have been to allow the survivor to bleed to death or, out of kindness, expedite matters by immersing it in the lake...”

She stopped for a moment because O'Mara seemed to have a temporary blockage of the breathing
passages, then she resumed.
After several examinations and evaluations of the risks, surgery was begun early in the
afternoon. At the time I did not know that Chiang was the ruler of a
ship.”

The two Earth-humans exchanged looks, and O'Mara said,
That was five, maybe six hours
later. Do you usually take as long as that to reach a professional decision? And would it have made any
difference if you had known of Chiang's importance?”

There
were many risks to consider—I did not want to risk losing
a limb, she replied sharply, sensing a criticism. And yes, it should have made a difference. A warrior-surgeon is in the same position to a ruler as the
servile-healer is in relation to a warrior. I am forbidden to practice beyond my qualifications. The penalties are most
severe, even allowing for the
increasingly lax standards so prevalent these days. But in this instance, well,
it was a unique situation. I felt frightened, and excited, and I would probably have acted in the same way.”

O'Mara said, I'm glad you don't normally practice surgery beyond
your level of competence...”

It's a
good thing she did, Chiang said softly.

... And
your tutors will be relieved as well, O'Mara went on. But I'm interested in this stratification of
the Sommaradvan medical profession. Can you tell me aboutthat?”

Puzzled by what seemed to be a nonsense question, she replied, We are not forbidden
to talk about anything. On Sommaradva there are three levels of persons —serviles, warriors, and rulers—and three levels of healers to care
for them...”

At the bottom were the serviles, the people whose work was undemanding and repetitious—important in many respects, but completely without risk. They were a contented group, protected from gross physical damage, and the healers
charged with their care used very simple procedures and medication such as herbs, poultices, and other traditional remedies. The second level, less
numerous than the serviles, were the warriors, who occupied positions of
responsibility and often great physicaldanger.

There had been
no war on Sommaradva for many generations, but the warrior class had kept the name. They were the descendants of the people who had fought toprotect their homelands,
hunted for food, raised city defenses, and generally performed the dangerous,
responsible jobs while the serviles saw to their physical needs. Now they were the engineers, technicians, and scientists who still performed
the high-risk jobs associated with mining, power generation, large-scale
construction, and the protection of
rulers. For that reason the injuries sus- \ tained by warriors were and always had been traumatic in nature, requiring surgical intervention or repair, and this work was the responsibility of the
warrior-surgeons.

The ruler-healers had even greater responsibilities and, at times, much less reward or satisfaction in their work.

Protected against
all physical accident or injury, the ruler class were the administrators, academics, researchers, and planners on Sommaradva. They were the .j people
charged with the smooth running of the cities and the continents and the world,
and the ills that affected them were invariably the phantasms of the mind. Their healers dealt in wizardry,
spells, sympathetic magic, and all the other aspects of nonphysical medicine.

Even from
the earliest times the practice of healing has been so divided, Cha Thrat concluded, into physicians and surgeons and wizards.”

When she finished
speaking, O'Mara looked down for a moment at its hands, which were placed palms down on its desktop, and said quietly, It's nice to know that I would rate the top level of the Sommaradvan medical profession, but
I'm not sure that I like being called a wizard. It
looked up suddenly. What happens if one of your warriors or rulers gets a simple
tummyache, instead of a traumatic injury or an emotional problem? Or if a servile should
accidentally break a leg? Or what if a ser-vile or a warrior is dissatisfied and wants to better itself?”

The
Cultural Contact people sent you a full report onall
this, Chiang broke in, as background material on the new
medic. Apologetically it added, The
decision to send Cha Thrat was taken at the last moment, and possibly the
report arrived with us on Thromasaggar,”

O'Mara exhaled loudly, and she wondered if it was an expression of irritation at the interruption, then said, And the hospital's internal mail system
operates at a speed considerably less than that of light. Please go on,Cha
Thrat. ^ In the highly unlikely event of a
servile having such an accident, she said, a request for treatment would be made to a warrior-surgeon who, depending on assessment
of the injuries, would or
would not agree to do the work. Responsibility for a patient is not taken lightly on Sommaradva, as is shown by the delay in treating
Chiang, and the loss of a life,
an organ, or a limb has serious repercussions for the surgeon.

Should a warrior or ruler require simple medical attention, she
continued, ' a servile-healer would be instructed, and would indeed be
honored, to provide thenecessary assistance.

If a discontented servile or warrior is able as well as ambitious, she went on, elevation to a higher level is possible. But the examinations are wide-ranging and difficult, and it is much
easier to remain at the level traditionally occupied by the family or tribe or, if a release from problems and responsibilities is desired,
to go down a level. Promotions, even
minor promotions within a level, are not easy on
Sommaradva.”

Nor are they easy here, O'Mara said. But why did you come to Sector General? Ambition, curiosity,
or a release from problems at home?”

This was an
important question, Cha Thrat knew, and the quality and accuracy of the answer
would have an important bearing on whether or not she was accepted by the
hospital. She tried to frame the answer so that it would be accurate, truthful,
and brief, but before she could reply the ship ruler was talking again.

We were
grateful to Cha Thrat for saving my life, Chiang said, speaking very
quickly, and we told her colleagues and superiors so in no uncertain
language. The subject of treatment by other-species medics came up, and Sector
General, where it was the rule rather than the exception. It was suggested to
us, and we agreed, that Cha Thrat should come here. The Sommaradvan cultural
contact is going very well and we didn't want to risk offending, perhaps
insulting, them by refusing.

I realize
that we bypassed the normal candidate selection procedure, it continued.
But her already-proven ability to perform other-species surgery, on- me,
made us sure that you would be interested in—”

O'Mara was
holding up one hand, and it had not taken its attention from Cha Thrat while the other Earth-human had been speaking. It said,
Is this a political appointment, then, which we must accept whether we like it or not? But the original question
remains. Why did you want to come here?”

I didn't
want to come here, she replied. I was sent.”

Chiang covered its
eyes suddenly with one hand, a gesture she had never seen it make before. O'Mara looked at her for a
moment, then said, Explain.”

When the
warriors of the Monitor Corps told us of the many different intelligent species who make up the Galactic Federation, she replied, and talked to me at great length
about Sector General, where I could meet and work with many of
these life-forms, I was curious and interested, but much too frightened by the prospect of meeting not one but nearly
seventy different species to risk undergoing an experience that might give me a ruler's disease. I told everyone who would listen
my feelings, and reminded them of
my utter lack of competence in relation to the level of surgery practiced here. I was not pretending to modesty. I really was, and
am, ignorant. Because I was warrior level, I could not be forced, but it was strongly suggested by my colleagues
and local rulers that I come.”

Ignorance
can be a temporary condition, O'Mara said. And it must have been a pretty strong suggestion. Why was it made?”

In my
hospital I am respected but not liked, she went on, hoping that the anger in her voice was not reproduced by the translator.
In spite of being one of the first female warrior-surgeons, an innovation in itself, 1 am a traditionalist. I will not tolerate the
reduced standards of professional behavior that are becoming increasingly
prevalent, and I am critical of colleagues and superiors alike if they become lax. It was suggested to me that if I did not take advantage of the
opportunity being offered by the
Earth-humans, there would be a continuing increase of the nonmaterial pressures associated with my work
as a surgeon. The situation was too complex for me to describe briefly, but my
rulers made suggestions to the Monitor Corps, who were very reassuring and
persuasive. The Earth-humans pulled while my superiors pushed, and I am here.

Now that I
am here, she ended, I shall use my limited abilities, under direction, as best I can.”

O'Mara was
looking at the ship ruler now. Chiang had taken its hand away from its eyes, but its pink face was a deeper color than she had ever seen before.

The
Sommaradvan contact was widening nicely,” Chiang said, but it was at a
delicate stage. We didn't | want to risk refusing what seemed to them to be
such a small favor. And anyway, we were pretty sure that they were giving Cha
Thrat a hard time and we—I—thought she would be happier here.”

So,
O'Mara said, still looking at the ship ruler, whose face was now an even deeper
shade of pink, we have not only a political appointee but an unwilling
volunteer and possibly a misfit. And, out of a misplaced sense of gratitude,
you tried to conceal the true situation from me. That's great!”

It turned to face
Cha Thrat again and said, I appreciate your truthfulness. This material
will be useful in the preparation of your psych profile but it does not, in
spite of what your misguided friend may think, preclude your acceptance by the
hospital provided the other requirements are satisfied. Those you will learn
during training, which will begin first thing in our morning.”

The words were
coming faster than before, as if O'Mara's time for talking were limited, as ;t
went on. In the outer office you will be given an information package,
maps, class schedules, general rules, and advice, all printed in the most
widely used language on Sommar-adva. Some of our trainees will tell you that
their first and most difficult test was finding their rooms.

Good luck,
Cha Thrat.”

As she was
picking her way between the alien furniture toward the door, O'Mara was saying
I'm primarily interested in your postoperative emotional condition, Major
Chiang. Have there been any waking fears, recurrent nightmares, unexplained
episodes of tension, with or without accompanying perspiration, associated with
the operation? Any feelings of drowning, strangulation, increasing and
unreasoning fear of the dark?...”

Truly, she thought, O'Mara was a great wizard.

In the outer office, the Earth-human Braithwaite gave verbal as well as printed advice together with
a white band to wear on one of her upper arms. It signified to all that she was a trainee, it said, laughing, and
likely to become confused and
lost. Should that happen she could ask any member of the hospital staff for directions. It, too, ended by wishing her well.

Finding the way to her room was a nightmare worse, she was sure, than any that Chiang might be
relating to O'Mara. She needed
directions on two occasions, and each time she asked groups of the silver-furred Kelgians who seemed to be everywhere in the hospital,
rather than any of the great,
lumbering monsters or the squishy beings in chlorine envelopes who crowded past her. But on both occasions, in spite of the respectful
manner of her request, the
information was given in a most rude and abrupt fashion.

Her immediate feeling was one of severe personal offense. But then she saw
that the Kelgians were rude and short-tempered even to other members of their
own species, and she decided that it might be better not to upbraid them for their extreme lack of politeness toward astranger.

When she at last located her room, the door was wide open and the Earth-human Timmins was lying
prone on the floor and holding a
small metal box that was making quiet noises and winking its lights.

Just testing, Timmins said. I'll be finished in a moment. Look
around. The operating instructions for everything are on the table. If there is anything you don't understand, use the communicator to call Staff
Training, they'll help you.
It rolled onto its back and got to its feet in a way that was physically impossible for a Som-maradvan, and added, What do you think
of the place?”

I'm—I'm
surprised, Cha Thrat said, feeling almostJMIWCS WHII fflshocked by its
familiarity. And delighted. It's just likfl my quarters at home.”

We aim to
please, Timmins said. It raised one hand! in a gesture she did not
understand, and was gone.

For a long time
she moved about the small room ex-j amining the furniture and equipment, not
quite believing i what she saw and felt. She knew that photographs and i
measurements had been taken of her quarters in the war- j rior-surgeon level at
the Calgren House of Healing, but ' she had not expected such close
attention to detail in the reproduction of her favorite pictures, wall
coverings, ' lighting, and personal utilities. There were differences, too,
some obvious and others subtle, to remind her that this place, despite
appearances to the contrary, was not on her home world.

The room itself
was larger and the furniture more comfortable, but there were no joints visible in the construction. It was
as if every item had been fabricated in one piece. All the doors and drawers
and fastenings in the replicas worked perfectly, which the originals had never done, and the air smelled different—in fact, it did not smell at all.

Gradually her initial feelings of pleasure and relief
were being diluted by the realization that this was nothing more than a tiny,
familiar bubble of normality inside a vast, alien, and terrifyingly complex structure. The fear and anxiety she was beginning to feel were greater than she had ever experienced on her incredibly distant
home planet, and with them was a growing degree of loneliness so acute that it felt like an
intense, physical hunger.

But she was not liked or wanted on far Sommaradva, and here, at least, they
had taken positive measures to welcome her, so much so that she had to
remain in this terrible place if only to discharge the obligation. And she would try to learn as
much as she could before the hospital  rulers decided that she was unsuitable and sent her home.

She should start learning now. Was the hunger real, she wondered, rather than imaginary? She had not been able to eat to repletion
during the earlier visit to the dining hall because her mind had been on matters other than food. She
began to plan the route there, and to the location of her first lecture in the morning, from her present position. But she did not
feel like another trip along the hospital's weirdly populated corridors just yet. She was very tired, and
the room had a limited-menu food
dispenser for trainees who did not wish to interrupt their studies by going to the dining hall. She referred to the list of foods suited to
her metabolism and tapped for
medium-to-large portions. When she was feeling comfortably distended, she tried to sleep.

The room and the corridor outside were full of quiet, unidentifiable sounds, and she did not know enough
to be able to ignore them. Sleep
would not come and she was beginning to feel afraid again, and to wonder if her thoughts and feelings were of the kind to interest the wizard O'Mara, and that made her even more fearful for her future at Sector General. While still lying at rest, physically if not mentally, she used the ceiling projection facility of the communicator to see what was happening on the entertainment and training channels.

According to the relevant information sheet, ten of the channels
continuously screened some of the Galactic Federation's most popular entertainment, current
interest, and drama programs with a translator output, if required. But she discovered that while she could
understand the words that the different physiological types were saying to and about each other, the accompanying actions were in turn
horrifying, mystifying, ridicu-lous, or downright obscene to Sommaradvan eyes. Sh switched to
the training channels.

There she had a
choice of watching displays of cur-rently meaningless figures and tabulations
on the temper atures, blood pressures, and pulse rates of about fif different
life-forms, or surgical operations in progress that were visually disquieting
and not calculated to luJ anyone to sleep.

In desperation,
Cha Thrat tried the sound-only chan-nels. But the music she found, even when
the volums was reduced to bare audibility, sounded as if it were coming from a
piece of malfunctioning heavy machinery So it was a great surprise when the
room alarm began reminding her, monotonously and with steadily increas-ing
volume, that it was time to awaken if she required breakfast before her first
lecture.

Chapter 4

The lecturer was
a Nidian who had been intro- I duced as Senior Physician Cresk-Sar. While it
was speaking, it prowled up and down the line of trainees like some small,
hairy, carnivorous beast, which meant that every few minutes it passed Cha
Thrat so closely that she wanted to either fold her limbs in defensive mode or
run away.

To minimize
verbal confusion during meetings with other-species entities, it was
saying, and to avoid in-advertently giving offense, it is assumed that
all members of the medical and
support staff who do not belong to your own particular species are sexless. Whether you are addressing them directly or discussing
them in their absence, you will always think of them as an 'it'. The only exception to this rule is when an
other-species patient is being treated for a condition directly related to its sex, in which case the doctor must
know whether it is male or female, or one of the multisexed species, if the
proper treatment is to be carried out.

I am a male Nidian DBDG, Cresk-Sar went
on, but do not think of me
as 'he' or 'him'. Think of me as'it'.”

As the disgusting, hairy shape moved to within a few paces of her before turning away again, Cha Thrat thought that she would have no difficulty in
thinking of this Senior Physician as it.”

With the intention of finding someone less repulsive to look at, she turned her eyes toward the trainee
closest to her—one of the three silver-furred Kelgians attending the lecture. It was strange, she thought, how the
Ni-dian's fur made her cringe
inwardly while the equally alien covering of the Kelgian relaxed and calmed her like a work of great art. The fur was in constant
motion, with long, slow ripples moving from the creature's conical head right down to its tail, with occasional
cross-eddies and wavelets appearing, as if the incredibly
fine pelt was a liquid stirred by an unfelt wind. At first she thought the movements were random, but a pattern of
ripples and eddies seemed to be
developing the more closely shewatched.

What are you staring at? the Kelgian said suddenly, its translated words overlaid by the moaning
and hissing sounds of its native speech. Do I have a bald patch, or something?”

I'm sorry,
I had not meant to give offense, Cha Thrat said. Your fur is
beautiful and I couldn't help ad-| miring it the way it moves—”

Pay
attention, you two! the Senior Physician saidj sharply. It moved closer,
looked up at each of them in  turn, then
went prowling down the line again.

Cresk-Sar's
fur, the Kelgian said softly, is a sight.'] It makes me think that
invisible and no doubt imaginary ; parasites are about to change their abode.
It gives me a terrible psychosomatic itch.”

This time
Cresk-Sar gave them another long look, made an irritated, snuffling sound that
did aot translate, and continued with what it was saying.

... There
is a great deal of illogical behavior associated with sexual differences,
it went on, and I must emphasize once again, unless the sex of a
particular entity has a direct bearing on its course of treatment, the subject
must be ignored if not deliberately avoided. Some of you may consider that such
knowledge of another species would be helpful, conversationally useful during
off-duty meetings or, as often happens in this place, when a particularly
interesting piece of gossip is circulating. But believe me, in this area,
ignorance is a virtue.”

Surely,
said a Melfan trainee halfway down the line, there are interspecies
social occasions, shared meals or lectures, when it would be a gross act of bad
manners to ignore another intelligent and socially aware person's gender. I
think that—”

And /
think, Cresk-Sar said with a bark, or laugh, that you are what our
Earth-human friends call a gentleman. You haven't been listening. Ignore the
difference. Consider everyone who is not of your own species as neuter. In any
case, you would have to observe some of our other-species people very closely
to tell the differ-ence, and that in itself could cause serious embarrassment. In the case of Hudlar life-mates, who alternate
between male and female mode, the behavior patterns are quite complex.”

What would happen, the Keigian beside her said, if they should go, completely or partly, out of
synchronization?”

From the line of
trainees there were a number of different sounds, none of which registered on
her translator. The Senior Physician
was looking at the Kelgian, whose fur, for some reason, had begun to move in rapid, irregular ripples.

I shall treat that as a serious question, Cresk-Sar said, although I doubt that it was
intended as such. Rather than answer it myself, I shall ask one of you to do so. Would the Hudlar trainee please step
forward. So that, Cha Thrat thought, is a Hudlar. It was a squat, heavy life-form with a hard, almost featureless dark-gray skin, discolored by
patches of the dried paint she had
seen it spraying on itself before they had entered the lecture theater, and she had decided then that it was extremely careless in its application
of cosmetics. The body was supported on six heavy tentacles, each of which terminated in a cluster of
flexible digits, curled inward so that the weight was borne on heavy knuckles and the fingers remained clear of the
floor.

There were no body openings that she
could see, not even in the head,
which contained eyes protected by hard, transparent shells and a semicircular membrane that vibrated to produce the creature's words as it turned toward them.

It is very simple, respected colleagues, the
Hudlar said. While I am
presently male, Hudlars are all sexually neutral until puberty, after which the
direction taken is dependent on
social-environmental influences,sometimes quite subtle influences that do not
involva body contact. A picture of an attractive male-mode Hudi lar might impel
one from neuter toward female mode, or the other way around. A conscious choice
can be made if the career one intends to follow favors a particular sexj Unless
one is mated, the postpuberty sex choice is fixed for the remainder of one's
life.

When two
adults become life-mates, the Hudlar went on, that is, when they
join for the purpose of becoming parents and not simply for temporary pleasure,
the sex changes are initiated shortly after conception. By the time the child
is born the male has become much less aggressive, more attentive and
emotionally oriented ward its mate, while its mate is beginning to lose the
female characteristics. Following parturition, the process continues, with the
father-that-was taking responsibility for the child while progressing to full
female mode, and the mother develops all the male characteristics that will
enable it to be a father-to-be.

There is,
of course, a time during which both life-mates are emotional neuters, the
Hudlar added, but this is a period of the pregnancy when physical
coupling is contraindicated.”

Thank
you, the Senior Physician said, but held up a small, hairy hand to
indicate that the Hudlar should remain where it was. Any further
comments, questions?”

It was looking at
the Kelgian beside her, the one who had asked the original question, but Cha
Thrat spoke on impulse.

It seems to
me that the Hudlars are fortunate, she said, in that they are not
troubled by the situation of the members of one sex considering themselves
innately superior to the other, as is the case on Sommaradva..

And on too
many other worlds of the Federation,” the Kelgian interjected, the fur rising
into tufts behind itshead.

... I thank the Hudlar for its explanation, Cha Thratwent on, but
I was surprised to find that it is presently a male. My first thought, based on
observation of what I mistakenly assumed to be cosmetic paint on its body, was
that it was female.”

The Hudlar's
speaking membrane began to vibrate, but Cresk-Sar held its hand up for silence
and said, What are your second thoughts?”

Confused, she
stared at the hairy little creature, wondering what she was expected to say.

Come,
come, Cresk-Sar barked. Tell us what other thoughts, observations,
assumptions, mistaken or otherwise, have been going through your Sommaradvan mind regarding this life-form. Think and speak clearly.”

Cha Thrat turned all her eyes on it in a way that, had it been a Sommaradvan, would have elicited an
immediate verbal and physical
response. She said, My first thoughts were as described. My second was that it might be Hudlar males rather than females, or
perhaps both, who wear decorative paint.
Then I observed that the being's movements were careful, as if it was afraid of injuring nearby people and equipment, the movements
of a gentle being of immense
physical strength. That taken in conjunction with the low, squat form of the body, with six rather than two or four limbs, suggested
that it was a native of a dense,
heavy-gravity world with comparable atmospheric pressure, where an accidental fall would be damaging. The very hard but flexible skin,
which is unbroken by any permanent body orifices for the intake or elimination of food, suggested that the paint
which I had observed the Hudlar
spraying onto itself might be a nutrient solution.”

The eyes of Cresk-Sar, and the variegated visual sen-sors of the other
trainees, were watching her steadily. Nobody spoke.

Hesitantly she
added, Another thought, wonderful and exciting but, I expect, pure
supposition, is that if this heavy-gravity, high-pressure creature can live
unprotected in the hospital surroundings, its body must be capable of
containing its own very high internal pressures, and an even lower pressure
environment should not inconvenience it.                              .

It might be
possible, she went on, expecting a storm of ridicule from the Nidian
Senior, for it to work unprotected in space. This would mean that—”

At any
moment, Cresk-Sar said, holding its hand up, you will give me its
physiological classification coding, even though we haven't covered that yet.
Is this the first time you've seen a Hudlar?”

I saw two
of them in the dining hall, she replied, but at the time I was too
confused to know what I was seeing.”

May your
confusion continue to diminish,  Cha
Thrat, Cresk-Sar said. Turning its head toward the others, it went on,
This trainee has displayed the qualities of observation and deduction
that, when trained and refined, will enable you to live among, understand,
and   . treat your other-species
colleagues and patients. However, I would advise you not to think of a
particular life-form as a Nidian, a Hudlar, a Kelgian, a Melfan, or a    I Sommaradvan, that is, by their planets
of origin, but by    • their   physiological   classifications,   DBDG,   FROB, DBLF, ELNT, or DCNF. That way you
will always be    ; reminded of their
pressure, gravity, and atmosphere requirements, basic metabolism and other
physiological needs, and know immediately when there is a potential
environmental threat to them or to yourselves.”

It continued,
Should a PVSJ, a chlorine-breathingnative of Illensa, accidentally rupture its pressure envelope, the risk to the being concerned and to any
oxygen-breathing D, E, and F prefixes
in the vicinity would be extreme. And, if you are ever called to a space rescue
situation, there may be times when an urgent and accurate identification of the
casualty's physiological classification, and therefore its life-support requirements, may depend on a single limb or small area of body surface
glimpsed under shifting wreckage.

You must train yourselves to be aware, instinctively, of all the differences of the people around
you, Cresk-Sar went on, giving a low laugh-bark, if only to know whom it is safe to jostle in the corridors. And
now I will take you to the wards for
your initial patient experience before my next class in—”

What about the classification system? said the silver-furred Kelgian—the DBLF, Cha Thrat
corrected herself—beside her.
If it is as important as you say it is, surely you are lacking in the qualities of a teacher not to have explained it to us.”

Cresk-Sar walked
slowly toward the speaker, and she wondered if she could possibly reduce the verbal violence to come by asking the
Senior Physician another and more politely worded question. But for some reason the Nidian completely ignored the DBLF and
spoke instead to Cha Thrat.

You will
already have observed, it said, that these Kelgian DBLF life-forms are outspoken,
ill-mannered, rude, and completely
lacking in tact...”

You should talk, Cha Thrat thought.

... But there are good psychophysiological reasons for this, it went on. Because of
inadequacies in the Kelgian speech organs, their spoken language lacks modulation, inflection, and
all emotional expression. But they are compensated by their highly mobile fur that acts, so far as
another Kelgian is concerned, as a perfect but uncontrollable mirror to the
speaker's emotional state. As a result the concept of lying, of being
diplomatic, tactful, or even polite is completely alien to them. A DBLF says
exactly what it means or feels, because the fur reveals its feelings from
moment to moment and to do otherwise would be sheer stupidity. The opposite
also holds true, because politeness and the verbal circumlocution used by many
species confuses and irritates them.

You will
find some of the personalities here as alien as the persons, it
continued. Considering the fact that you have met only one other-species
being before your arrival here, your behavior today makes me sure that you will
have not trouble in adapting to—”

Teacher's
pet, the DBLF said, its fur tufting into spikes. I was the one who asked the question, remember?”

That you
did, Cresk-Sar replied, looking at the wall chronometer. Tapes
covering the life-form physiological classification system will be sent to your
quarters sometime today. You must study the visual material they con- -| tain,
carefully and repeatedly, and use your translators on the spoken commentary.
But now I have time only to outline the basics of the system.”

It turned
suddenly and resumed its place facing them, Plainly the answer to the
question was being directed,! toward everyone.

Unless you
have already been attached to one of the smaller, multienvironment
hospitals, Cresk-Sar said, you will normally have encountered off-world patients one species
at a time, probably on a short-term
basis as a result of a ship accident, and you would refer to them by their planets of origin. But I must stress once again, the rapid and accurate identification of incoming patients isvital, because all too often they are in no
condition to furnish the necessary physiological data themselves. Here we have evolved a basic, four-letter physiological
classification system that
enables us to provide the required life-support and initial treatment pending a
more detailed investigation, if
that should be necessary, by Pathology. It works like this.

The first letter denotes the level of physical evolution reached by the
species when it acquired intelligence, it continued. The second indicates
the type and distribution of limbs, sense organs, and body orifices, and the remaining two letters refer to the
combination of metabolism and food and air requirements associated with the home planet's gravity and atmospheric
pressure, which in turn gives an indication of the physical mass and protective tegument possessed by the being.”

Cresk-Sar barked softly before saying Usually I have to remind our other-species trainees at this
point that the initial letter of their
classification should not be allowed to give them feelings of inferiority, because the degree of physical evolution is controlled by environmental
factors and bears little relation
to the degree of intelligence...”

Species with the prefix A, B, or C, it went on to explain, were water-breathers.
On most worlds, life had originated in the sea, and these beings had developed intelligence without having to leave it. D through F were warm-blooded oxygen-breathers, into which group most of the intelligent races of the Federation fell,
and the G and K types were also
oxygen breathing, but insectile. The Ls and Ms were light-gravity, winged beings.

Chlorine-breathing
life-forms were contained in the O and P groups, and after these came the more exotic, the more highly evolved physically, and the downright weird types. Into these categories fell the
radiation-eaters, the ultra-cold-blooded or crystalline beings, and entities
ca-pable of modifying their physical structure at will. However, those beings
possessing extrasensory powers, telekinesis, or teleportation sufficiently well
developed to make ambulatory or manipulatory appendages unnecessary were given
the prefix V regardless of
their size, shape, or environmental background.

'There are
anomalies in the system, the Senior Physician continued, and these
must be bjamed on the lack of imagination and foresight of the originator. The
AACP life-form, for example, has a vegetable metabolism. Normally the A prefix
denotes a water-breather, there being nothing lower on our evolutionary coding
scale than the piscatorial life-forms. But the double-A prefix, the AACPs, are
mobile, intelligent vegetables, and plant life evolved before the fish.

And
now, it said, looking at the chronometer again, you will meet some
of these weird and wonderful and perhaps horrifying creatures. It is the hospital's policy to give you the
earliest possible opportunity of getting to know and work with the patients and
staff members. Regardless of your position or seniority in your home-planet hospitals, your rank here will
be that of Junior or Trainee Nurse—until, that is, you can convince me that your professional competence warrants
a higher rating.

I am not
easy to convince, Cresk-Sar added as it began moving toward the exit.
Follow me, please.”

It was not easy
to follow the Senior Physician
because it moved fast for such a small being, and Cha Thrat had the feeling
that the other trainees were more experienced in navigating the hospital corridors than she was. But then she noticed that
the Hudlar—the FROB—was falling behind as well.

For obvious
reasons, the FROB said as they drew level, the
people here give me plenty of room. If youwere to stay directly behind me, together we might significantly increase our
speed.”

She had a sudden and shocking feeling of unreality, as if she had been plunged into a nightmare world
that was both terrifying and
wonderful, a world in which courtesy was being shown by a horrendous beast that was capable of tearing her apart without straining a muscle
on one of its six tentacles.
But even if this were a dream, the proper response had to be made.

You are most considerate, she said. Thank you. The being's membrane vibrated but the sound
did not translate. Then it said, About the nutrient paint you noticed earlier, to
complete your information and to show how close your deductions were to the actuality, the paint is not necessary at home. There the
atmosphere is so dense and thickly
packed with edible, floating organisms that it resembles a semiliquid soup, a food source that, because of our high metabolic rate, is
absorbed continuously. As you can see, the last paint application has almost disappeared and is due for renewal.”

Before she could reply, one of the Kelgian DBLFs fell back and said, I was nearly walked on by
a Tralthan just now. This looks
like a good idea. There's room for one more.”

It moved closer to Cha Thrat so that they were both protected by the Hudlar's massive body.
Choosing her words carefully, she
said, I do not wish to give offense, but I cannot tell the difference between one Kelgian and another. Are you the DBLF whose fur I was admiring during the lecture?”

Admiring, you used the right word! the Kelgiansaid, its fur running in concentric waves from head totail. Don't worry about it. If we had more than oneSommaradvan, I couldn't tell the difference either.”

Suddenly the
Hudlar stopped and, looking past itsspeaking membrane, she saw why. The whole group ofl trainees had halted and Cresk-Sar was beckoning to af Melfan
and the other two Kelgians.

This is a
Tralthan post-op recovery ward, it said.l You two will report here after
lectures every day until] instructed otherwise. You don't need protective suits,; the air is breathable, and trace quantities of Tralthan) body odor should be ignored. Go in, you're expected.”

When the party
was on its way again she noticed
aJ few of the trainees detaching themselves without being told, and assumed that they had joined the class earlier and had already been assigned
wards. One of them was her
Hudlar crowd controller. Very soon the group had shrunk until there was only
the DBLF and herself left, and
Cresk-Sar was pointing at the Kelgian.

This is a
PVSJ medical ward, it said briskly. You will be met inside the lock antechamber and
instructed in the use of your protective envelope before going through. You
will then—”

But they're
chlorine-breathers in there! the Kelgian protested, its fur standing out in spikes. Can't you give me a ward where I can at least breathe the air? Do you try to make it as difficult as possible for the new people? What happens if I accidentally rupture my suit?”

To answer
your questions in turn, the Senior Physician replied, No. You've discovered that. And the nearby patients would have their existing injuries complicated by oxygen contamination.”

What about me, stupid?”

You,
Cresk-Sar said, would suffer chlorine poisoning. And what the Charge Nurse would do to you
if you recovered doesn't bear thinking about.”

She had to
concentrate so hard on keeping pace with the Senior Physician as they descended three
levels, and traversed seemingly endless and overpopulated corri-dors, that there was no chance to ask what she would be expected to do. But then Cresk-Sar stopped at an enormous lock entrance that was visually identified in
the Galactic Federation's principal
written languages—but which did not, of course, include Sommaradvan—and answered the unasked question.

This is the
hospital's AUGL ward, it said. You will find that the patients, all natives of the
ocean work! of Chalderescol, are among the most visually fearsome beings you are ever likely to encounter. But they
are harmless so long as you—”

The A
prefix^ Cha Thrat broke in urgently, denotes water-breathers.”

Correct,
the Nidian said. What's wrong? Is there a problem O'Mara didn't tell me about? Are you uncomfortable or afraid in water?”

No,
Cha Thrat said. 1 enjoy swimming, on the surface. The problem is my lack
of a protective garment.”

Cresk-Sar barked
and said, There is no problem. The more complex protective equipment for heavy-gravity, high-pressure, and
elevated temperature work needs time to produce, but a simple, water-impermeable, contoured envelope with air
and communication systems is an easy job for the fabricator. Your suit is waiting for youinside.”

This time the Senior Physician went with her, explaining that, as
she was a new life-form to the hospital, it had to ensure that her equipment functioned properly and comfortably. But in the event, it was the being waiting for them in the lock antechamber who
immediately took charge and did all the talking.

Cha Thrat, it said briskly, I am Charge Nurse Hredlichli, a PVSJ. Your protective envelope is
in two pieces. Climb into the
lower half, pulling on one leg at a time, in whichever order you find most
convenient,using the heavier arms encircling your
waist. Use the same four arms to pull on the top half, inserting the head; and
four shoulder-mounted arms first. You will think that the limb end-sections are
small, but this is to ensure a tight fit and maximum sensitivity for the
digits. Don't seal the waist joint until you know that your air supply is
working. When you are sealed in, I'D show you the systems checks that must be
performed at every dressing. Then you will remove the envelope and put it on
again, repeating the process until we are both happy with your performance.
Please begin.”

Hredlichli
circled her, giving advice and directions during the first three dressings, and
then seemed to ignore her while it talked to the Senior Physician. The spiney,
membraneous body, looking like a haphazard collection of oily, unhealthy
vegetation, was obscured by the yellow chlorine fog inside the being's
protective envelope. It was impossible to tell where the Charge Nurse's
attention was directed, because Cha Thrat had been unable to locate its eyes.

We are
seriously understaffed at present, Hredlichli was saying, with three of my best nurses on special post-op recovery cases to the exclusion
of all else. Are you hungry?”

Cha Thrat felt
that the question was for her, but was unsure of the type of answer to give—the subservient, self-negating
reply expected by a ruler or the accurate, truthful kind due a
warrior-level colleague. Ignorant as she was of Hredlichli's exact status, she did her best to combine the
two.

I am
hungry, she replied, using the opportunity to test her suit's communicator, but the condition is not yet so advanced that it would impair
me physically.”

Good!
said Hredlichli. As a junior-in-training you will soon discover that practically everyone and every-thing takes precedence over you. If this causes
emotional tension, which may be expressed as verbal resentment or anger, try
not to release it until you are out of my ward. You will be allowed to visit your dining hall, for a strictly limited period, as soon as someone returns to relieve you. And now I think you know how
your suit works...”

Cresk-Sar turned
toward the entrance. Lifting one tiny, hairy hand, it said, Good luck, Cha Thrat.”

... So we'll go inside to the Nurses' Station, it went on, seeming to ignore the departing Nidian.
Double-check your suit seals
and follow me.”

She found herself
in a surprisingly small compartment that had one transparent wall giving a view into a dim green world where the difference between the
inhabitants and the decorative vegetation designed to make them feel at home was unclear. The other three
sides of the room were covered
by storage units, monitor screens, and equipment whose purpose she could not even guess at. The entire ceiling was devoted to brightly colored signs and geometrical shapes.

We have a very good staff and patient safety record in this ward, the Charge Nurse went on, and I don't want you to spoil it. Should you damage your suit
and be in danger of
drowning, however, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is not advisable between
oxygen- and chlorine-breathers, so you must move quickly to one of the emergency air chambers marked so —she indicated one of the ceiling designs— and await rescue. But the accident, or should I say the serious inconvenience, that you must guard against is pollution by patient body wastes. Filtration or replacement of the water volume in a ward this size is a major maintenance operation that would hamper our work and get us talked about in derogatory fashion all over the hospital.”

I
understand, Cha Thrat said.

Why had she come
to this awful place, she wondered, ] and could she justify to herself her
immediate resignation? In spite of the warnings from O'Mara and Cresk-Sar that
she would be starting at the lowest level, this was not work for a Sommaradvan
warrior-surgeon. If word of what she was expected to do were to get back to her
erstwhile colleagues, she would be forced into the life of a recluse. But these
people were not likely to tell her people about it because, to them, such
activities were so commonplace as to be unworthy of mention. Perhaps she would
be found unsuitable or incompetent and dismissed from the hospital with this
demeaning and unpleasant episode secret and her honor intact. But she was
dreading what was coming next.

But it was not
nearly as bad as she had expected.

The
patients usually know in advance when they need to evacuate, Hredlichli
went on, and will call the nurse with time to spare. Should you be called
for this purpose, the equipment you require is stored in the compartment with
its door marked like this. A frondlike arm appeared inside its protective
envelope, pointing to another
distinctively marked panel on the ceiling, then to its distant, brightly lit
twin that shone through the green dimness of,the ward. It went on, But
don't worry, the patient will know all about the operation of the equipment and will prefer to help itself. Most of them dislike using the thing, you'll find that Chalders embarrass easily, and any who are
not immobilized will prefer to use the room marked with that symbol. It is a long, narrow compartment barely large enough to contain one Chalder and is operated by the
user. Extraction and filtration of the wastes is automatic, and if anything goes wrong it is a Maintenance problem.”

Hredlichli's appendage rose again to point toward theconfusion of shapes at the other end of the
ward. If you need help with a patient, ask Nurse Towan. Most of its time is being spent with a seriously ill
patient, so don't distract it unnecessarily. Later today I shall instruct you on the Chalder optimum pulse rate, pressure, and
body temperature, and how and where to obtain them. The vital signs are taken
and recorded at regular intervals, the frequency depending on the condition of
the patient. You will also be
shown how to sterilize and dress surgical wounds, which is not a simple job on
a water-breather, and in a few days
you may be allowed to do it yourself. But first you must get to know your
patients.”

The appendage was pointing at a doorless opening into the main ward. A sudden paralysis seemed
to be affecting all twelve of Cha Thrat's limbs, and she tried desperately to
delay any movement by asking questions. Nurse Towan, she said.
What species is it? An AMSL, the Charge Nurse replied. A Creppel-lian octopoid, and Sector General qualified, so
you have nothing to worry about.
The patients know that we are being assigned a new-species trainee and are expecting you. Your body configuration is well suited to
the water medium, so I suggest that
you go in and begin by teaching yourself how to move about the ward.”

Please, a
further question, Cha Thrat said desperately. The AMSL is a
water-breather. Why aren't all of the medical attendants here water-breathers? Wouldn't it be simpler if they were Chalders, the same
species astheir patients?”

You haven't
even met a patient and already you're trying to reorganize the ward! Hredlichli said, producing another
appendage from somewhere and gesticulating with them both. There are two
reasons why we don't do as you
suggest. One is that very large patients can be effectively treated by small
medics, and SectorGeneral was designed with precisely
that situation in mind. The second is structural. Personnel accommodation and
recreation space is at a premium here, and can you imagine how much of it would
be taken up by the life-support requirements of, say, a basic medical and
nursing staff of one hundred water-breathing Chalders? But enough of
this, the Charge Nurse said impatiently. Go into the ward and act
as if you know what you're doing. We'll talk later. If I don't go for lunch
this instant, they'll find me in a corridor dead from malnutrition ...”

It seemed like a
very long time before she was able to venture into the green immensity of the
ward, and then she swam only as far as a structural support less than five
body-lengths from the entrance. The harsh, angular contours of the metal had
been visually softened by irregular areas of paint and the attachment of
artificial foliage, Cha Thrat saw as she swam around it, no doubt to make it
resemble the vegetation of the home world.

Hredlichli had
been right; she was able to adapt quickly to movement in water. When she kicked
out with her feet and simultaneously swept the four mid-arms downward, she
spurted forward and coasted for three body-lengths. When one or two of the
mid-arms were held steady and the hands angled, quite delicate directional and
positional control was possible. Previously she had never been able to remain
under water for more than a few moments, and she was beginning to really enjoy the sensation. She continued to circle the
structural member, moving up and down its entire length and examining the artificial vegetation even more
closely. There were clusters of what could have been underwater fruit, which
glowed with multihued light at her approach, revealing themselves to be a part of the ward lighting system. But
the pleasures of discovery were
short-lived.

One of the long, dark-green, motionless shadows lying along the floor of the ward had detached
itself and was rushing silently
toward her. It slowed, took monstrous, terrifying, three-dimensional form and
began to circle her slowly as she
had been circling the structuralsupport.

The creature was like an enormous, armored fish with a heavy, knife-edged tail, a seemingly haphazard
arrangement of stubby fins, and a thick ring of ribbon tentacles projecting
from the few gaps in its organic body-armor. The tentacles lay flat along its
sides when it was moving forward,
but they were long enough to reach beyond the thick, blunt wedge of the head. One tiny, lidless eye watched her as it circled closer.

Suddenly the head
divided to reveal a vast pink cavern of a mouth edged with row upon row of
enormous white teeth. It drifted
closer, so that she could even see the periodic fogging of the water around its gills. The mouth opened even wider. Hello,
Nurse, it said shyly.

Chapter 5

ChaThrat was not sure whether the AUGL ward's duty roster had been drawn up by
Charge Nurse Hredlichli or a seriously
deranged computer overlooked by the Maintenance staff, and she could not ask without calling into question someone's level of mental compe-tence. It was unbalanced, she thought, whether it re*i
ferred to the roster, some anonymous Maintenance entity, or Hredlichli itself.
After six days and two and a half nights darting about like an overworked
minnow among her outsized Chalders, she had been given two whole days in which
she could do whatever she liked— provided that part of the free time was spent
at her studies.

The proportion
suggested by their noxious Nidian tutor, Cresk-Sar, was ninety-nine percent.

Sector General's
corridors held fewer terrors for her now, and she was trying to decide whether
to go exploring or continue studying when her door signal sounded.

Tarsedth?
she called. Come in.”

I hope that
question refers to my purpose in calling, the Kelgian trainee said as it
undulated into the room, and not another expression of doubt regarding my
ideality. You should know me by new!”

Cha Thrat also
knew that no reply was often the best reply.

The DBLF came to
a halt in front of the viewscreen and went on. What's that, an
ELNT lower mandible? You're lucky, Cha Thrat. You've gotten the hang of this
physiological classification business a lot faster than the rest of us, or is
it just that you study every waking minute? When Cresk-Sar pulled that
three-second visual on us and you identified it as a blow-up of an FGLI large
metatarsal and phalange before the picture was off the screen—”

You're
right, I was lucky, Cha Thrat broke in. We had Diagnostician
Thornnastor in the ward two days earlier. There was a small misunderstanding, a
piece of clumsiness on my part, while we were presenting the patient for
examination. For a few moments I had a veryclose look at a Tralthan large toe while the foot was trying not to step on me.”

And I suppose Hredlichli jumped on you with all five of those squishy things it uses for feet?”

It told me... Cha Thrat began, but Tarsedth's mouth and fur had not stopped moving.

I'm sorry for you, it went on. That is one tough
chlorine-breather. It was Charge Nurse on my PVSJ ward before it applied for other-species duty
with the Chalders, and I've been told all about it, including something that
happened between it and a PVSJ Senior Physician on Level Fifty-three. I wish I knew what did happen. They tried to explain it to me but who
knows what is right, wrong,
normal, or utterly scandalous behavior where chlorine-breathers are concerned?
Some of the people in this
hospital are strange.”

Cha Thrat stared
for a moment at the thirty-limbed, silvery body that sat like a furry question mark in front of the viewscreen. I agree, she said.

Returning to the
original question, Tarsedth said, Are you in trouble with Hredlichli? About your clumsiness when a
Diagnostician was in the ward, I mean?
Will it report you to
Cresk-Sar?”

I don't know, Cha Thrat replied. After we'd finished the
evening surgical round, it said that I should take myself out of its sight for the
next two days, and no doubt I would enjoy that as much as it would. Did I tell you that it allows me to change some of the surgical dressings now? Under its supervision, of course, and the wounds concerned are almost healed.”

Well,
Tarsedth said, your trouble can't be too serious if it's having you back again. What are you going to do with your two days? Study?”

Not all the time, she replied. 1 want to explore the hospital, the areas where my protective suit will take me,that is. Cresk-Sar's
high-speed tour and lecture sessions don't give me enough time to stop and ask
questions.”

The Kelgian
dropped another three or four sets of limbs to the floor, a clear indication that it was about to
leave.

You'll be
living dangerously, Cha Thrat, it said. I'm content to learn about
this medical madhouse a little at a time; that way I'm less likely to end up as
one of the casualties. But I've been told that the recreation level is well
worth a visit. You could
start your explorations from there. Coming?”

Yes, she
said. There at least the heavies will be relaxing and at rest, and not
charging along the corridors like mobile disasters waiting to happen to us.”

Later, Cha Thrat
was to wonder how she could have been so wrong.

The signs over the
entrance read:recreation level, species DBDG,
DBLF, DBPK, DCNF, EGCL, ELNT,
FGLI, FROB. species GKMN GLNO at own risk.

For members of
the staff whose written languages were not represented, the same information was repeated endlessly via translator.

DCNF,
Tarsedth said. They've got your classification up there already. Probably a routine updating by Personnel.”

Probably,
Cha Thrat said. But she felt very pleased and, for the first time, important.

After days spent
in crowded hospital corridors, her tiny room, and the even more cramped confines of the suit she had to wear in the tepid, green
depths of the AUGL ward, the
sheer size of the place made
her feel insecure and unsteady. But the spaciousness, the opensky, and the long distances were apparent
rather than real, she soon
realized, and the initial shock diminished quickly to become a feeling of
pleased surprise.

Trick lighting
and some inspired landscaping had given the recreation level its illusion of
tremendous spaciousness. The overall effect was of a small tropical beach
enclosed on two sides by cliffs and open to a sea that stretched out to a
horizon rendered indistinct by heat haze. The sky was blue and cloudless, and
the water of the bay was deep blue shading to turquoise where the waves ran
onto the bright, golden sand of the beach.

Only the light
from the artificial sun, which was too reddish for Cha Thrat's taste, and the
alien greenery fringing the beach and cliffs kept it from looking like a
tropical bay anywhere on Sommaradva.

But then, space
was at a premium in Sector General, she had been told before her first visit to
the dining hall, and the people who worked together had to eat together. Now it
seemed that they were expected to play togetheras well.

Realistic
cloud effects are difficult to reproduce, Tarsedth volunteered, so
rather than risk them looking artificial, they don't bother trying. The
Maintenance person who suggested I come here told me that. It also said that the best thing about the place was that
the gravity was maintained at
half Earth-normal, which is close enough to half Kelgia- and Sommaradva-normal. The people who like to rest actively
can be more active, and the others find the sand softer to lie on—Watch out!”

Three Tralthans
on a total of eighteen massive feet went thundering past them and plowed into the shallows, scattering sand and spray over a wide area. The half-G
conditions that allowed the normally slow and ponderous FGLIs to jump about
like bipeds also kept the sand theyhad disturbed airborne for a long time
before it settled back to the beach. Some of it had not settled because Cha
Thrat was still trying to blink it out of her eyes.

Over there,
Tarsedth said. We can shelter between the FROB and the two ELNTs. They
don't look as if they are very active resters.”

But Chat Thrat
did not feel like lying still and
doing nothing but absorb artificial sunlight. She had too much on her mind, too many questions of the kind that could not be asked without
the risk of giving serious
offense, and she had found in the past that strenuous physical activity rested the mind—sometimes.

She watched a
steep, low-gravity wave roll in and break on the beach. Not all of the turbulence in the bay was artificial—it varied in proportion to the number, size, and
enthusiasm of the swimmers. The most favored sport, especially among the heaviest and least streamlined life-forms, was
jumping into the bay from one
of the springboards set into the cliff face. The boards, which seemed to her to be dangerously high until she remembered the reduced gravity, could be reached through tunnels concealed within the cliff. One board, the highest of
them'all, was solidly braced
and without flexibility, probably to avoid the risk of an overenthu-siastic
diver fracturing its cranium on the artificial sky.

Would you
like to swim? she asked suddenly. That is, I mean, if DBLFs can.”

We can, but
I won't, the Kelgian said, deepening the sandy trench it had already dug for itself. It would leave my fur plastered flat and unable to move for the rest of the day. If another DBLF came by I wouldn't be able to talk to
it properly. Lie down. Relax.”

Cha Thrat folded
her two rear legs and gently
collapsed into a horizontal position, but it must have beenobvious even to her other-species friend that she was not
relaxed.

Are you
worried about something? Tarsedth asked, its fur rippling and tufting in
concern. Cresk-Sar? Hred-lichli? Your ward?”

Cha Thrat was
silent for a moment, wondering how a Sommaradvan warrior-surgeon could explain
the problem to a member of a species whose cultural background was completely
different, and who might even be a servile. But until she was sure of
Tarsedth's exact status, she would consider the Kelgian her professional equal,
and speak.

I do not
wish to offend, she said carefully, but it seems to me that, in
spite of the wide-ranging knowledge we are expected to acquire, the strange and
varied creatures we care for, and the wonderful devices we use to do it, our work is repetitious,
undignified, without personal responsibility, invariably performed under
direction, and well, servile. We should be doing something more
important with our time, or such a large proportion of it, than conveying body wastes from the patients to the disposal facility.”

So that's
what's bothering you,
Tarsedth said, twisting its conical head in her direction.
A deep, incised wound to the pride.”

Cha Thrat did not
reply, and it went on. Before
I left Kelgia I was a nursing
superintendent responsible for the nursing services on eight wards. Same-species patients, of course,
but at lettst I had come up
through nursing. Some of the other trainees, yourself included, were doctors,
so I can imagine how they—and
you—feel. But the servile condition is temporary. It will be relieved when or if we complete our training to Cresk-Sar's satisfaction. Try not to worry about it. You are learning other-speciesmedicine, if you excuse the expression, from
the bottom up.

Try taking
more interest in the other end of the patient, Tarsedth added,
instead of concerning yourself with the plumbing all the time. Talk to
them and try to understand
how their minds work.”

Cha Thrat
wondered how she could explain to
the Kelgian, who was a member of what seemed to be an advanced but utterly disorganized and classless
civilization, that there were things that a warrior-surgeon should and should
not do. Even though the medical fraternity on Sommaradva could not have cared
less what happened to her, in Sector General she had been forced by
circumstances into behavior that was wrong, in both the negative and positive
sense, for someone of her professional status. She was acting above and below her level of competence, and it
worried her.

I do talk
to them, she said. One especially, and it says that it likes
talking to me. I try not to favor any particular patient, but this one is more distressed than the others. I
shouldn't be talking to it as I'm not qualified to treat it, but nobody else
can or will do anything for the
patient.”

Tarsedth's fur
rippled with concern. Is
it terminal? I don't know. I don't think so, Cha Thrat
replied. It's been a ward patient for a very long time. Seniors examine it sometimes with advanced trainees present, and Thornnastor spoke to it when the Diagnostician was in the ward with another patient, but not to ask about its condition. I haven't access to its case history, but I'm pretty sure that the medication prescribed for it is palliative rather than curative. It is not neglected or ill treated so much as politely ignored. I'm the only one who
will listen to its symptoms,
so it talks to me at every
opportu-nity. I shouldn't talk to
it, not until I know what's
wrong with it, because I'm
not qualified.”

The movement of Tarsedth's fur settled down to a more even rhythm as it said, Nonsense! Everybody is qualified to talk, and a bit of
verbal sympathy and encouragement can't harm your patient. But if its condition is incurable, your ward
water would be teeming with Diagnosticians and Seniors intent on proving
otherwise. That's the way things work here; nobody gives up on anybody. And
your patient's problem will give you something to think about while you do the
less attractive jobs. Or don't you want to talk to it?”

Yes,
Cha Thrat said, I'm very sorry for the great, suffering brute, and I want
to help it. But I'm beginning to wonder if it is a ruler, in which case I
should not be talking to it.”

Whatever it
is, or was, on Chalderescol, Tarsedth said, has no bearing, or shouldn't have, on its treatment as a patient. What harm can a little nonmedical
sympathy and encouragement do either of you? Frankly, I don't see your difficulty.”

Patiently Cha
Thrat said again, I'm not qualified.”

Tarsedth's fur
was moving in a manner that
denoted impatience. I still don't understand you. Talk, don't talk to it. Do whatever you want to do.”

I have
talked to it, Cha Thrat said, and that's what worries me— Is something wrong?”

Can't it leave me alone! said Tarsedth, its
fur tufting into angry spikes. I'm sure
that's Cresk-Sar coming this way, and it's seen our trainee badges. The first
question it will ask is why we aren't studying. Can't we ever escape from its infuriating 'I have .questions for you' routine?”

The Senior
Physician detached itself from a group of two other Nidians and a Melfan who had been movingtoward the water's edge and stopped, looking down at them.

I have
questions for both of you, it said inevitably, but unexpectedly went on.
Are you able to relax in this place? Does it enable you to forget all
about your work? Your Charge Nurses? Me?”

How can we
forget about you, Tarsedth said, when you're here, and ready to ask
us why we're here?”

The Kelgian's
seeming rudeness was unavoidable, Cha Thrat knew, but her reply would have to
be more diplomatic.

The answer
to all four questions is, not entirely, she said. We were relaxing
but were discussing problems relating to our work.”

Good,
Cresk-Sar said. I would not want you to forget your work, or me,
entirely. Have you a particular problem or question that I can answer for you
before I rejoin my friends?”

Tarsedth was
burrowing deeper into the artificial sand and pointedly ignoring their tutor
who, now that it was off
duty, seemed to Cha Thrat to be a much less obnoxious Nidian. Cresk-Sar
deserved a polite response, even though the recent topic of discussion, the
psychological and emotional problems associated with the removal of other-species body wastes, was
not an area in which a Senior Physician would have firsthand experience. Perhaps she could ask a general question that would satisfy both the social requirements of the situation and her own curiosity.

As
trainees, Cha Thrat said, we are assigned to the less pleasant,
nonmedical ward duties, in particular those involving organic wastes. These are an unpleasant but necessary by-product common to all species whose food is ingested, digested, and
eliminated. However,there must be
wide differences in the chemical composition of other-species wastes. Since the
hospital was designed so far as was possible to be a closed ecological system,
what becomes of all this material?”

Cresk-Sar seemed
to be having difficulty with its breathing for a moment, then it replied,
The system is not completely closed. We do not synthesize all our food or
medication and, 1 am pleased to tell you, there are no intelligent life-forms
known to us who can exist on their own or any other species' wastes. As for
your question, I don't know the answer, Cha Thrat. Until now the question has
never come up.”

It turned away
quickly and went back to its Melfan and Nidian friends. Shortly afterward the
ELNT started to make clicking sounds with its mandibles while the furry DBDGs
barked, or perhaps laughed, loudly. Cha Thrat could not find anything humorous
in the question. To the contrary, she found the subject actively unpleasant.
But the loud, untranslatable noises coming from the group showed no sign of
stopping—until they were drowned out by the sharp, insistent, and even louder
sounds coming from the public address system.

Emergency,
it blared across the recreation level and from her
translator. Code Blue, AUGL ward. All named personnel acknowledge on
nearest communicator and go immediately to the AUGL ward. Chief Psychologist
O'Mara, Charge Nurse Hredlichli, Trainee Cha Thrat. Code Blue. Acknowledge and
go at once to—”

She missed the
rest of it because Cresk-Sar had come back and was glaring down at her. It was
neither barking nor laughing.

Move
yourself! it said harshly. I'll acknowledge the message and go with you. As your tutor I am responsible for your
medical misdeeds. Hurry.”

As they were
leaving the recreation level it went on, A Code Blue is an emergency involving extreme danger to both
patients and medical staff, the kind of trouble during which untrained
personnel are ordered to stay clear. But they have paged you, a trainee, and,
of all people, Chief Psychologist O'Mara. What have you done!

Chapter 6

Cha Thrat and the
Senior Physician arrived at the AUGL ward minutes before O'Mara and Charge
Nurse Hredlichli, and joined the other three nurses on duty—two Kelgian DBLFs
and a Melfan ELNT—who had abandoned their patients to take shelter in the
Nurses' Station.

This normally
reprehensible behavior was not being considered as a dereliction of medical
duty, the tutor explained, because it was the first time in the hospital's wide
experience in staff-patient relations that a Chalder had become violently
antisocial.

In the green
dimness at the other end of the ward a long, dark shadow drifted slowly from
one side-wall to the other, as Cha Thrat had seen many of the mobile, bored,
and restless Chalders doing while she had been on duty. Except for a few pieces
of decorative greenery detached and drifting untidily between the supports, the
ward looked peaceful and normal.

What about
the other patients, Charge Nurse?”

Cresk-Sar asked.
As the Senior Physician present it had overall medical responsibility. Is
anyone hurt?”

Hredlichli swam
along the line of monitors and said, Disturbed and frightened, but they
have sustained no injuries, nor has their food and medication delivery system
been damaged. They've been very lucky.”

Or the
patient is being selective in its violence— O'Mara began, then broke off.

The long shadow
at the other end of the ward had foreshortened and was enlarging rapidly as it
rushed toward them. Cha Thrat had a glimpse of fins blurred by rapid motion,
ribbon tentacles streaming backward, and the serried ranks of gleaming teeth
edging the enormous, gaping mouth before it crashed against the transparent
wall of the Nurses' Station. The wall bulged inward alarmingly but did not
collapse.

It was too large
for the dooriess entrance, she saw, but it changed position and moved three of
its tentacles inside. They were not long enough or strong enough to pull anyone
outside to the mouth, although one of the Kelgian nurses had a few anxious
moments. Disappointed, the Chalder turned and swam away, with detached
vegetation eddying its wake.

O'Mara made a
sound that did not translate, then said, Who is the patient, and why was
trainee Cha Thrat called?”

It is the
long-stay patient, AUGL-One Sixteen, the Melfan nurse replied. Just
before it became violent it was calling for the new nurse, Cha Thrat. When I
told the patient that the Sommaradvan would be absent for a few days, it
stopped communicating and has not spoken to us since, even though its
translator is still in position and working. That is why the trainee's name was
included when I called in the Code Blue.”

Interesting,
the Earth-human said, turning its atten-lion to Cha Thrat. Why did it
want you especially, and why should it start taking the ward apart when you
weren't available? Have you established a special relationship with AUGL-One
Sixteen?”

Before she could
reply, the Nidian said urgently, Can the psychological ramifications
wait, Major? My immediate concern is for the safety of the ward patients and
staff. Pathology will give us a fast-acting anesthetic and a dart gun to pacify
the patient, and then-you can—”

A dart
gun! one of the Kelgians said, its fur rippling in scorn. Senior
Physician, you are forgetting that your dart has to travel through water, which
will slow it down, and then penetrate that organic suit of armor One Sixteen
wears! The only sure way of placing the dart effectively would be to shoot it
into the soft tissues of the inner mouth. To place it accurately, the person
using the gun would have to be very close and might find itself following the
dart into the open mouth, with immediately fatal results. 1 am not
volunteering!”

Before Cresk-Sar
could reply, Cha Thrat turned to the Senior Physician and said, If you
will explain what exactly it is that I must do, I shall volunteer for this
duty.”

You lack
the training and experience to— began the Nidian, and broke off as O'Mara
held up its hand for silence.

Of course
you will volunteer, O'Mara said quietly. But why, Cha Thrat? Are
you exceptionally brave? Are you naturally stupid? Do you have an urge to commit suicide? Or are you, perhaps,
feeling a measure of responsibility
and guilt?”

Major
O'Mara, Hredlichli said firmly, this is not the time for apportioning responsibility or undertaking deep analysis. What is to be
done about Patient One Sixteen? And my other patients?”

You're
right, Charge Nurse, O'Mara said. I shalldo it my way, by
attempting to pacify and reason with One Sixteen. I've spoken to it many times,
enough for it to tell me apart from other Earth-humans if I wear this
lightweight suit. While I'm working with it I may also need to talk to Cha
Thrat, so stay by the communicator, trainee.”

No need,
I'll go with you, Cha Thrat said firmly. Silently she began the mental
and moral exercises that were supposed to help reconcile her to an untimely
ending of her life.

And
I, O'Mara said, making another sound that did not translate, will
be too busy with our demented friend to stop you. Come along, then.”

But it is
only a trainee, O'Mara! Cresk-Sar protested. And in a
lightweight suit it might recognize you, all right, as a convenient piece of
plastic-wrapped meat. This life-form is omnivorous and until recently they—”

Cresk-Sar,
the Earth-human said, as it swam toward the entrance. Are you trying to
worry me?”

Oh, very
well, the Nidian said. But I, too, shall do things my way, in case
you can't talk yourselves through this problem. Charge Nurse, signal
immediately for a four-unit patient transfer team with heavy-duty suits, dart
guns, and physical restraints suitable for a fully conscious and uncooperative
AUGL...”

The tutor was
still talking as Cha Thrat swam into the ward behind O'Mara.

For what seemed a
very long time they hung silent and motionless in the middle of the ward,
watched by an equally still and silent patient from the cover of a patch of
torn artificial greenery. O'Mara had told her that they should not do anything
that One Sixteen might construe as a threat, that they must therefore appear
defenseless before it, and that the first move was up to the patient. Cha Thrat
thought that the Earth-Human was probablyright, but her whole body was slippery
with perspiration, and much warmer than could be explained by the temperature
of the green, lukewarm water outside her protective suit. Plainly she was not
yet completely reconciled to the ending of her existence.

The voice of the
Senior Physician in her suk 'phones made her twitch in every limb.

The
transfer team is here, Cresk-Sar said quietly. Nothing much is
happening at your end. Can I send them in to move the other patients into OR?
It will be a tight squeeze in there, but they will be able to receive treatment
and be comfortable for a few hours, and you will have One Sixteen all to
yourselves.”

Is the
treatment urgent? O'Mara asked softly.

No,
Cha Thrat said, answering the question before Cresk-Sar could relay it to the Charge Nurse. Just routine observation and
recording of vital signs, wound dressing changes, and administration of
supportive medication. Nothing really urgent.”

Thank you,
Trainee, Hredlichli said in a tone as corrosive as the atmosphere it breathed, then went on. I have been Charge Nurse here for a
short time, Major O'Mara, but I feel that I, too, have the patient's trust. I would like to join you.”

No, to both
of you, the Earth-human said firmly. I don't want our friend to be frightened or unsettled by too many comings and goings within the ward. And Hredlichli, if your protective suit were to rupture, contact with water is
instantly lethal to a chlorine-breather, as you very well know. With us oxygen-breathers, we can drown in the stuff if help doesn't reach us in time, but it isn't poisonous or— Uh-oh!”

Patient AUGL-One
Sixteen was silent but no longer still. It was rushing at them like a gigantic, organic tor-pedo, except that torpedoes did not have suddenly opening mouths.

Frantically they
swam apart so as to give the attacking Chalder two targets instead of one, the
theory being that while it was
disposing of one the other might have enough time to make it to the safety of the Nurses' Station. But this was
planning for a remote contingency, the Earth-human had insisted. O'Mara would
not believe that AUGL-One Sixteen,
who was normally so shy and timid and amenable, was capable of making a lethal attack on anyone.

On this occasion
it was right.

The vast jaws
snapped shut just before the Chalder swept through the gap that had opened between them. Then the great body curved
upward and over them, dove, and began swimming around them in tight circles. Turbulence sent them
spinning and twisting like leaves at the center of a whirlpool. Cha Thrat did not know whether it was circling
them in the vertical or horizontal plane, only that it was so close that she could feel the compression waves every time the
jaws snapped shut, which was frequently. She had never felt so helpless and disoriented and frightened in
all her life.

Stop this
nonsense, Muromeshomon! she said loudly. We are here to help you.
Why are you behavinglike this?”

The Chalder slowed but continued to circle them closely. It
mouth gaped open and it said, You cannot help me, you have said that you
are not qualified. Nobody here can help me. I do not wish to harm you, or anyone else, but I am frightened. I am in great pain. Sometimes I want to hurt everyone. Stay away from me or I will hurt you...”

There was a muffled, underwater clang as its tail flicked out and struck her air tanks a glancing blow,sending
her spinning again. An Earth-human hand
grasped one of her waist limbs, steadying her, and she saw that the patient had returned to its dark
corner and was watching them.

Are you
hurt? O'Mara asked, releasing its grip. Is your suit ail right?”

Yes,
Cha Thrat said, and added, It left very quickly. I'm sure the blow was
accidental.”

The Earth-human
did not reply for a few moments, then it said, You called Patient One
Sixteen by name. I am aware of its name because the hospital requires this
information for possible notification of the next-of-kin, but I would not
consider using its name unless there were very exceptional circumstances, and
then only with its permission. But somehow you have learned its name and are
using it as lightly and thoughtlessly as you would Cresk-Sar's or Hredlichii's,
or my name. Cha Thrat, you
must never—”

It told me
its name, Cha Thrat broke in. We exchanged names while we were discussing my observations regarding the
inadequacy of its treatment.”

You
discussed... O'Mara said incredulously. It made an untranslatable noise
and went on. Tell me what exactly you said to it.”

Cha Thrat
hesitated. The AUGL had left its dark corner and was moving toward them again, but slowly. It stopped
halfway down the ward and hung with its fins and tail still and the ribbon tentacles spread like an undulating, circular fan around
it, watching and probably
listening to every word they said.

On second
thought, don't tell me, O'Mara said angrily. I'll tell you what I know about the patient first, then you can try to reduce my level of ignorance. That way we will avoid repetition and save time. I don't know how much time it will give us to talk without anotherinterruption. Not a lot, I suspect, so I'll have
to speak quickly...”

Patient AUGL-One Sixteen was a long-stay patient whose time in Sector General exceeded that of many of the medical staff. The clinical picture had
been and still remained obscure. Several of the hospital's top Diagnosticians
had examined it, finding signs of strain in certain areas of the patient's body plating that partly
explained its discomfort—a
being who was largely exoskeletal, lazy, and something of a glutton could only put on weight from the inside. The
generally agreed diagnosis was hypochondria and the condition incurable.

The Chalder had
become seriously ill only when there was talk of sending it home, and so the hospital had acquired a permanent
patient. It did not mind. Visiting as well as hospital medics and psychologists had given it a going over, and continued to do so, as did the
interns and nurses of all the
life-forms represented on the staff. It had been probed, pried into, and unmercifully pounded by trainees of varying degrees of gentleness,
and it loved every minute of it. The
hospital's teaching staff were happy with the arrangement and so was the Chalder.

Nobody
mentions going home to it anymore, O'Mara ended. Did you?”

Yes,
Cha Thrat said.

O'Mara made
another untranslatable noise and she went on quickly. This explains why the nurses ignored it when other patients needed treatment, and supports my own diagnosis of an unspecified ruler's
disease that—”

Listen,
don't speak! the Earth-human said sharply. The patient seemed to be drifting closer. My depart-mep^has tried to get to the root causes of One Sixteen's hypochondria, but I was not required to solve its problem so it remained unsolved. This sounds like an
excuse,and it is. But you must understand that Sector General is not and can
never be a psychiatric hospital. Can you imagine a place like this where a
large proportion of the multispecies patients, the mere sight of which gives
sane people nightmares, are physically fit and mentally disturbed? Can you
imagine the problems of other-species treatment and restraint? It is difficult
enough to be responsible for the mental well-being of the staff without adding
disturbed patients, even a harmlessly disturbed patient like One Sixteen, to my
load. When a medically ill patient displays signs of mental instability it is
kept under close observation, restrained if necessary, and returned to its own
people for the appropriate treatment as soon as it is physically well enough to
be discharged.”

I
understand, Cha Thrat said. The explanation excuses you.”

The Earth-human
grew pinker in the face, then said, Listen carefully, Cha Thrat, this is
important. The Chalders are one of the few intelligent species whose personal
names are used only between mates, members of the immediate family, or very
special friends. Yet you, an other-species stranger, have been told, and have
spoken aloud, One Sixteen's personal name. Have you done this in ignorance? Do
you realize that this exchange of names means that anything you may have said to it, or any future action you may have
promised, is as binding as the
most solemn promise given before the highest imaginable physical or
metaphysical authority?”

Do you
realize now how serious this is? O'Mara went on in a tone of quiet
urgency. Why did it tell you its name? What, exactly, was said
between you?”

She could not
speak for a moment because the patient had moved very close, so close that she could see the individual points of its six rows
of teeth. A strangely detached and uncaring portion of her mind wonderedwhat evolutionary imperative had caused the
upper three rows to be longer than
the lower set. Then the jaw snapped shut with a boney crash that was muffled by the surrounding water, and the caring part of
her mind wondered what it would sound like if a limb or her torso were between those teeth.

Have you fallen asleep? O'Mara snapped. No,
she said, wondering why an intelligent being had asked such a stupid question. We
talked because it was lonely and
unhappy. The other nurses were busy with a post-op patient and I was not. I told it about Som-maradva and the
circumstances that led to me coming here, and some of the things I would be able to do if I qualified for Sector
General. It said that I was brave and resourceful, not sick and old and
increasingly fearful likeitself.

It said
that many times it dreamed of swimming free in the warm ocean of Chalderescol, she went on, instead of this
aseptic, water-filled box with its plastic, inedible vegetation. It could talk
about the home world to other AUGL patients, but much of their post-op recovery
time was spent under sedation. The medical staff were pleasant to it and would
talk, on the rare occasions when they had time to do so. It said that it would never escape from the
hospital, that it was too old
and frightened and sick.”

Escape?
O'Mara said. If our permanent patient
has begun to regard the hospital as a prison, that is a very healthy sign, psychologically. But go on, what
were you saying to it?”

We spoke of
general subjects, she
replied. Our worlds, our work, our past experiences,
our friends and families,
our opinions—”

Yes,
yes, the Earth-human said
impatiently, looking at One Sixteen, who was edging closer. I'm not inter-ested
in the small talk. What did you say that might have brought on this trouble?”

Cha Thrat tried
to choose the words that would describe the situation concisely, accurately,
and briefly as she replied, It told me about the space accident and
injuries that brought it here originally, and the continuing but irregular
episodes of pain that keep it here, and of its deep unhappiness with its
existence generally.

I was
uncertain of its exact status on Chalderescol, she went on, but
from the way it had described its work I judged it to be an upper-level
warrior, at least, if not a ruler. By that time we had exchanged names, so I
decided to tell it that the treatment being provided by the hospital was
palliative rather than curative, and it was being treated for the wrong
sickness. I said that its malady was not unknown to me and, although I was not
qualified to treat the condition, there were wizards on Sommaradva capable of
doing so. I suggested, on several occasions, that it was becoming institutionalized
and that it might be happier if it returned home.”

The patient was
very close to them now. Its massive mouth was closed but not still, because
there was a regular chewing motion that suggested that the teeth were grinding
together. The movement was accompanied by a high-pitched, bubbling moan that
was both frightening and strangely pitiful.

Go
on, O'Mara said softly, but be very careful what you say.”

There is
little more to tell, Cha Thrat said. During our last
meeting I told it that I was leaving for a two-day rest
period. It would speak only of the wizards, and wanted to know if they could cure its fear
as well as the pains. It asked me as a friend to treat it, or send for one of our Sommaradvan brothers who would be able to cureit. I told it that I had some knowledge of the spells of the wizards, but not
enough to risk treating it, and that I lacked the status and authority to summon a wizard to the hospital.”

What was
the response to that? O'Mara asked.

None,
Cha Thrat said. It would not speak to methereafter.”

Abruptly they
were looking into the AUGL's open mouth, but it was keeping its uncomfortably
short distance as it said, You were not like the others, who did nothing
and promised nothing. You held out the hope of a cure by your wizards, then withdrew it. You cause me pain that is many
times worse than that which keeps me here. Go away, Cha Thrat. For your own
safety, goaway.”

The jaws crashed
shut and it swept around them and headed for the other end of the ward. They
could not see clearly but, judging by the voices coming from the Nurses'
Station, it seemed intent on wrecking the place.

My
patients! Charge Nurse Hredlichli burst out. My new treatment
frames and medication cabinets...”

According
to the monitors, Cresk-Sar broke in, the patients are still all
right, but they've been lucky. I'm sending in the transfer team now to knock out One Sixteen. It will be a
bit tricky. Both of you get back here,quickly.”

No,
wait, O'Mara said. We'll try talking to it again. This is not a
violent patient and I don't believe that we are in any real danger. On
Cha Thrat's frequency it added, But there is always a first time for
being wrong.”

For some reason a
picture from Cha Thrat's childhood rose suddenly to the surface of her adult
mind. She saw again the tiny, many-colored fish that had been herfavorite pet,
as it circled and butted desperately and hopelessly against the glass walls of
its bowl. Beyond those walls, too, lay an environment in which it would quickly
asphyxiate and die. But that small fish, like this overlarge one, was not
thinking of that.

When One
Sixteen gave you its name, O'Mara said with quiet urgency, it
placed a binding obligation on both of you to help the other in every way
possible, as would a life-mate or a member of your family. When you mentioned
the possibility of a cure by your Sommarad-van wizards, regardless of the efficacy
of such other-species treatment, you were expected to provide the wizard
regardless of any effort, cost, or personal danger to yourself.”

There were noises
of tearing metal and the complaining voices of the other AUGLs being
transmitted through the green water, and Hredlichli sounded very agitated.
O'Mara ignored them and went on. You must keep faith with it, Cha Thrat,
even though your wizards might not be able to help One Sixteen any more than we
can. And I realize that you haven't the authority to call in one of your wizards. But if Sector General
and the Monitor Corps were to put their combined weight behind you—”

They
wouldn't come to this place, Cha Thrat said. Wizards are
notoriously unstable people, but they are not stupid— It's coming back!”

This time One
Sixteen was coming at them
more slowly and deliberately, but still too fast for them to swim to safety,
nor could the transfer team with their anesthetic darts reach them in time to do any good. There was no sound from the patients in the ward and the beings
watching from the Nurses' Station. As the AUGL loomed closer she could see that
its eyes had theferal, manic look of a wounded predator, and
slowly it was opening its mouth.

Use its name,
dammit! O'Mara said urgently. Mu-Muromeshomon,   she
stammered.  My—my friend, we are here to help you.”

The anger in its
eyes seemed to dim a little so that they reflected more of its pain. The mouth closed slowly and opened again,
but only to speak.

Friend, you
are in great and immediate danger, the AUGL said. You have spoken
my name and told me that the hospital cannot cure me with its medicines and
machines, and it no longer tries, and you will not help me even though you have said that a cure is
possible. If our positions were reversed I would not act, or refuse to act, as you have done. You are an unequal
friend, without honor, and I am disappointed and angry with you. Go away,
quickly, and protect your life. I am beyond help.”

No!
Cha Thrat said fiercely. The mouth was opening wider, the eyes were showing a
manic gleam once more, and she realized that when the AUGL attacked, she would
be its first victim. Desperately she went on. It is true that I cannot
help you. Your sickness does not respond to the healer's herbs or the surgeon's
knife, because it is a ruler's disease that requires the spells of a wizard. A
Sommaradvan wizard might cure you but, since you are not yourself a
Sommaradvan, there is no certainty. Here there is the Earth-human, O'Mara, a
wizard with experience of treating rulers of many different life-forms. I would
have approached it about your case at once but, being a trainee and unsure of
the procedure, I was about to request a meeting for another, an unimportant,
reason during which I would have spoken of you in detail...”

The AUGL had
closed its mouth but was moving its jaws in a way that could be indicating
anger or impatience. She went on quickly. In the hospital I have heard
many people speak of O'Mara and his great powers of wizardry—”

I'm the
Chief Psychologist, dammit, O'Mara broke in, not a wizard. Let's
try to be factual about this and not make more promises we can't possibly keep!”

You are not
a psychologist! Cha Thrat said. She was so angry with this
Earth-human who would not accept the obvious that for a moment she almost
forgot about the threat from One Sixteen. Not for the first time she wondered
what obscure and undefined ruler's disease it was that made beings who
possessed high intelligence, and The Power in great measure, behave so stupidly
at times. Less vehemently, she went on. On Sommaradva a psychologist is a
being, neither servile-healer nor warrior-surgeon, who tries to be a scientist by
measuring brain impulses or bodily changes caused by physical and mental
stress, or by making detailed observations of behavior. A psychologist tries to
impose immutable laws in an area of spells and nightmares and changing realities, and tries to make a
science of what has always been an art, an art practiced only by wizards.”

They were both
watching her, eyes unblinking, motionless. The patient's expression had not
changed but the Earth-human's face had gone a much deeper shade of pink.

A wizard
will use or ignore the instruments and tabulations of the psychologist, she continued, to cast spells that influence the complex,
insubstantial structures of the mind. A wizard uses words, silences, minute observation, and intuition to compare and graduallychange the sick, internal
reality of the patient to the external reality of the world. That is the
difference between a psychologist and
a wizard.”

The Earth-human's
face was still unnaturally dark. In a voice that was both quiet and harsh it said, Thank you for reminding me.”

Formally Cha
Thrat said, No thanks are required for that which needs to be done.
Please, may I remain here to watch? Before now I have never had the chance to see £ wizard at work.”

What,
the AUGL asked suddenly, will the wizard do to me?”

It sounded
curious and anxious rather than angry, and for the first time since entering
the ward she began to feel safe.

Nothing,
O'Mara said surprisingly. I shall do nothing at all...”

Even on
Sommaradva the wizards were full of surprises, unpredictable behavior and words
that began by sounding irrelevant, ill chosen, or stupid. What little of the
literature that was available to one of the warrior-surgeon level, she had read
and reread. So she composed herself and, with great anticipation, watched and
listened while the Earth-human wizard did nothing at all.

The spell began
very subtly with words, spoken in
a manner that was anything but subtle, describing the arrival of AUGL-One
Sixteen at the hospital as the
commanding officer and sole survivor of its ship. The vessels of
water-breathing species, and especially those of the outsize denizens of
Chalderescol, were notoriously unwieldy and unsafe, and it had been exonerated of all blame for the accident both by
the Monitor Corps investigators and the authorities on Chalderescol—but not by
itself. This was realized when the
patient's physical inju-ries had healed and it continued to complain of severe psychosomatic
discomfort whenever the subject of returning home was discussed.

Many attempts
were made to make the patient realize that it was punishing itself, cutting
itself off from its home and friends, for a crime that was very probably imaginary,
but without success—it would not con-, sciously admit that it had committed a
crime, so telling it that it was not guilty had no effect. A Chalder's most
prized possession was its personal integrity, and as an authority that
integrity was unassailable. AUGL-One Sixteen was a sensitive, intelligent, and
highly qualified being who, outwardly, was a submissive and cooperative
patient. But where its particular delusion was concerned it was as susceptible
to influence as the orbit of a major planet.

And so Sector
General had acquired a permanent
patient, an AUGL specimen in perfect health and a continuing and strictly
unofficial challenge to its Department of Psychology, because only in the hospital could it be pain-free and relatively happy.

Silently Cha
Thrat apologized to the Earth-human for thinking that it had been negligent,
and listened in admiration as the
speil took positive form.

And
now, O'Mara went on, due to a combination of circumstances, a significant change has
occurred. The talks with transient AUGL patients have made you increasingly homesick. Your anger over your neglect by the medical staff has been growing because,
subconsciously, you yourself were beginning to suspect that you were not sick and their attention was unnecessary.
And then there was the unwarranted, but for you fortunate, interference by Trainee Cha Thrat, who confirmed your suspicion
that you were not being treated as a patient. You have much in common with our outspokentrainee, it continued. Both of you have reasons, real or imaginary, for not wanting to go home. On
Sommaradva as on Chalderescol,
personal integrity and public honor are held in high regard. But the trainee is woefully ignorant of the customs
of other species and, when you took the unprecedented step of saying your name to a non-Chalder, it disappointed
and hurt you grievously by continuing to act toward you as had the other
members of the staff. You were
driven to react violently but, because of the constraints imposed by your personality type, the violence was
directed at inanimate objects.

But,
the Earth-human went on, the simple act of giving your name to this sympathetic and untutored Sommaradvan, whom you had
known only a few days, is the clearest possible indication of how badly you wanted help to get away from the hospital. You do still
want to go home?”

AUGL-One Sixteen
replied with another high-pitched, bubbling sound that did not translate. Its
eyes watched only the Earth-human, and the muscles around its closed jaws were no longer clenched into
iron rigidity.

It was a
stupid question, O'Mara said. Of course you want to go home. The trouble is, you are
afraid and also want to stay
here. A dilemma, obviously. But let me try to solve it by telling you that you are once again a patient here,
subject to the hospital regimen and my
own special and continuing
treatment, and until I pronounce
you cured you will not go home...”

On the surface the situation had not changed, Cha Thrat thought admiringly. The hospital still
retained its permanent AUGL patient, but now there was doubt about the permanency of the arrangement. Now it fully understood its
position and had been given a choice, to stay or leave, and its departure date was unspecified so as to relieve its natural fears about leaving. But it was nolonger completely satisfied
with its life in the hospital, and already the Earth-human wizard was altering
its internal reality by gently stressing the rehabilitative aspects of the therapy. Material would be provided by the Monitor Corps on the changes that had
occurred on the home world in its absence, which would be useful if it decided to leave and informative should it stay, and there would be regular and
frequent visits by O'Mara itself and other persons it would specify.

Oh, yes, she
thought as it talked on, this Earth-human wizard was good.

The transfer team
and their anesthetic dart guns had long since left the Nurses' Station, which
meant that Cresk-Sar and Hredlichli must have decided that the danger from
AUGL-One Sixteen had passed. Looking at the passive and distress-free patient
who was hanging on O'Mara's every word, she was in entire agreement with them.

... And you
should now realize, the Earth-human was saying, that if you want to
go, and can convince me that you are able to adapt to home-planet life, I shall with great pleasure and reluctance kick you out. You have been a patient for a very long time and, among many members of the senior
staff, our professional concern has developed into the personal variety. But the best thing that a hospital can do for a friend is to send it away, as quickly as possible, cured.

Do you
understand? O'Mara ended.

For the first time since the Earth-human
had begun talking to it, AUGL-One Sixteen turned its attention to Cha Thrat.
It said plaintively, I am feeling much better, I think, but
confused and worried by all that I must do. Was that a spell? Is O'Mara a good wizard?”

Cha Thrat tried
to control her enthusiasm as she said, It is the beginning of a very fine
spell, and it is said that a really good wizard makes its patient do all the hardwork.”

O'Mara made another one of its untranslatable noises and signaled Hredlichli that it was safe for the
nurses to return to their
patients. As they turned to leave AUGL-One Sixteen, who was once again its friendly and docile self, the Chalder spoke again.

O'Mara,
it said formally, you may use my name. When they were again in the air of the lock
antechamber and all but Hredlichli had their visors open, the Charge Nurse said angrily, I don't want
that—that interfering sitsachi anywhere near me! I know that One Sixteen
is going to get better and leave sometime, and I'm glad about that. But just look at the place! Wrecked, it is! I refuse to allow that trainee in my ward.
That'sfinal!”

O'Mara looked at
the chlorine-breather for a moment, then in the quiet, unemotional tones of a ruler it said, It is, of course, within your authority to accept or
refuse any trainee. But Cha
Thrat, whether or not it is accompanied by me, will be granted visiting facilities
whenever and as often as the
patient itself or myself consider it necessary. I do not foresee a lengthy period of treatment. We are grateful for your cooperation, Charge Nurse, and no doubt you are anxious to return to your duties.”

When Hredlichli
had gone, Cha Thrat said, There was no opportunity to speak until now, and I am unsure how my words will be received. On Sommaradva good work is expected of a wizard or any high-level ruler, so that the praise of a subordinate for a superior is
unnecessary and insulting. But in
this case—”

O'Mara held up a hand for silence. It said, Anything you say whether complimentary or otherwise, will haveno effect on what is to happen to you, so save your breath.

You are in serious trouble, Cha Thrat, it
went on grimly. The news of what happened here will soon be all over the hospital. You must understand that to a Charge Nurse the ward is its kingdom, the nursing staff its subjects, and troublemakers, including trainees who exercise too much initiative too soon, are sent
into exile, which can, in effect,
mean home or to another
hospital. I'd be surprised if
there is a single Charge Nurse willing to accept you for practical ward training.”

The Earth-human
paused, giving her a moment to assimilate its words, then went on. You have two options. Go home, or accept a nonmedical and servile position with Maintenance.”

In a more
sympathetic tone than she had ever heard it use before, Cresk-Sar said, You are a most promising and diligent
trainee, Cha Thrat. If you were to take such a position you would still be able to visit and talk to One Sixteen, and attend my lectures,
and watch the teaching channels
during your free time. But without practical ward experience you could not hope to qualify here.

If you
don't resign, the Senior Physician went on, it may well be that you will discover
firsthand the answer to the question you asked me this morning on the recreation level.”

Cha Thrat remembered that question very well, and the amusement it
had caused among the tutor's friends. She also remembered her initial feelings of
shock and shame when her duties as a trainee nurse had been explained to her. Nothing could be more demeaning for a warrior-surgeon than that, she had thought at the time, but
she had been wrong.

I am still ignorant of the laws governing the hospi-tal, she said. But 1 realize that I have transgressed them in some fashion and must therefore accept the consequences. I shall not take the easy option.”

O'Mara sighed and said, It is your decision, ChaThrat.”

Before she
could reply, the Nidian Senior Physician was talking again. Putting it
into Maintenance would be a criminal waste, the tutor protested. It is the most promising
trainee in its class. If we were to wait until the Hredlichli outcry died down,
or until the grapevine is
overloaded with another scandal, you might be able to find a ward that would take it for a trial period and—”

Enough,
O'Mara said, visibly relenting. I don't believe in having second thoughts
because the first are usually right. But I'm tired and hungry and I, too, have had enough of your trainee.

There is
such a ward, it went on. FROB Geriatric, which is
chronically understaffed and may be desperate enough to accept Cha Thrat. It is
not a ward where I would normally assign a trainee who is not of the patients' own species, but I shall speak to Diagnostician Conway about it at the first opportunity.

Now go away, it ended sourly, before I cast a spell consigning both of you to the center of the nearest whitedwarf.”

As they were
heading for the dining hall, Cresk-Sar said, It's a tough ward and, if anything, the work is even harder than a job in Maintenance. But you can say whatever you like to the patients and nobody will mind. Whatever else happens, you can't get into troublethere.”

The Nidian's
words were positive and reassuring, butits voice carried undertones of doubt.

Chapter 7

She was given two
extra days off duty, but whether
they were a reward for her help with AUGL-One Sixteen or because it took that long for O'Mara to arrange for her
transfer to FROB Geriatric, Cresk-Sar would not say. She paid three lengthy
visits to One Sixteen in the AUGL ward, during which her reception was enough
to turn its tepid water to ice, but she would not risk returning to the
recreation level or exploring the hospital. There was less chance of getting
into trouble if she stayed in her room and watched the teaching channels.

Tarsedth
pronounced her certifiably insane and wondered why O'Mara had not confirmed
this diagnosis.

Two days later she was told to present herself at FROB
Geriatric in time for morning duty
and to make herself known to the DBLF nurse in charge. Cresk-Sar said that it would not need to introduce her on this occasion because Charge Nurse Segroth, and probably every other being on the hospital staff, would have heard all about her by
now. That may have been the reason why, on her meticulously punctual arrival, she was given no opportunity to speak.

This is a
surgical ward, Segroth said briskly, indicating the banks of monitors occupying three walls of the Nurses' Station. There are seventy Hudlar patients and 90a nursing staff of thirty-two counting
yourself. All the nurses are warm-blooded oxygen-breathers of various species, so you will not need environmental
protection other than a gravity
compensator and nasal filters. The FROBs are divided into pre- and post-op patients, segregated by a light- and soundproof partition. Until
you learn your way around you will
not concern yourself, or go anywhere near, a post-op patient.”

Before Cha Thrat
had time to say that she understood, the Kelgian ran on. We have an FROB
trainee and classmate here
who will, I'm sure, be happy to answer any questions you are afraid to ask me.”

Silvery fur
puckered into irregular waves along its flanks in a way, she had learned from
observing Tarsedth, that indicated anger and impatience. It continued. From what I've heard of you, Nurse, you are the type who will already have studied the available
Hudlar material and will be eager
to make a contribution. Don't even try. This is a special project of Diagnostician Conway, we are breaking new surgical ground here, so
your'knowledge is already out of date. Except for those times when you are required by O'Mara for AUGL-One
Sixteen, you will do nothing but
watch, listen, and occasionally perform a few simple duties at the direction of
the more experienced nurses or myself.

I would not
want to be embarrassed,
she ended, by you producing a miracle cure on your first day.”

It was easy to pick out her FROB
classmate from among the other nurses on duty—they were either Kelgian
DBLFs or Melfan ELNTs—and even easier to tell it apart from all the FROB
patients. She could scarcely believe that there was such a horrifying
difference between a mature and an aged Hudlar.

Her classmate's speaking membrane vibrated quietly on her close approach. It said, I see you've survivedyour first encounter with Segroth. Don't worry about the Charge
Nurse; a Kelgian with authority is even less charming than one without. If you
do exactly as it tells you, everything will be fine. I'm glad to see a
friendly, familiar face in the ward.”

It was an odd
thing to say, Cha Thrat thought, because Hudlars did not possess faces as such.
But this one was trying hard to reassure her and she was grateful for that. It
had not, however, called he'r by name, and whether the omission was deliberate
or due to an oversight she did not know. Perhaps the Hudlars and Chalders had
something in common besides great strength. Until she was sure that their names
could be used without giving offense, they could call each other Nurse
or Hey, you!”

I'm
spraying and sponging-off at the moment, the Hudlar trainee said.
Would you like to strap on a spare nutrient tank and follow me around?
You can meet some of our patients.”

Without waiting
for her reply, it went on. This one you won't be able to talk to because
its speaking membrane has been muffled so that the sounds it makes will not
distress the other patients and staff. It is in considerable discomfort that
does not respond very well to the pain-killing medication, and, in any case, it
is incapable of coherent speech.”

It was
immediately obvious that this was not a well Hudlar. Its six great tentacles,
which normally supported the heavy trunk in an upright position for the whole
of its waking and sleeping life, hung motionless over the sides of its support
cradle like rotted tree trunks. The hard patches of callus—the knuckles on
which it walked while its digits were curled inward to protect them against
contact with the ground—were discolored, dry, and cracking. The digits
themselves, usually so steadyand precise in their movements, were twitching in continual spasm.

Large areas of
its back and flanks were caked with partially absorbed nutrient paint, which
would have to be washed off before
the next meal could be sprayed on. As she watched, a milky perspiration was forming on its underside and dripping
into the suction pan under its cradle.

What's
wrong with it? Cha Thrat asked. Can it, is it being cured?”

Old
age, the nurse said harshly. In a more controlled and clinical tone it
went on. We Hudlars are an energy-hungry species with a greatly elevated
metabolic rate. With advancing
age it is the food absorption and waste elimination mechanisms, both of which are normally under voluntary
control, that are first to suffer progressive degeneration. Would you respray
this area as soon as I've washed
off the dried food, please?”

Of
course, Cha Thrat said.

This in
turn causes a severe impairment in the circulation to the limbs, the
Hudlar went on, leading to increasing deterioration in the associated
nerve and muscle systems. The eventual result is general paralysis, necrosis of
the limb extremities, and termination.”

It used the sponge briskly and moved clear to enable Cha Thrat to apply fresh nutrient, but when it
resumed speaking its voice had lost some of its former clinical calm.

The most
serious problem for the Hudlar geriatric patient, it said, is that
the brain, which requires a relatively small proportion of the available
energy, remains organically unimpaired by the degenerative process until a few moments after its double heart has ceased
to function. Therein lies the real tragedy. Rare indeed is the Hudlar mind that can remain stable inside a body whichC.B.E.----5is disintegrating painfully all around it.
You can understand why this ward, which has been recently extended for the
Conway Project, is the closest that the hospital comes to providing treatment
for psychologically disturbed patients.

At
least, it added, forcing a lighter tone as they moved to the next
patient, that was so until you started analyzing your AUGL-One Sixteen.”

Please
don't remind me of that, Cha Thrat said.

There was another
thick, cylindrical muffler encasing the next patient's speaking membrane, but
either the sounds the Hudlar was making were too loud for it or the equipment
was faulty. Much of what it was saying, which was clearly the product of
advanced dementia and great pain, was picked up by her translator.

I have
questions, Cha Thrat said suddenly. By implication they may be
offensive to you, and perhaps critical of Hudlar philosophical values and
professional ethics. On Sommaradva the situation within the medical profession
may be different. I do not wish to risk insulting you.”

Ask,
the other nurse said. I shall accept your apology, if required, in
advance.”

Earlier I
asked if these patients could be cured, she said carefully, and you
have not yet replied. Are they incurable? And if so, why were they not advised
to self-terminate before their condition reached this stage?”

For several
minutes the Hudlar continued to sponge stale nutrient from the second patient's back without speaking, then it said, You surprise but do
not offend me, Nurse. I cannot myself criticize Sommaradvan medical practice
because, until we joined the
Federation a few generations ago, curative medicine and surgery were unknown on
my world. But do I understand
correctly that you urge your incurable patients to self-terminate?”

Not
exactly, Cha Thrat replied. If a servile-healer • or warrior-surgeon or a wizard will not take
personal responsibility for curing a patient, the patient will not be cured. It is given all the facts of the
situation, simply, accurately, and without the kindly but misguided lying and false encouragement that seem to be so
prevalent among the nursing staff here. There is no attempt to exert influence in either direction; the
decision is left entirely to the patient.”

While she was
speaking the other had stopped working. It said, Nurse, you must never
discuss a patient's case with it in this fashion, regardless of your feelings about our medical
white lies. You would be in very serious trouble if you did.”

I won't, Cha Thrat said. At least not until, or unless, the
hospital once again gives me the position and responsibilities of a surgeon.”

Not even
then, the Hudlar said worriedly. I don't understand, she
said. If I accept total responsibility for a patient's cure—”

So you were a surgeon back home, the other nurse broke in, obviously wanting to avoid an
argument. I, too, am hoping to take home a surgical qualification.”

Cha Thrat did not want an argument, either. She said, How many years will that take?”

Two, if I'm lucky, the Hudlar replied. I don't intend going for
the full other-species surgical qualification, just basic nursing and the FROB
surgical course, taken concurrently. I joined the new Conway Project, so I'll be needed at home as soon as I can possibly make it. And to answer your earlier
question, it added. Believe it or not, Nurse, the condition of the majority of these patients will be alleviated if not cured. They will be able to lead long and useful lives that will be
pain-free, mentally and, within
limits, physically active.”

I'm
impressed, Cha Thrat said, trying to keep the incredulity she felt from
showing in her voice. What is the Conway Project?”

Rather than
listen to my incomplete and inaccurate description, the Hudlar replied,
it would be better for you to learn about the project from Conway itself.
It is the hospital's Diagnostician-in-Charge of Surgery, and it will be lecturing and demonstrating its new FROB major
operative techniques here this afternoon.

I shall be
required to observe the operation, it went on. But we will need
surgeons so badly and in such large numbers that you would only have to express
an interest in the project, not actually join it, to be invited to attend. It
would be reassuring to have someone
beside me who is almost as ignorant as I am.”

Other-species
surgery, Cha Thrat said, is my principal interest. But I've only just arrived in the ward. Would the Charge
Nurse release me from duty so soon?”

Of
course, the FROB said as they were moving to the next patient. Just so long as you do nothing to antagonize it.”

I
won't, she said, then added, at least, not deliberately.”

There was no muffler around the third patient's speaking
membrane, and a few minutes before their arrival it had been
having an animated
conversation about its grandchildren with a patient across the ward. Cha Thrat
spoke the ritual greeting used by the healers on Sommaradva and, it seemed, by every medic in the hospital.

How are you feeling today?”

Well, thank
you, Nurse, the patient replied,
as she knew it would.

Plainly the being
was anything but well. Although it
was mentally alert and the degenerative process had notyet advanced to the stage where the
pain-killing medication had no effect, the mere sight of the surface condition of the body and tentacles made her itch. But,
like so many of the other
patients she had treated, this one would not dream of suggesting that her ability was somehow lacking by saying that
it was not well.

When you've absorbed some more food, she said while her partner was busy with its sponge,
you will feel even better.”

Fractionally
better, she added silently. I haven't seen you before, Nurse, the
patient went on. You're new,
aren't you? I think you have a most interesting and visually pleasing shape.”

The last
time that was said to me, Cha Thrat said as she turned on the spray, it was by an
overardent young Sommaradvan of the opposite sex.”

Untranslatable
sounds came from the patient's speaking membrane and the great, disease-wasted
body began twitching in its cradle.
Then it said, Your sexual integrity is quite safe with me, Nurse. Regrettably, I am too old and infirm for it to be otherwise.”

A Sommaradvan memory came back to her, of seriously wounded and
immobilized warrior-patients of her own species trying to flirt with her
during surgical rounds, and she did not
know whether to laugh or cry.

Thank you, she said. But I
may need further reassurance in this matter when you become convalescent ...”

It was the same with the other patients. The Hudlar nurse said very little while the patients and
Cha Thrat did all the talking. She was new to the ward, a member of a species from a world about which they knew
nothing, and a subject, therefore, of the most intense but polite curiosity. They did not want to discuss themselves or their distressing physical conditions, they
wanted to talkabout Cha Thrat and Sommaradva, and she was pleased to satisfy their
curiosity—at least about the more pleasant aspects of her life there.

The constant
talking helped her to forget her growing fatigue and the fact that, in spite of
the gravity compensators
reducing the weight of the heavy nutrient tank to zero, the harness straps were making a painful and possibly permanent
impression on her upper thorax. Then suddenly there were only three patients
left to sponge and feed,
and Segroth had materialized behind them.

If you work
as well as you talk, Cha Thrat, the Charge Nurse said, I shall have
no complaints. To the Hudlar, it added, How is it doing, Nurse?”

It assists
me very well, Charge Nurse, the FROB trainee replied, and without complaint. It is pleasant and at ease with the patients.”

Good, good,
Segroth said, its fur rippling in approval. But Cha Thrat belongs to another one of those species
that require food at least three times a day if a pleasant disposition is to be maintained, and the midday meal is overdue. Would you like to finish the rest of the patients by yourself, Nurse?”

Of
course, the Hudlar said as Segroth was turning away.

Charge
Nurse, Cha Thrat said quickly. I realize that I've only just arrived, but could I
have permission to attend the—”

The Conway lecture, Segroth finished for her. Naturally, you'll find any excuse
to escape the hard work of the ward. But perhaps I do
you an injustice. Judging by the conversations I have overheard on the sound sensors, you have displayed good control of your
feelings while talking with the patients and, considering your surgical background, the practical aspects of the lecture should not worry you. However, if any part ofthe demonstration distresses you, leave at once and asunobtrusively as possible.

Permission
would normally be refused a newly joined trainee like yourself, it ended, but if you can make it to the dining hall and back inside the
hour, you may attend.”

Thank
you, Cha Thrat said to the Kelgian's already departing back. Quickly she
began loosening the nutrient tank harness.

Before you
go, Nurse, the Hudlar trainee said, would you mind using some of that stuff on me? I'mstarving!”

Cha Thrat was
among the first to arrive and stood— Hudlars did not use
chairs, so the FROB lecture theater did not provide them—as close as possible to the operating cradle while she
watched the place fill up. There was a scattering of
Melfan ELNTs, Kelgian DBLFs, and Tralthan FGLIs among those present, but the majority were Hudlars in various stages of training. She was hemmed in by FROBs, so much so that she
did not think that she would be able to leave even if she should want to, and she assumed—she still could not tell them apart —that the one standing closest
to her was her partner of the morning.

From the
conversations going on around her it was obvious that
Diagnostician Conway was regarded as a very important being indeed, a
medical near-deity in whose mind resided, by means of a powerful spell and the instrumentation of O'Mara, the knowledge, memories, and instincts of many other-species personalities. Having seen the hapless condition of the FROB ward's pre-op patients, she was looking forward with growing anticipation to seeing it perform.

In appearance Conway was not at all impressive. It was an Earth-human DBDG, slightly above
average inheight, with head fiir that was a darker
gray than the wizard O'Mara's.

It spoke with the
quiet certainty of a great ruler, and began the lecture without preamble.

For any of
you who may not be completely informed regarding the Hudlar Project, and who
may be concerned with the ethical position, let me assure you that the patient
on which we will be operating today, its fellows in the FROB ward, and all the
other geriatric and pre-geriatric cases waiting in great distress on the home
world, are all candidates for elective surgery.

The number
of cases is so great—a significant proportion of the planetary population, in
fact—that we cannot possibly treat them in Sector General...”

As the
Earth-human Diagnostician talked on, Cha Thrat became increasingly disheartened
by the sheer magnitude of the problem. A planet that contained, at any given
time, many millions of beings in the same horrifying condition as the patients
she had been recently attending was an idea that her mind did not want to face.
But it became clear that Conway had faced it and was working toward an eventual
solution—by training large numbers of the medically untutored Hudlars, assisted
by other-species volunteers, to help themselves.

Initially, Sector
General would provide basic tuition in FROB physiology, pre- and postoperative
nursing care, and training in just one simple surgical procedure. The
successful candidates, unless they displayed such an unusually high aptitude
that they were offered positions on the staff, would return home to establish
their own training organizations. Within three generations there would be
enough own-species specialist surgeons to make this dreadful and hitherto
unavoidable scourge of the Hudlars a thing of the past.

The sheer scale
and what appeared to be the utter,criminal irresponsibility of the project shocked and sickened Cha Thrat. Conway was not training surgeons, it was turning out vast numbers of conscienceless, organic machines! She had been surprised when the Hudlar trainee had mentioned the time required for qualification, and it was
possible that the hospital's tutors would be able to provide the necessary
practical training during that short period. But what about the long-term
indoctrination, the courses of mental and physical exercises that would prepare
the candidates for the acceptance of
responsibility and pain, and the long, presurgery novitiate? As the
Diagnostician talked on, there was no mention of these things.

This is
incredible! Cha Thrat said suddenly. Softly the Hudlar beside her said,
Yes, indeed. But be quiet,
Nurse, and listen.”

The degree
and extent of the suffering among aging FROBs is impossible to imagine or describe, the Earth-human was
saying. If the majority of the other races in the Federation were faced with the same problem, there would be one
simple, if completely unsatisfactory, answer for the individuals concerned. But
the Hudlars, unfortunately or otherwise, are philosophically incapable of
self-termination.

Would you
bring in Patient FROB-Eleven Thirty-two, please.”

A mobile
operating frame driven by a Kelgian nurse glided to a stop in front of the Diagnostician. It held the patient—one of
the Hudlars she had sprayed that mom-ing—already prepared for surgery.

The condition of Eleven
Thirty-two, the Earth-human went on, is too far advanced for surgical intervention to reverse the degenerative processes
completely. However, today's procedure will ensure that the remainder of the patient's life will be virtually pain-free,
which, in turn, means that it will be mentally alert, and, it will be able to lead a useful if not very active life. With Hudlars who elect for surgery before the onset of
the condition, and there are few members in the age groups concerned who do not
so elect, the results are immeasurably better.

Before we
begin, it continued, unclipping the deep scanner, I would like to
discuss the physiological reasons behind the distressing clinical picture we
see before us...”

What miracle of
irresponsible and illegal surgery, Cha Thrat
wondered sickly, could make Eleven Thirty-two well again?But her
curiosity was outweighed by a growing fear. She did not know whether or not she
could bear to hear the answers that this terrible Earth-person would give, and
still retain her sanity.

In common
with the majority of the life-forms known to us, the Diagnostician
continued, the primary cause of the degenerative process known as aging
is caused by increasing loss of efficiency in the major organs and an
associated circulatory failure.

With the
FROB life-form, it went on, the irreversible loss of function and
the abnormal degree of calcification and fissuring in the extremities is aggravated by the demand
for nutrient, which is no longer available.

From your
FROB physiology lectures, it continued, you know that a healthy
adult of the species possesses an extremely high metabolic rate that requires a
virtually continuous supply of nutrient, which is metabolized, via the absorption mechanism, to supply major organs such
as the two hearts, the absorption organs themselves, the womb when the entity
is in gravid female mode, and, of course, the limbs. These six immensely strong
limbsform the most
energy-hungry system of the body, and demand close to eighty percent of the total nutrient metabolized.

If this
excessive demand is removed from the energy equation, the Diagnostician said slowly and emphatically,
the nutrient supply to less-demanding systems is automatically increased
to optimum.”

There was no
longer any doubt in Cha Thrat's mind regarding the surgical intentions of the
Earth-human, but still she was trying to convince herself that the situation was not quite as
bad as it seemed. With quiet urgency she asked, Do this life-form's limbs regenerate?”

That is a
stupid question, the Hudlar beside her said. No, if such were the
case, the limb musculature and circulation would not have degenerated to their present state in the first place.
Please be quiet, Nurse, and listen.”

I meant the
Earth-human's limbs, Cha Thrat said insistently, not the patient's.”

No,
the Hudlar impatiently said. When she tried to ask other questions, it ignored
her.

Conway was
saying, The major problem encountered while performing deep surgery on any
life-form evolved for heavy gravity and high atmospheric pressure conditions
is, of course, internal organ displacement and decompression damage. But with
this type of operation there is no real problem. The bleeding is controlled
with clamps, and the procedure is simple enough for any of you advanced trainees to perform it under
supervision.

In
fact, the Diagnostician added, showing its teeth suddenly, I shall
not even lay a cutter on this patient. The responsibility for the operation
will be collectively
yours.”

A quiet,  polite uproar greeted the  Earth-human'swords and the trainees surged closer to the barrier,
imprisoning Cha Thrat within a barricade of metal-hard Hudlar bodies and
tentacles. So many conversations were going on at once that several times her
translator was overloaded, but from what she did hear it seemed that they were
all in favor of this utterly shameful act of professional cowardice, and
stupidly eager rather than afraid to take surgical responsibility.

She had never in
her wildest and most fearful imaginings expected anything like this, nor
thought to prepare herself for such a vicious and demoralizing attack on her
ethical code. Suddenly she wanted away from this nightmare with its group of
demented and immoral Hudlars. But they were all too busy flapping their
speaking membranes at each other to hear her.

Quiet,
please, Diagnostician Conway said, and there was silence. I don't
believe in springing surprises, pleasant or otherwise, but sooner or later you
Hudlars will be performing multiple amputations like this on your home world
hour after hour, day after day, and I feel that you should get used to the idea
sooner rather than later.”

It paused to look
at a white card it was holding in one hand, then said, Trainee
FROB-Severity-three, you will begin.”

Cha Thrat had an
almost overwhelming urge to shout and scream that she wanted out and far away
from this hellish demonstration. But Conway, a Diagnostician and one of the
hospital's high rulers, had commanded silence, and the discipline of a lifetime
could not be broken—even though she was far from Sommaradva. She pushed
silently against the wall of Hudlar bodies enclosing her on three sides, but
her attempts to pass through were ignored if they were even noticed. Everyone's
eyes were focused exclusively on the operating cradle and pa-tient FROB-Eleven
Thirty-two and, in spite of her attempts to look elsewhere, hers were turned in
the same direction.

It was obvious
from the start that Seventy-three's problem was psychological rather than
surgical, and caused by the close proximity of one of the hospital's foremost
Diagnosticians watching every move it made. But Conway was being both tactful
and reassuring during its spoken commentary on the operation. Whenever the
trainee seemed hesitant, it managed to include the necessary advice and
directions without making the recipient feel stupid and even more unsettled.

There was
something of the wizard in this Diagnostician, Cha Thrat thought, but that in
no way excused its unprofessional behavior.

'The Number Three
cutter is used for the initial incision and for removing the underlying layers
of muscle, Conway was saying, but some of us prefer the finer
Number Five for the venous and arterial work, since the smoother edges of the
incisions make suturing much easier as well as aiding subsequent healing.

The nerve
bundles, it went on, are given extra length and covered with inert
metal caps, and are positioned just beneath the surface of the stump. This
facilitates the nerve impulse augmentors that will later control the
prosthetics...”

What,
Cha Thrat wondered aloud, are prosthetics?”

Artificial
limbs, the Hudlar beside her said. Watch and listen; you can ask
questions afterward.”

There was plenty
to see but less to hear because Trainee FROB-Seventy-three was working much
faster and no longer seemed to be in need of the Diagnostician's covert directions.
Not only could Cha Thrat lookdirectly at the operative field, but the internal
scanner picture was also being projected onto a large screen above and behind
the patient, so that she could watch the
careful, precise movements of the instruments within the limb.

Then suddenly
there was no limb—it had fallen stiffly, like the diseased brnch of a tree,
into a container on the floor—and she had her first view of a stump.
Desperately she fought the urge to be physically sick.

The large
flap of tegument is folded over the stub limb, Conway was saying,
and is attached by staples that dissolve when the healing process is
complete. Because of the elevated internal pressure of this life-form and the
extreme resistance of the tegument to puncturing by needle, normal suturing is
useless and it is advisable, in fact, to err on the generous side where the staples are concerned.”

There had been
unsavory rumors of cases like this on Sommaradva, traumatic amputation of limbs
during a major industrial or transportation accident, after which the casualty
had survived, or insisted on surviving. The wounds had been discreetly tidied
up, usually by young, nonresponsible and as yet unqualified warrior-surgeons or
even, if nobody else was available, by an amenable servile-healer. But even
when the warriors concerned had sustained the wounds as a result of an act of bravery, the matter was
hushed up and forgotten as quickly as possible.

The casualties
went into voluntary exile. They would never dream of revealing their
disabilities or deformities to the public gaze, nor would they have been allowed to do so. On Sommaradva they had too much respect for their bodies. And for people to parade
around with me-chanical devices replacing
their limbs was abhorrent and unthinkable.

Thank you, Seventy-three, that was well done, the Earth-human said, glancing once again at its
white card. Trainee Sixty-one, would you like to show us what you can do?”

Abhorrent and
repulsive though it was, Cha Thrat could not take her eyes from the operating
cradle while the new FROB
demonstrated its surgical prowess. The depth and positioning of every incision and instrument was burned into her memory as if she were
watching some horrid but fascinating
perversion. Sixty-one was followed by two other advanced trainees, and patient FROB-Eleven Thirty-two was
left with only two of its six limbs remaining in place.

There is still a fair degree of mobility in one of the forelimbs, Conway said, and,
considering the advanced age and reduced mental adaptability, I feel that it should be left intact for psychological as well
as physiological reasons. It may well be that the increased blood and available nutrient supply due to the
absence of the other limbs will
partially improve the muscle condition and circulation in this one. As you can see, the other forelimb has degenerated virtually to the point of
necrosis and must be removed.

Trainee Cha
Thrat, it added, will perform the amputation.”

Suddenly they
Were all looking at her, and for a moment Cha Thrat had the ridiculous feeling
that she was in the center of a
three-dimensional picture, frozen in this nightmare for all eternity. But the real nightmare lay a few minutes in the future, when she would be
forced into a major professional
decision.

Her partner from the ward vibrated its speaking mem-brane quietly.
This is a great
professional compliment, Nurse.”

Before she could reply, the Diagnostician was speaking again, to
everyone.

It said,
Cha Thrat is a native of a newly discovered world, Sommaradva, where it was a qualified
surgeon. It has prior experience of other-species surgery on an Earth-human
DBDG, a life-form that it had encountered for the first time only a few hours earlier. In spite of this, the work
was skillfully done, Senior Physician Edanelt tells me, and undoubtedly saved
the entity's limb and probably its life. And now it can further increase its other-species surgical experience with a much
less difficult procedure on an FROB.”

Encouragingly it
ended, Come forward, Cha Thrat. Don't be afraid. If anything should go wrong, I will be here to help.”

There was a great, cold fear inside her mixed with the helpless anger of having to face the ultimate challenge without adequate spiritual preparation. But the Diagnostician's concluding words, suggesting that her natural fear might
somehow keep her from doing the work, filled her with righteous anger. It was a
hospital ruler and, no matter how misguided and irresponsibile its orders to her had seemed, they would be obeyed—that was the law. And no Sommaradvan of the warrior class would show fear before anyone, and that included a group of other-species strangers. But still she hesitated.

Impatiently the
Earth-human said, Are you capable of performing this operation?”

Yes,
she said.

Had it asked her
if she wanted to perform the operation, Cha Thrat thought sadly as she
moved toward the cradle, the answer would have been different. Then, jwith the incredibly sharp FROB
Number Three cutter in her hand, she tried again.

What,
she asked quickly, is my precise responsibility
in this case?”

The Earth-human took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then said, You are responsible for the surgical removal of the patient's left forelimb.”

Is it possible to save this limb? she
asked hesitantly. Can the circulation be improved, perhaps by surgical enlargement
of the blood vessels, or by—”

No,
said Conway firmly. Please begin.”

She made the initial incisions and proceeded exactly as the others had done, without further
hesitation or need of prompting by
the Diagnostician. Knowing what was to happen, she suppressed her fear and steadfastly refused to worry about or feel the pain until the
moment it would engulf her. She
was utterly determined now to show this strange, highly advanced but seemingly nonre-sponsible medic how a truly dedicated
warrior-surgeon of Sommaradva was
expected to behave.

As she was inserting the last few staples into the flap covering the stump, the Diagnostician said warmly, That was fast, precise, and quite
exemplary work, Cha Thrat. I am particularly impressed by— What are you doingT'She thought that her
intentions were obvious as soon as she lifted the Number Three cutter. Sommaradvan DCNFs did not possess forelimbs as such but, she
thought proudly, the removal of
a left-side medial limb would satisfy the professional requirements of the situation. One quick, neat
slice was enough, then she looked at it lying in the container among the Hudlar limbs and gripped the stump tightly to control the bleeding.

Her last conscious memory of the episode was ofDiagnostician Conway shouting
above the general uproar into the communicator.

FROB
lecture theater on the double, it was saying urgently. One DCNF, a
traumatic amputation, self-inflicted. Ready the OR on Level Forty-three, dammit,
and assemble a microsurgery team!”

Chapter 8

She could not be
sure about the time required for her post-op recuperation, only that there had
been lengthy periods of unconsciousness and a great many visits from Chief
Psychologist O'Mara and Diagnosticians Thornnastor and Conway. The DBLF nurse
assigned to her made caustic comments about the special attention she was
receiving from the hospital's hierarchy, the quantity of food she was moving
for a supposedly sick patient, and about a newly arrived Nidian trainee whose
furry little head had been turned by Cresk-Sar of all people. But when she
tried to discuss her own case it was obvious from the Kelgian nurse's agitated
fur that that was a forbidden subject.

It did not matter
because, by accident or design, the medication she was receiving had the effect
of making her feel as if her mind was some kind of dirigible airship, moving at
her direction but detached and floating free of all mundane problems. It was,
she realized, a very comfortable but suggestible state.

During one of its
later visits, O'Mara had suggested that, regardless of her reasons for acting as she had, she had discharged her particularly strict
professional obligations, so that no further action was required on her part.
The limb had been completely severed and removed from the torso. The fact that Conway and Thornnastor had together performed some very fancy
microsurgery to reattach it, with no loss of function or feeling, was a piece
of good fortune that she should accept gratefully and without guilt.

It had taken a long time to convince the wizard that she had already arrived at the same
conclusion, and that she was grateful, not only for her good fortune, but to Diagnosticians Conway
and Thornnastor for giving her back the limb. The only part of the incident that continued to puzzle her,
she had told O'Mara, was the adverse reaction of everyone to the noble and praiseworthy thingshe had done.

O'Mara had seemed to relax then, and it had proceeded
with a long, devious spell that involved subjects which Cha Thrat had considered too personal and sensitive to be discussed with a fellow Sommaradvan, much less a
stranger. Perhaps it was the
medication that reduced her feelings of shock and outrage, and made the suggestions of the wizard seem worthy of consideration rather than outright rejection.

One of its suggestions had been that, when viewed nonsubjectively, the action she had taken had been neither noble nor praiseworthy, but a little
bit silly. By the end of that visit she almost agreed with it, and suddenly she was allowed visitors.

Tarsedth and the Hudlar trainee were the first callers. The Kelgian came bustling forward to ask how she was feeling and to examine her scars, while the FROB remained
standing in silence just inside the entrance. ChaThrat wondered if there was
anything bothering it, forgetting for the moment that her medication frequently
caused her to vocalize her thoughts.

Nothing,
said Tarsedth. Just ignore the big softie. When I arrived it was outside
the door, don't know for how long, afraid that the mere sight of another Hudlar would give you some kind
of emotional relapse. In spite of all that muscle, Hudlars are sensitive souls.
According to what O'Mara told Cresk-Sar, you are unlikely to do anything sudden
or melodramatic. You are neither mentally unbalanced nor emotionally disturbed.
Its exact words were that you were normally crazy but not certifi-ably mad,
which is the condition of quite a few people who work in this place.”

It turned
suddenly to regard the FROB, then went on. Come closer! It is in bed,
with a limb and most of its body immobilized, it has been blasted into low
orbit with tranquilizers, and it isn't likely to bite you!”

The Hudlar came forward and said shyly, We all, everyone who was
there, wish you well. That includes Patient Eleven Thirty-two, who is pain-free
now and making good progress. And Charge Nurse Segroth whose good wishes were,
ah, more perfunctory. Will you recover the full use of the limb?”

Don't be
stupid, Tarsedth broke in. With two Diagnosticians on the case it doesn't dare not make a complete recovery. To Cha Thrat it went on. But so much has been happening to you recently
that I can't keep up. Is it
true that you ticked off the Chief Psychologist in
front of everybody in the Chalder ward,
called it some kind of witch-doctor, and reminded it of its professional duty toward Patient AUGL-One Sixteen? According to the stories going around—”

It wasn't
quite as bad as that, Cha
Thrat said.

It never
is, the DBLF said, its fur subsiding in dis-appointment. But the business during the FROB demonstration, now.
You can't deny or diminish what happened there.”

Perhaps,
the Hudlar quietly said, it would rather not talk about that.”

Why not? Tarsedth asked. Everyone else is talking about it.”

Cha Thrat was silent for a moment as she looked up at the head and shoulders of the Kelgian projecting like a silver-furred cone
over one side of her bed and the enormous body of the Hudlar looming over the other. She tried to make her unnaturally fuzzy mind concentrate on what she wanted to say.

I would prefer to talk about all the lectures I've
missed, she said finally.
Was there anything especially interesting or important? And would you ask Cresk-Sar if I could have a remote
control for the viewscreen, so I can tune in to the
teaching channels? Tell it that I have nothing to do here and I would like to continue with my studies as soon as possible.”

Friend,
Tarsedth said, its fur rising into angry spikes, I think you would be wasting your time.”

For the first time she wished that her
Kelgian classmate was capable of
something less than complete
honesty. She had been
expecting to hear something like this, but the bad news could have been broken more gently.

What our forthright friend should have told you, the Hudlar said, is that we inquired about your
exact status from Senior Physician Cresk-Sar, who would not give us a firm answer. It said that you were guilty not so much of contravening hospital rules but of breaking rules that nobody had dreamed of writing. The decision on what to do with you has been
referred up, it said, and you could expect a visit from O'Mara quite soon.

When asked
if we could bring you lecture material, it ended apologetically,
Cresk-Sar said no.”

It did not make
any difference how it was broken, she thought after they had gone, the news was
equally bad. But the sudden, raucous sound of her bedside communicator kept her
from dwelling for too long on her troubles.

It was Patient
AUGL-One Sixteen who, with Charge Nurse Hredlichi's cooperation, was shouting
into one of the Nurses' Station communicators from the entrance to the Chalder
ward. It began by apologizing for the physiological and environmental problems
that kept it from visiting her in person, then told her how much it was missing
her visits—the Earth-human wizard O'Mara, it said, lacked her sympathetic
manner and charm—and it hoped she was recovering with no physical or mental
distress.

Everything
is fine, she lied. It was not a good thing to burden a patient with its
medic's troubles, even when the medic was temporarily a patient. How are you?”

Very well,
thank you, the Chalder replied, sounding enthusiastic in spite of the fact that its words were reaching her
through two communicators, a translator, and a considerable quantity of water.
O'Mara says that I can leave and rejoin my family very soon, and can start contacting the space administration on
Chalder about my old job. I'm still young for a Chalder, you know, and I do really feel well.”

I'm very
happy for you, One Sixteen,
Cha Thrat said, deliberately omitting its name because others might be listening who were not entitled to use it. She was surprised by the strength of her feelings toward the creature.

I've heard the nurses talking, the Chalder went on, and it seems like you are in serious trouble. I hope all goes well for you, but if
not, and you have to leave thehospital... Well, you are so far from Sommaradva out here that if you
felt like seeing another world on your way home, my people would be pleased to
have you for as long as you liked to stay. We're pretty well advanced on
Chalderescol and your food synthesis and life-support would be no problem.

It's a
beautiful world, it added, much, much nicer than the Chalder
ward...”

When the Chalder
eventually broke contact, she settled back into the pillows, feeling tired but
not depressed or unhappy, thinking about the ocean world of Chalderescol.
Before joining the AUGL ward she had studied the library tape on that world with the idea of being able to talk about home to the patients, so she
was not completely unfamiliar with the planet. The thought of living there was exciting, and she knew that, as an
off-planet person entitled to call Muromeshomon by name, its family and friends
would make her welcome however long or short her stay. But thoughts like that were uncomfortable because they
presupposed that she would be leaving the hospital.

Instead she
wondered how the normally shy and gentle Chalder had been able to prevail upon
the acid-tongued Hredlichli to use the Nurses' Station communicator as it had
done. Could it have forced cooperation by threatening to wreck the place again?
Or, more likely, had the Chalder's call to her been supported, perhaps even suggested, by O'Mara?That, too, was an uncomfortable thought, but it
did not keep her awake. The
continuing spell of the Earth-human wizard or the medication it had prescribed, or both, were still having their insidious effect.

During the days
that followed she was visited singly and, where
physiological considerations permitted, in small groups by her classmates. Cresk-Sar came twicebut, like all the other
visitors, the tutor would not talk about medical matters at all. Then one day
O'Mara and Diagnostician Conway arrived together and would discuss nothing else.

Good
morning, Cha Thrat, how are you feeling? the Diagnostician began, as she
knew it would.

Very well,
thank you, she replied, as it knew she would. After that she was
subjected to the most meticulously thorough physical examination she had ever
experienced.

You've
probably realized by now that all of this wasn't strictly necessary,
Conway said as it replaced the sheet that had been covering her body.
However, it was my first opportunity to have a really close look at the
DCNF physiological classification as a whole, as opposed to one of the limbs.
Thank you, it was interesting and most instructive.

But now that
you are completely recovered, it went on, with a quick glance toward
O'Mara, and will require only a course of exercises before you would be
fit for duty, what are we going to do with you?”

She suspected
that it was a rhetorical
question, but she badly wanted to reply to it. Anxiously she said, There have been mistakes, misunderstandings.
They will not occur again.
I would like to remain in the hospital and continue my training.”

No! Conway said sharply. In a quieter voice it went on. You are a fine
surgeon, Cha Thrat—potentially a great one. Losing you would be a shameful waste of
talent. But keeping you on the medical staff, with your peculiar ideas of what
constitutes ethical behavior, is out of the question. There isn't a ward in the
hospital that would accept you for practical training now. Segroth took you
only because O'Mara and I requested it.

I like to
make my surgery lectures as interesting andexciting as possible for the
trainees, Conway added, but there are limits, dammit!”

Before either of
them could say the words that would send her from the hospital, Cha Thrat said quickly, What if something
could be done that would guarantee my future good behavior? One of my early lectures was on the Educator tape system of teaching alien
physiology and medicine that, in
effect, gives the recipient an other-species viewpoint. If I could be given such a tape, one with a more acceptable,
to you, code of professional behavior, then I would be sure to stay out of
trouble.”

She waited
anxiously, but the two Earth-humans were looking at each other in silence,
ignoring her.

Without the
Educator or physiology tape system, she had learned, a multispecies hospital
like Sector General could not have existed. No single brain, regardless of
species, could hold the enormous quantity of physiological knowledge required
to successfully treat the variety of patients the hospital received. But complete physiological data on any
patient's species was available by means of an Educator tape, which was simply
the brain record of some great medical mind belonging to the same or a similar species as the patient to be
treated.

A being taking such a tape had to share its mind with a completely alien personality.
Subjectively, that was exactly how it felt; all of the memories and experiences
and personality traits of the
being who had donated the tape were impressed on the receiving mind, not just selected pieces of medical data. An Educator tape could
not be edited and the degree of confusion, emotional disorienta-tion, and personality dislocation caused to a
recipient could not be adequately
described even by the Senior Physicians and Diagnosticians who experienced it.

The Diagnosticians were the hospital's highest medical rulers, beings whose
minds were both adaptable andC.B.E.----6stable enough to retain permanently up to ten physiology
tapes at one time. To
their data-crammed minds was given the job of original research into
xenological medicine and the treatment of new diseases in newly discovered
life-forms.

But Cha Thrat was
not interested in subjecting herself voluntarily, as had the Diagnosticians, to
a multiplicity of alien ideas and influences. She had heard it said among the
staff that any person sane enough to'be a Diagnostician had to be mad, and she
could well believe it. Her idea represented a much less drastic solution to the
problem.

If I had an
Earth-human, a Kelgian, even a Nidian personality sharing my mind, she
persisted, I would understand why the things I sometimes do are
considered wrong, and would be able to avoid doing them. The other-species material would be used for
interpersonal behavioral guidance only. As a trainee I would not try to use its medical or surgical knowledge on my
patients without permission.”

The Diagnostician
was suddenly overcome by an attack of coughing. When it recovered it said,
Thank you, Cha Thrat. I'm sure the patients would thank you, too. But it's impossible to... O'Mara, this is
your field. You answer it.”

The Chief
Psychologist moved close to the bedside and looked down at her. It said, Hospital
regulations do not allow me to do as you ask, nor would I do so if I could. Even though you are an unusually strong and stubborn
personality, you would find it very difficult to
control the other occupant of your mind. It isn't an alien entity fighting for control, but because the type of leading
medical specialist who donates the tapes is frequently a very strong-minded and aggressive person used to getting its own way, it would feel as if it is takingcontrol. The ensuing purely subjective conflict
could give rise to episodes
of pain, skin eruptions, and more troublesome organic malfunctionings. All have a psychosomatic basis, of course, but
they will hurt you just as much as the real thing. The risk of permanent mental damage is great and, until a trainee has learned
to understand the external personalities of the beings around it, it would not
receive one of their Educator tapes.

In your
case there is an additional reason, O'Mara added. You are a female.”

Sommaradvan
prejudices, she thought furiously, evenhere in Sector General! and made a sound that at homewould have resulted in an immediate and
probably vio-* lent
breakdown
in  communication.   Fortunately,  thesound did not translate.

The
conclusion you have just jumped to is wrong, O'Mara went on. It is simply that the
females of all the two-sexed species yet discovered have evolved with certain
peculiarities, as opposed to abnormalities, of mind. One of them is a deeply rooted, sex-based
fastidiousness and aversion toward
anything or anyone entering or trying to possess their minds. The only exception is in the situation when life-mating has taken place,
where, in many species, the
processes of physical and mental sharing and the feelings of possession complement each other. But I can't imagine you falling in love with an other-species mind impression.”

Do male entities, Cha Thrat asked, both satisfied and intrigued by the explanation, receive mind recordings from other-species females, then? Could / be given a female tape?”

There is only one'recorded instance of that... O'Mara began.

Let's not
go into that, Conway broke in, its face becoming a darker shade of pink.
I'm sorry, Cha Thrat,you cannot be given an
Educator tape, now or ever. O'Mara has explained why, just as he has explained
the political circumstances of your arrival here and the delicate state of the
cultural contact on Sommaradva that would be jeopardized if we simply dismissed you from the hospital.
Wouldn't it be better for all concerned if you left of your own free will?”

Cha Thrat was
silent for a moment, her eyes turned toward the limb that she had thought would
be lost forever, trying to find the right words. Then she said, You don't owe me anything for
my work on ship ruler Chiang. I have already explained, during my first meeting with the Chief
Psychologist, that the delay in attending to its injuries was caused by my not wanting to lose a limb because if, as a result of my decision to perform the
operation it lost a limb, then so would I. As a warrior-surgeon I cannot escape a responsibility willingly accepted.

And
now, she went on, if I were
to leave the hospital as you
suggest, it would not be of my own free
will. I cannot do, or leave undone,
something that I know to be wrong.”

The Diagnostician
was also looking at the replaced limb. I believe you, it said.

O'Mara exhaled slowly and half turned to leave. It said, I'm very sorry I didn't pick up on that 'losing a limb' remark you made at our first meeting; it would
have saved us all a lot of trouble. Against my better
judgment I relented after the AUGL-One Sixteen business, but the bloody drama during the FROB demonstration was too much. The remainder of your stay here will not be very
pleasant because, in spite of the earlier recommendations you've had from Diagnostician Conwayand myself, nobody wants you anywhere near their patients.

Let's face
it, Cha Thrat, it ended as both Earth-humans moved toward the door,
you're in the doghouse.”

She heard them
talking with a third person in the corridor, but the words were too muffled for
translation. Then the door opened and another Earth-human entered. It was wearing the dark-green uniform of the
Monitor Corps and looked
familiar.

Cheerfully it
said, I've been waiting outside in case they couldn't talk you into leaving, and O'Mara was pretty sure they wouldn't. I'm Timmins, in case
you don't remember me. We have to
have a long talk.

And before you ask, it went on, the doghouse, so far as you're concerned, is the Maintenance
Department.”

Chapter 9

It was obvious
from the beginning that Lieutenant Timmins did not consider its job to be either servile or menial, and it was not long before the Lieutenant had her beginning to feel the same way. It wasn't just the Earth-human's quiet enthusiasm for its job, there was also the portable viewer and set of study tapes it had left at her bedside that convinced her that this was work forIwarriors—although not, of course, for warrior-surgeons. The wide-ranging
and complex problems of providing technical and environmental support for the
sixty-odd— some of them very odd indeed—life-forms comprising the hospital's
patients and staff made her earlier
medical and physiological studies seem easy by comparison.

Her last formal contact with the training program was when
Cresk-Sar arrived, carried out a brief but thorough examination, and, subject
to the findings of the eye specialist, Doctor Yeppha, who would be visiting her
shortly, pronounced her physically fit to begin the new duties. She asked if
there would be any objection to her continuing to view the medical teaching channels in her free time, and the Senior
Physician told her that she could watch whatever she pleased in her spare time,
but it was unlikely that she would ever be able to put any of the medical knowledge gained into practice.

It ended by saying that while it was relieved that she was no longer the Training Department's responsibility, it was sorry to lose her and that it joined her erstwhile colleagues in wishing her success and personal satisfaction in the new work she had chosen.

Doctor Yeppha was a new life-form
to her experience, a small, tripedal, fragile being that she classified as
DRVJ. From the furry dome of its head there sprouted, singly and in small clusters, at least twenty eyes. She wondered whether the overabundance of visual sensors had any bearing on its choice of
specialty, but thought it
better not to ask.

Good
morning, Cha Thrat, it said, taking a tape from the pouch at its waist and pushing it into the viewer. This is a visual acuity test designed primarily to check for color blindness. We don't care if you have muscles like
a Hudlar or a Cinrusskin, there are ma-cniiies lu uu me icaiiy ncavy worn., oui you nave 10 oe able to see.
Not only that, you must be able to clearly identify colors and the subtle
shades and dilution of color brought about by changes in the intensity of the
ambient lighting. What do you see there?”

A circle
made up of red spots, Cha Thrat replied, enclosing a star of green
and blue spots.”

Good,
Yeppha said. I am making this sound much simpler than it really is, but
you will learn the complexities in time. The service bays and interconnecting
tunnels are filled with cable looms and plumbing all of which is color coded.
This enables the maintenance people to tell at a glance which are power cables
and which the , less dangerous communication lines, or which pipes carry
oxygen, chlorine, methane, or organic effluvia. The danger of contamination of
wards by other-species atmospheres is always present, and such an environmental
catastrophe should not be allowed to occur because some partially sighted
nincompoop has connected up the wrong set of pipes. What do you see now?”

And so it went
on, with Yeppha putting designs in subtly graduated colors on the screen and
Cha Thrat telling it what she saw or did not see. Finally the DRVJ turned off
the viewer and replaced the tape in its pouch.

You don't
have as many eyes as I do, it said, but they all work. There is no
bar, therefore, to you joining the Maintenance Department. My sincere
commiserations. Good luck!”

The first three
days were to be devoted exclusively to unsupervised lessons in internal
navigation. Timmins explained that whenever or wherever an emergency occurred,
or even if a minor fault was reported, the maintenance people were expected to
be at the site of the trouble with minimum delay. Because they wouldnormally be
carrying tools or replacement parts with them on a self-powered trolley, they
were forbidden the use of the main hospital corridors, except in the direst of
emergencies—staff and patient traffic there was congested enough as it was
without risking a vehicular thrombosis. She was therefore expected to find her way from A to B, with diversions through H, P,
and W, without leaving the service bays and tunnels or asking directions of
anyone she might meet.

Neither was she
allowed to make an illegal check on her position by emerging into the main
corridor system to go to lunch.

Wearing the
lightweight protective envelope will probably be unnecessary, Timmins
said as he lifted the grating in the floor just outside her room, but
maintenance people always wear them in case they have to pass through an area
where there may be a nonurgent seepage of own-species toxic gas. You have
sensors to warn you of the presence of all toxic contaminants, including
radiation, a lamp in case one
of the tunnels has a lighting failure, a map with your route
clearly shown, a distress beacon in case you become
hopelessly lost or some other personal emergency occurs, and, if I may say so, more than enough food to keep you alive for a week much less a day!

Don't worry
and don't try to hurry, Cha ThraC' it went on. Look on this as a long, leisurely walk through unexplored territory, with frequent breaks for a picnic. I'll see you outside Access Hatch
Twelve in Corridor Seven on Level One Twenty in fifteen hours, or less.”

It laughed
suddenly and added, Or possibly
more.”

The service
tunnels were very well lit, but low and narrow—at least so far as the Sommaradvan
life-form was concerned—with alcoves set at frequent intervalsalong their length. The
alcoves were puzzling in that they were empty of cable runs, pipes, or any form of mechanisms, but she
discovered their purpose when a Kelgian driving a powered trolley came charging along the tunnel toward her and yelled, Move aside, stupid!”

Apart from that
encounter she seemed to have the tunnel to herself, and she was able to move much more easily than she had ever
been able to do in the main corridor whose floor was now above her head.
Through the ventilator grilles she could clearly hear the sounds of thumping
and tapping and slithering of other-species ambulatory appendages overhead, and
the indescribable babbie of growling, hissing, gobbling, and cheeping
conversation that accompanied it.

She moved forward
steadily, careful not to be surprised by another fast-moving vehicle as she consulted her map, and occasionally stopped to dictate notes describing the size, diameter, and color
codings on the protective casings of the mechanisms and connecting pipes and cable runs that covered the tunnel walls and roof. The notes, Timmins had told her, would
enable it to check her progress
during the test, as well as give her an important check on her
general location.

The power and communication
lines would look the same anywhere in the hospital, but most of the plumbing here bore the color codings for water and the atmospheric mixture favored
by the warm-blooded, oxygen-breathing life-forms that made up more than half of
the Federation's member species. Under the levels where they breathed chlorine, methane, or super-heated steam the colors would be much different and so would be her protective clothing.

A mechanism
that did not appear to be working caught her attention. Through its transparent cover shecould see a group of unlit indicators and a serial number that
probably meant something to the entities who had built the thing, but to nobody
else who was not familiar with their written language. She located and pressed
the plate of the audible label and switched on her translator.

I am a
standby pump on the drinking water supply line to the DBLF ward Eighty-three
diet kitchen, it announced. Functioning is automatic when required,
currently inoperative. The hinged inspection panel is opened by inserting your
general-purpose key into the slot marked with a red circle and turning right
through ninety degrees. For component repair or replacement consult Maintenance
Instructions Tape Three, Section One Twenty. Don't forget to close the panel
again before you leave.

I am a standby pump... it was beginning again when she took
her hand away, silencing it.

At first she had
been worried by the thought of
traveling continuously along the low, narrow service tunnels, even though
O'Mara had assured Timmins that her psych profile was free of any tendency toward claustrophobia. All of the tunnels were brightly lit
and, she had been told,
they remained so even if they were unoccupied for long periods. On Sommaradva this would have
been considered a criminal waste of power. But in Sector General the additional demand on the main reactor for continuous
lighting was negligible, and was more than outweighed by the maintenance problem that would have been posed if fallible on-off switches had been installed at every tunnel intersection.

Gradually her route took her away from the corridors and the alien cacophony of the people using them, and she felt more completely and utterly alone than she had believed it possible to feel.

The absence of outside sounds made the subduedhumming and
clicking of the power and pumping systems around her appear to grow louder and
more threatening, and she took to pressing the audible labels at random, just
to hear another voice—even though it was simply a machine identifying itself and its often mystifying purpose.

Occasionally she
found herself thanking the machine for the information.

The color codings
had begun to change from the oxygen-nitrogen and water markings to those for
chlorine and the corrosive liquid that the Illensan PVSJ metabolism used as a
working fluid, and the corridors were shorter with many more twists and turns.
Before her confusion could grow into panic, she decided to make herself as comfortable as possible in an alcove,
substantially reduce the quantity of food she was carrying, and think.

According to her
map she was passing from the PVSJ section downward through one of the
synthesizer facilities that produced the food required by the chlorine-breathers
and into the section devoted to the supply of the AUGL water-breathers. That
explained the seemingly contradictory markings and the square-sectioned
conduits that made hissing, rumbling noises as the solid, prepackaged PVSJ food
was being moved pneumatically
along them. However, a large corner of the AUGL section had been converted to a PVSJ operating room and post-op observation ward, and this was joined to the main chlorine section by an ascending spiral corridor containing moving ramps for the rapid transfer of staff and patients, since the PVSJs were not
physiologically suited to the use of stairs. The twists and turns of the service tunnel were necessary to get around these topo-logically complex obstructions. But if she got safely past this complicated interpenetration of the water- andchlorine-breathing sections, the journey should be much
simpler.

There was no
shortage of vocal company. Warning labels, which spoke whether she pressed them
or not, advised her to check constantly for cross-species contamination.

Provision had
been made to take food without unsealing her protective suit, but her sensors
showed the area clear of toxic material in dangerous quantities, so she opened
her visor. The smell was an indescribable combination of every sharp, acrid,
heavy, unpleasant, and even pleasant smell that she had ever encountered but,
fortunately, only in trace quantities. She ate her food, quickly closed the
visor, and moved on with increased confidence.

Three long,
straight sections of corridor later she realized that her confidence had been
misplaced.

According to her
estimates of the distances and directions she had traveled, Cha Thrat should be
somewhere between the Hudlar and Tralthan levels. The tunnel walls should have
been carrying the thick, heavily insulated power cables for the FROBs'
artificial gravity grids and at least one distinctively marked pipe to supply
their nutrient sprayers, as well as the air, water, and return waste conduits
required by the warm-blooded,
oxygen-breathing FGLIs. But the cable runs bore color combinations that should
not have been there, and the only atmosphere line visible was the
small-diameterpipe supplying air to the tunnel itself. Irritated with herself, she pressed the nearest audible
label.

I am an
automatic self-monitoring control unit for synthesizer process One Twelve B, it said importantly. Press
blue stud and access panel will move aside. Warning. Only the container and audible label are reus-able. If faulty, components must be replaced and
not repaired. Not to be opened by MSVK, LSVO, or other species with low
radiation tolerance unless special protective measures are taken.”

She had no desire
to open the cabinet, even though her radiation monitor was indicating that the
area was safe for her particular life-form. At the next alcove she had another
look at her map and list of color codings.

Somehow she had
wandered into one of the sections that were inhabited only by automatic
machinery. The map indicated fifteen such areas within the main hospital
complex, and none of them was anywhere near her , planned route. Plainly she
had taken a wrong turning, perhaps a series of wrong turnings, soon after
leaving the spiral tunnel connecting the PVSJ ward with its new operating room.

She moved on
again, watching the tunnel walls and roof in the hope that the next change in the color codings would give her a
clue to where she might be. She also cursed her own stupidity aloud and touched every label she passed, but soon decided that both
activities were nonproductive. It was a wise decision because, at the next tunnel intersection, she heard distant
voices.

Timmins had told
her not to speak to anyone or to enter any of the public corridors. But, she reasoned, if she was already hopelessly off-course then there
was nothing to stop her taking the side tunnel and moving toward the sound. Perhaps by listening at one of
the corridor ventilating grilles she might overhear a conversation that would
give her a clue to her present whereabouts.

The thought made
Cha Thrat feel ashamed but, compared with some of the things she had been
forced tothink about recently, it was a small, personal dishonor that she
thought she could live with.

There were
lengthy breaks in the conversation. At first the voices were too quiet and
distant for her translator to catch what was being said, and when she came
closer the people concerned were indulging in one of their lengthy silences.
The result was that when she came to the next intersection, she saw them before
there was another chance to overhear them.

They were a
Kelgian DBLF and an Earth-human DBDG, dressed in Maintenance coveralls with the
additional insignia of Monitor Corps rank. There were tools and dismantled
sections of piping on the floor between them and, after glancing up at her
briefly, they went on talking to each other.

I wondered
what was coming at us along the corridor, the Kelgian said, and
making more noise than a drunken Tralthan. It must be the new DCNF we were told
about, on its first day underground. We mustn't talk to it, not that I'd want
to, anyway. Strange-looking creature, isn't it?”

I wouldn't
dream of talking to it, or vice versa, the DBDG replied. Pass me
the Number Eleven gripper and hold your end steady. Do you think it knows where
it's going?”

The Kelgian's
conical head turned briefly in the direction Cha Thrat was headed, and it said, Not unless it was feeling that the tunnel walls were closing in on itv and it wanted to treat threatened claustrophobia with a* jolt of
agoraphobia by walking on the outer hull. This, is no job for a Corps senior non-com shortly, if what the Major says is true,
to be promoted Lieutenant.”

This is no job for anybody, so don't worry about it, the
Earth-human said. It turned to look pointedly along,the corridor to the left. On the other hand, it could be contemplating
a visit to the VTXM section. Stupid in a lightweight suit, of course, but
maintenance trainees have to be stupid or they'd try for some other job.”

The Kelgian made
an angry sound that did not translate, then said, Why is it that nowhere
in the vast immensity of explored space have we discovered yet a single life-form whose body wastes smell nice?”

My furry friend, the Earth-human said, I think you may have touched upon one of the great
philosophical truths. And on the
subject of inexplicable phenomena, how could a Melfan Size Three dilator get into their waste-disposal system
and travel through four levels before it gummed up the works down here?”

She could see the Kelgian's fur rippling under its coveralls as it said, Do you think that
DCNF is stupid? Is it going to stand there watching us all day? Is it intending to follow us home?”

From what I've heard about Sommaradvans, the DBDG replied, still not looking directly at
her, I'd say it wasn't so much stupid as a bit
slow-witted.”

Definitely
slow-witted, the Keigian agreed.

But Cha Thrat had already realized that, cloaked though they were by statements that were derogatory and personally insulting, the overheard conversation had contained three accurate points of reference which would easily enable her to establish her position and return to the planned route. She regarded the two maintenance people for a moment, sorry that she was forbidden to speak to them as they were to her. Quickly
she made the formal sign of thanks between equals,
then turned away to move in the only direction the two
beings had nor discussed.

I
think, the Kelgian said, it made a rude gesture with its forward
medial limb,”

In its
place, the Earth-human replied, I'd have done the same.”

During the
remainder of that interminable journey she double-checked every change of
direction and kept watch for any unexpected alterations in color codings on the
way to Level One Twenty, and paused only once to make another large dent in her
food store. When she opened Access Hatch Twelve and climbed into Corridor
Seven, Timmins was already there.

Well done,
Cha Thrat, you made it, the Earth-human said, showing its teeth.
Next time I'd better make the trip a little longer, and a lot more
complicated. After that I'll let you help out with a few simple jobs. You may as well start earning your keep.”

Feeling pleased
and a little confused, she
said, I thought I arrived early. Have I kept you waiting long?”

Timmins shook its
head. Your distress beacon was for your own personal reassurance in case yoir felt lost or frightened. It was part of the test. But we keep permanent tracers on our people at all times, so I was aware of every move you made. Devious, aren't I? But you passed very close to a maintenance team at one stage. I hope you
didn't ask them for directions. You know the rule.”

Cha Thrat wondered if there was any rule in Sector General so inflexible
that it could not be bent out of shape, and she hoped that the outer signs of her embarrassment could not be read by a member of another species.

No,
she replied truthfully, we didn't speak to eachother”

Chapter 10

In the event, she
was not given a job until Timmins had shown her the full range and complexity of the work that, one day, she might be capable of
taking on. It was obvious that the
Earth-human was quietly but intensely proud of its Maintenance Department and,
with good reason, was
showing off while trying to instill a little of its own pride in her. True, much of the work was
servile, but there were aspects of it that called
for the qualities of a warrior or
even a minor ruler. Unlike the rigid stratification of labor practiced on Sommaradva, however, in the Maintenance Department advancement toward the higher
levels was encouraged.

Timmins was doing an awful lot of encouraging, and seemed to be spending an unusually large proportion of its time showing her around.

With respect, she said after one particularly interesting tour of the low-temperature methane levels, your rank and obvious ability suggest that you have more important uses for your time than spending it with me, your most recent and, I suspect, most technically ignorant maintenance trainee. Why am I given this special treatment?”

Timmins laughed quietly and said, You mustn't think that I'm neglecting more important work to be with you, Cha Thrat. If I'm needed
I can be contacted without delay. But that is unlikely to happen because my
subordinates try very hard to make me feel redundant.

You should
find the next section particularly interesting, it went on. It is
the VTXM ward, which, strange as it may seem, forms part of the main reactor.
You know from your medical lectures that the Telfi are a gestalt life-form who
live by the direct absorption of hard radiation, so that all patient
examination and treatment is by remote-controlled sensors and manipulators. To
be assigned to maintenance in this area you would need special training in—”

Special
training, Cha Thrat broke in, beginning to lose her patience, means
special treatment. I have already asked this question. Am I being given special
treatment?”

Yes,
the Earth-human said sharply. It waited while a refrigerated vehicle containing
one of the frigid-blooded SNLU methane-breathers rolled past, then went on.
Of course you are being given special treatment.”

Why?”

Timmins did not
reply.

Why do you
not answer this simple question? she persisted.

Because,
the Earth-human said, its face deepening in color, your question does not
have a simple answer, and I'm not sure if I am the right person to give it to
you, since I might also give offense, cause you mental pain, insult you, or
make you angry.”

Cha Thrat walked
in silence for a moment, then said, I think that your consideration for
my feelings makes you the right person. And a subordinate who has acted wrongly
may indeed feel mental pain or anger or intense self-dislike but surely,
if the superior speaks justly, no offense can be taken nor insult given.”

The Earth-human shook its head in a gesture, she had learned, that could mean either negation or puzzlement. It said, There are times, Cha Thrat, when you make me feel like the subordinate. But what the hell, I'll
try to answer. You are being
accorded special treatment because of the wrong we did to you and the mental discomfort we have caused, and there are several
important people who feel obligated to do something about it.”

But surely, she said
incredulously, I am the one who has behaved wrongly.”

That you have, Timmins said, but as a direct result of us wronging you first. The Monitor Corps are
responsible for allowing, no, encouraging
you to come here in the first place, and waiving the entry requirements. The wrongdoing that followed this combination of
misguided gratitude for saving Chiang's life and sheer political opportunism was
the inevitable result.”

But I wanted to come, Cha Thrat protested, and I still want to stay.”

To punish yourself for recent
misdeeds? Timmins asked quietly.
I've been trying to convince you that we are originally to blame for those.”

I am not mentally or morally warped, she replied, trying to control her anger at what, on her home world, would have been a grave insult. I accept just punishment, but I would not seek to inflict it on myself. There are some very disquieting and unpleasant aspects to life here, but in no level of Sommaradvan society could I be subject to such a variety and intensity of experience. That is why I would like to stay.”

The Earth-human
was silent for a moment, then
it said, Conway, O'Mara, and Cresk-Sar among others, even
Hredlichli, were sure that your reasons for wanting to stay here were positive rather than negative and thatthere was little chance of my getting you to agree to a return home...”

It broke off as
Cha Thrat stopped dead in the corridor. Angrily she said, Have you been
discussing with all these people my deeds and misdeeds, my competence or
incompetence, perhaps my future prospects, without inviting me to be present?”

Move,
you're causing a traffic problem, Timmins said. And there is no
reason for anger. Since that business during the Hudlar demo there isn't a
single being in the hospital who has not talked about your deeds,
misdeeds, competence, or lack thereof, and your highly questionable future prospects
in the hospital. Having you present at ail those discussions was not possible.
But if you want to know what was said about you in great and interminable detail—the serious
discussions, that is, as opposed to mere
hospital gossip—I believe O'Mara has
added the recordings to your psych file and might play them back to you on request. Or again, he might not.

Alternatively,
it went on when they were moving again, you may wish me to give you a brief summary of these
discussions, inaccurate in that the excess verbiage and the more impolite and colorful phraseology will be deleted.”

That,
Cha Thrat said, is what I wish. Very well, it replied. Let me begin by saying
that the Monitor Corps personnel and all of the senior medical
staff members involved are responsible for this situation. During
the initial interview with O'Mara you
mentioned that the lengthy delay in your decision to treat Chiang was that you did not want to lose a limb. O'Mara assumed, wrongly, that you were referring
only to Chiang's limb, and he thinks that in an other-species interview he should have been more alert to the exactmeaning
of the words spoken, and that he is primarily responsible for your self-amputation.

Conway feels responsible, it went on,
because he ordered you to perform the Hudlar limb removal without knowing anything about your very strict code of
professional ethics. Cresk-Sar thinks it should have questioned you more closely on the same subject. Both of them
believe that you would make a fine other-species surgeon if you could be deconditioned and reeducated. And
Hred-lichli blames itself for
ignoring the special friendship that developed between you and AUGL-One
Sixteen. And, of course, the Monitor Corps, which is originally responsible for
the problem, suggested a solution that would give the minimum displeasure to everyone.”

By transferring me to Maintenance, she finished for it.

That was never a serious suggestion, the Earth-human said,
because we couldn't believe that you would accept it. No, we wanted to send you home.”

A small part of her mind was moving her body forward and around the heavier or more senior staff members, while the rest of it felt angry and bitterly disappointed in the
life-form beside her that she had begun to think of as a friend.

Naturally,
Timmins went on, we tried to take your feelings into account. You were interested in meeting and working with off-planet life-forms, so we would give you a cultural liaison
position, as an advisor on
Sommar-advan affairs, on our base there. Or on Descartes, our largest specialized other-species contact vessel, which will be orbiting your world until another new
intelligent species is discovered somewhere. Your position would be one of considerable responsibility, and could not be influenced in any way by the people who dislike you on Sommaradva.

Naturally,
nothing could be guaranteed at this stage, it continued. But
subject to your satisfactory performance with us you would be allowed to choose
between a permanent position with the Corps' Sommar-adva establishment as an
interspecies cultural advisor or as a member of the contact team on Descartes.
We tried to do what we thought was best for you, friend, and everyone else.”

You
did, Cha Thrat said, feeling her anger and disappointment melting away.
Thank you.”

We thought
it was a reasonable compromise, Tim-mins said. But O'Mara said no.
He insisted that you be given a maintenance job here in the hospital and have
the Corps induction procedures attended to as quickly as possible.”

Why?”

I don't
know why, it replied. Who knows how a Chief Psychologist's mind
works?”

Why,
she repeated, must I join your Monitor Corps?”

Oh,
that, Timmins said. Purely for administrative convenience. The
supply and maintenance of Sector General is our responsibility, and anyone who
is not a patient or on the medical staff is automatically a member of the Monitor
Corps. The personnel computer has to know your name, rank, and number so as to be able to pay your salary and so we can tell you what to do.

Theoretically,
it added.

I have
never disobeyed the lawful order
of a superior. .. Cha Thrat began, when it held up its hand again.

A Corps
joke, don't worry about it, Timmins said. The point I'm trying to make is that our Chief Psychologist bears the
administrative rank of major, but it is difficult to define the limits of his authority in this place., because he orders full Colonels and Diagnosticiansaround, and
not always politely. Your own rank of junior technician, Environmental
Maintenance, Grade Two, which became effective as soon as we received O'Mara's
instructions, will not give you as much leeway.”

Please,
she said urgently, this is a serious matter. It is my understanding that the Monitor Corps
is an organization of warriors. It has been many generations on Sommaradva
since our warrior-level citizens fought together in battle. Peace and
present-day technology offer danger enough. As a warrior-surgeon I am required
to heal wounds, not inflict them.”

Seriously,
the Earth-human said, I think your information on the Corps came chiefly
from the entertainment channels. Space battles and hand-to-hand combat are an extremely rare occurrence, and the
library tapes will give you a much
truer, and more boring, description of what we do and why we do it. Study the
material. You'll find that there will be no conflict of loyalty between your
duties to the Corps, your home
world, or your ethical standards.

We've
arrived, it added briskly, pointing at the sign on the heavy door
before them. From here on we'll need heavy radiation armor. Oh, you've another question?”

It's about
my salary, she said hesitantly.

Timmins laughed
and said, I do so hate these altruistic types who consider money unimportant. The pay at your present rank isn't large. Personnel will
be able to tell you the equivalent in
Sommaradvan currency, but then there isn't much to spend it on here. You can always save it and your leave allowance and travel. Perhaps visit your AUGL friend on Chalderescol sometime, or go to—”

There would
be enough money for an
interstellar trip like that? she broke in.

The Earth-human
went into a paroxym of coughing, recovered, then said, There would not
be enough money to pay for an interstellar trip. However, because of the
isolated position of Sector General, free Corps transport is available for
physiologically suitable hospital personnel to travel to their home planets or,
with a bit of fiddling, to the planet of your choice. The money could be spent
there, enjoying yourself. Now will you please get into that armor?”

Cha Thrat did not
move and the Earth-human watched her without speaking.

Finally she said,
I am being given special treatment, shown areas where I am not qualified
to work and mechanisms that I can't hope to use for a very long time. No doubt
this is being done as an incentive, to show me what is possible for me to
achieve in the future. I understand and appreciate the thinking behind this,
but I would much prefer to stop sightseeing and do some simple, and useful, work.”

Well, good
for you! Timmins said, showing its teeth approvingly. We can't look
directly at the Telfi anyway, so we aren't missing much. Suppose you begin by
learning to drive a delivery sled. A small one, at first, so that an accident will
damage you more than the hospital structure. And you'll have to really master
your internal geography, and be able to navigate accurately and at speed
through the service tunnel network.
It seems to be a law of nature that when a ward or diet kitchen has to be resupplied, the requisition is always
urgent and usually arrives late.

We'll head
for the internal transport hangar now, it ended, unless you have another question?”

She had, but
thought it better to wait until they were moving again before asking it.

What about
the damage to the AUGL ward for whichI was indirectly responsible? she
said. Will the cost be deducted from my salary?”

Timmins showed
its teeth again and said, I'd say that it would take about three years to
pay for the damage caused by your AUGL friend. But when the damage was done you were one of the
medical trainee crazies, not a serious and responsible member of the
Maintenance Department, so don't worry about it.”

She did not worry about it because, for the rest of the day, there were far
more important things to worry about—principally the control and guidance of
the uncontrollable and misguided, multiply accursed heap of machinery called an
antigravity sled.

In operation the
vehicle rode a repulsion cushion so that there was no contact with the deck,
and changes in direction were effected by lowering friction pads, angling the thrusters, or, for fine control, leaning
sideways. If emergency braking was necessary, the power was switched off. This caused the vehicle to drop to
the deck and grind noisily to
a halt. But this maneuver was discouraged because it made the driver very
unpopular with the service crew who had to realign the repulsor grids.

By the end of the day her vehicle had slipped and spun all over the transport hangar floor, hit
every collapsible marker that she was supposed to steer around, and generally displayed a high level of
noncooperation. Timmins gave her a packet
of study tapes, told her to look over them before next morning, and said that her driving was pretty good for a beginner.

Three days later she began to believe it.

I drove a sled with a trailer attached, both fully loaded, from Level Eighteen to Thirty-three, she told Tarsedth, when her one-time classmate visited
her for the customary evening
gossip. I did it Using only theservice tunnels, and without hitting
anything or anybody.”

Should I be
impressed? the Kelgian asked.

A
little, Cha Thrat said, feeling more than a little deflated. What's
been happening to you?”

Cresk-Sar
transferred to me LSVO Surgical, Tar-sedth said, its fur rippling in an
unreadable mixture of emotions. It said I was ready to broaden my
other-species nursing experience, and working with a light-gravity life-form
would improve my delicacy of touch. And anyway, it said, Charge Nurse
Lentilatsar, the rotten, chlorine-breathing slimy slob, was not entirely happy
with the way I exercised my initiative. What tape is that? It looks massively
uninteresting.”

To the
contrary, Cha Thrat said, touching the pause stud. The screen showed a
picture of a group of Monitor Corps officers meeting the great Earth-human
MacEwan and the equally legendary Orligian Grawlya-Ki, the true founders, it
was said, of Sector General hospital. It's the history, organization, and
present activities of the Monitor Corps. I find it very interesting, but
ethically confusing. For example, why must a peace-keeping force be so heavily
armed?”

Because,
stupid, it couldn't if it wasn't, Tarsedth said. It went on quickly. But on the subject of the Monitor Corps I'm an
expert. A lot of Kelgians
join these days, and I was going to try for a position as Surgeon-Lieutenant, a ship's medic, that is, and might still do it if 1 don't
qualify here.

Of
course, it went on enthusiastically, there are other, nonmilitary,
openings...”

As the Galactic
Federation's executive and law-enforcement arm, the Monitor Corps was essentially a police force on an
interstellar scale, but during the first century since it had come into
existence it had becomemuch more. Originally, when the Federation naa comprised a rather unstable alliance of only four
inhabited systems—Nidia, Orligia,
Traltha, and Earth—its personnel had been exclusively Earth-human. But those
Earth-humans were responsible for discovering other inhabited systems, and more
and more intelligent life-forms, and for establishing friendly contact with them.

The result was that the Federation now numbered among its citizens close on seventy different
species— the figure was constantly being revised upward—and the peace-keeping function had
taken second place to that of the Survey, Exploration, and Other-species Communications activities. The people
with the heavy weaponry did not mind because a police force, unlike an army, feels at its most effective when there is nothing for it to do but keep in training by carving up the odd mineral-rich asteroid for the mining people, or clearing and
leveling large tracts of virgin land on a newly discovered world in preparation for the landing of colonists.

The last time a Monitor Corps police action had been indistinguishable from an act of war had been nearly two decades ago, when they had defended Sector General itself from the badly misguided Etlans, who had
since become law-abiding
citizens of the Federation. A few
of them had even joined the Corps.

Nowadays
membership is open to any species, Tarsedth continued, although for physiological reasons, life-support and accommodation problems on board the smaller ships, most of the space-going
personnel are warm-blooded oxygen-breathers.

Like I said, the Kelgian went on, undulating forward and restarting the tape, there are lots of interesting openings for restless, adventurous, home-hating types like us. You could do worse than join.”

I have
joined, Cha Thrat said. But driving a gravity sled isn't exactly
adventurous.”

Tarsedth's fur
spiked in surprise, then settled down again as it said, Of course you
have. Stupid of me, I'd forgotten that all nonmedical staff are automatically
coopted into the Monitor Corps. And I've seen how you people drive. Adventurous
verging on the suicidal best describes it. But you made a good decision.
Congratulations.”

The decision had
been made for her, Cha Thrat thought wryly, but that did not mean that it was
necessarily a wrong decision. They had settled back to watch the remainder of the Monitor Corps history
tape when Tarsedth's fur became agitated again.

I'm worried
about you and the Corps people, Cha Thrat, the Kelgian said suddenly.
They can be a bit stuffy about some things, easy-going about others.
Just study and work hard. And think carefully before you do anything that will get you
kicked out.”

Chapter 11

Time slipped
past and Cha Thrat felt that she was making no progress at all, until one day she realized that she was performing as routine tasks that only a
little earlier would have been impossible. Much of the work was servile but, strangely, she was becoming increasingly interested in it and felt proud when she did it well.

Sometimes the
morning assignments contained unpleasant surprises.

Today you
will begin moving power cells and other consumables to the ambulance ship Rhabwar,
Timmins said, consulting its
worksheet. But there is a small job I want you to do first—new vegetable decoration for the AUGL ward. Study the attachment instructions
before you go so that the
medics will think you know what you're doing... Is there a problem, Cha Thrat?”

There were other
and more senior technicians in her section—three Kelgians, an Ian, and an Orligian—waiting for the day's
assignments. She doubted her ability to take over one of their jobs, and hers was probably too elementary for the
Lieutenant to consider swapping assignments, but she had to try.

Perhaps the
Earth-human would accord her some of the earlier special treatment that, for some reason, had been completely absent since she had been put
to work.

'There is a problem,
Cha Thrat said quietly. The note of pleading in her voice was probably lost in the process of translation, she thought as she went on. As you know, I am not well liked by Charge Nurse Hred-. lichli, and my presence in the AUGL ward is likely tjb cause, at very least, verbal unpleasantness. The bad fe/al-ing for which I am largely responsible may fade in tim e, but right now I think that it would be better to seiud someone else.”

Timmins
regarded her silently for a moment, then it smiled and said, Right now, Cha Thrat, I wouldn't want to send anyone else to the AUGL ward. Don't worry about it.

Krachlan,
it went on briskly. You are for Level Eighty-three, another fault reported in the power
converter at Station Fourteen B. We may have to replace the unit...”

All the way to
the Chalder level, Cha Thrat seethed quietly as she wondered how such a stupid, insensitive, cross-species
miscegenation as Timmins had risen to its high rank and responsibilities
without sustaining mortal injury at the hands, claws, or tentacles of a
subordinate. By the time she reached the AUGL ward and entered inconspicuously
by the service tunnel lock, she had calmed sufficiently to remember a few, a
very few, of Timmins's good qualities.

She was relieved
when nobody came near her as she went to work. All of the patients and nursing
staff seemed to be congregated at the other end of the ward and dimly, through
the clouded green water, she could see the distinctive coveralls of a transfer team member. Plainly something of
great interest was happening back there, which meant that with luck she would
be able to complete her work undisturbed and unnoticed.

Seemingly it was
not to be her lucky day.

It's you
again, said the familiar, acid-tongued voice of Hredlichli, who had
approached silently from behind her. How long will it take for you to finish hanging that vile stuff?”

J  Most of the morning, Charge
Nurse, Cha Thrat re-•plifed politely.

t She did not want to get into an argument with the chilorine-breather, and it seemed as if one were about to stiirt. She wondered if it was possible to forestall it by doing all the talking herself on a subject that Hredlichii could not argue about, the
improved comfort of its patients.

The reason for it taking so long to install, Charge Nurse, she said quickly, is that
this vegetation isn't the usual plastic
reproduction. I've been told that it has just arrived from Chalderescol, that it is a native underwater plant-form, very hardy and requiring the minimum of at-tention, and that it releases a pleasant, waterborne aroma that is said to be psychologically beneficial to the recuperating patient.

Maintenance
will periodically check its growth and genera! health, she went on before the
chlorine-breather could respond, and supply the nutrient material. But the patients could be given the job of caring for
it, as something interesting to do
to relieve their b 5redom, and to leave the nurses free to attend—”

Cha Thrat, Hredlichli broke in sharply, are you telling me how I should run my ward?”

No,
she replied, wishing not for the first time that her mouth did not run so far ahead of her
mind. I apologize, Charge Nurse. I no longer have responsibility for any aspect of patient care, and I did not wish to imply that I did. While I am here I shall not even talk to a patient.”

Hredlichli made
an untranslatable sound, then said, You'll talk to one patient, at least. That is why I asked Timmins to send you here today. Your friend, AUGL-One Sixteen, is going home, and I thought you might want to wish it well—everybody else in the ward seems to be doing so. Leave that disgusting mess you're working on and finish it later.”

Cha Thrat could not speak for a moment. Since the transfer to Maintenance she had lost contact with
her Chalder friend, and knew only that it was still on the hospital's list of patients under treatment. The most she had hoped for today, and it had been a pretty forlorn hope, was that Hredlichli would allow her a few words with the patient while she was working. But this was completely unexpected.

Thank
you, Charge Nurse, she said finally. This is most considerate of you.”

The
chlorine-breather made another untranslatablenoise. It
said, Since I was appointed Charge Nurse here I've been agitating to have
this antiquated underwater dungeon redecorated, reequipped, and converted into
something resembling a proper ward. Thanks to you that is now being done, and
once I recovered from the initial trauma of having my ward wrecked, I decided
that I owed you one.

Even
so, it added, I shall not suffer terminal mental anguish if I don't
see you again after today.”

AUGL-One Sixteen
had already been inserted into its transfer tank and only the hatch above its
head remained to be sealed, after which it would be moved through the lock in
the outer hull and across to the waiting Chalder ship. A group comprised of well-wishing nurses,
visibly impatient transfer team members, and the Earth-human O'Mara hung around
the opening like a shoal of ungainly fish, but the loud, bubbling sounds from
the tank's water-purifying equipment made it difficult to hear what was being said. As she approached, the Chief
Psychologist waved the others back.

Keep it
short, Cha Thrat, the team is behind schedule, O'Mara said, turning away
and leaving her alone with the ex-patient.

For what seemed a long time she looked at the one enormous eye and the great teeth in the part of its head visible through the open seal, and the words she wanted to speak would
not come. Finally she said, That looks like a very small tank, are you comfortable in
there?”

Quite
comfortable, Cha Thrat, the Chalder replied. Actually, it isn't much smaller than my accommodation on the
ship. But that constriction will be temporary, soon I'll have a planetary ocean to swim in.

And before
you ask, the AUGL went on, I am feeling fine, really well, in fact, so you don't have to gopoking about in this
pain-free and disgustingly heaitny body checking my vital signs.”

I don't ask questions like that anymore, Cha Thrat said, wishing suddenly that she could laugh like
Earth-humans to hide the fact
that she did not feel like laughing. I'm in Maintenance now, so my
instruments are much larger and would be very much more uncomfortable.”

O'Mara told
me about that, the Chalder said. Is the work interesting?”

Neither of them,
Cha Thrat felt sure, were saying the things they wanted to say.

Very interesting, she replied. I'm learning a lot about the inner workings of this place, and the
Monitor Corps pays me, not very much, for doing it. When I've saved enough to take some leave on Chalderescol,
I'll go and see how everything is
with you.”

If you visited me, Cha Thrat, the AUGL broke in, you would not be allowed to spend
any of your hard-earned Monitor currency on Chalderescol. As you are a name-user and off-world member of my family,
they would be deeply insulted, and would probably have you for lunch, if you tried.”

In that case, Cha Thrat said happily, I shall probably visit you quite soon.”

If you
don't swim clear, Technician, said an
Earth-human in Transfer Team coveralls who had
appeared beside her, we'll seal you in the tank now, and you can damn well travel there with your friend!”

Muromeshomon,
she said quietly as the seal was closing, may you fare well.”

When she turned to go back to the unplanted vegetation, Cha Thrat's mind was concentrated on
her Chalder friend to such an extent that she did not
think of the impropriety of what she, a mere
second-grade techni-cian, said to the Earth-human Monitor Corps Major as she
passed it.

My
congratulations, Chief Psychologist, she said gratefully, on a most
successful! spell.”

O'Mara responded
by opening its mouth, but not even an untranslatable sound came out.

The three days
that followed were spent on the Rhab-war resupply job, bringing crew
consumables and time-expired equipment to the largely Earth-human maintenance
people charged with bringing the ambulance ship to peak operating efficiency,
and occasionally assisting with the installation of some of the simpler items.
On its next trip Rhabwar would be carrying Diagnostician Conway, a
former leader of its medical team, and the present crew did not want it to find
any cause for complaint.

On the fourth
day, Timmins asked Cha Thrat to wait while the other assignments were given out.

You seem to
be very interested in our special ambulance ship, the Lieutenant said
when they were alone. I'm told that you've been climbing all over and
through it, and mostly when it's empty and you are supposed to be off-duty. Is this so?”

Yes,
sir, Cha Thrat said
enthusiastically. It is a complex and beautifully functional vessel,
judging by what I've heard and seen, and it is almost a miniature version of the hospital itself. The casualty treatment and
other-species environmental arrangements are especially. .. She broke off, to add warily, I would not try to test or use any of this equipment without permission.”

I should
hope not! the Lieutenant said. All
right, then. I have another job for you, on Rhabwar, if you think you can do it. Come with me.”

It was a small
compartment that had been convertedfrom a post-op recovery room, ana it suit reiameu us direct access to the ELNT Operating Theater. The
ceiling had been lowered, which indicated that the occupant-to-be either
crawled or did not stand very tall, and the plumbing and power supply lines, revealed by the incomplete wall
paneling, bore the color codings for a warm-blooded oxygen-breather with normal
gravity and atmospheric pressure requirements.

The wall panels
that were in place had been finished to resemble rough planking with a strangely textured grain which resembled a mineral rather than
wood. There was an untidy heap of decorative vegetation on the floor waiting to be hung, and beside it a
large picture of a landscape that
could have been taken in any forested lakeland on Sommaradva, if it had not
been for subtle differences in the tree formations.

The framework and
padding of a small, low-level bed was placed against the wall facing the entrance. But the most noticeable feature of the room, after she
had blundered painfully against it, was the transparent wall that divided it in two. At one end of the wall there
was a large door, outlined in red
for visibility, and a smaller, central opening that contained remote handling
and examination equipment capable of reaching across to the bed.

This room
is being prepared for a very special patient, Timmins said. It is a
Gogleskan, physiological classification FOKT, who is a personal friend of Diagnostician Conway. The patient, indeed its
whole species, has serious problems about which you can brief yourself when you have more time. It is a gravid female nearing full term. There are psychological factors that
require that it receives constant reassurance, and Conway is clearing his present workload during the next few
weeks so that he will be
free to travel to
Goglesk, pick up thepatient, and return with it to Sector General in plenty of
time before the event takes place.”

I
understand, Cha Thrat said.

What I want
you to do, Timmins went on, is to set up a smaller and simpler
version of this accommodation on Rhabwar's casualty deck. You will draw
the components from Stores and be given full assembly instructions. The work is
slightly above your present technical level, but there is ample time for
someone else to complete the job if you can't do it. Do you want to try?”

Oh,
yes, she said.

Good,
the Earth-human said. Look closely at this place. Pay special attention
to the attachment fittings of the transparent wall. Don't worry too much about
the remote-controlled manipulators because the ship has its own. The patient
restraints will have to be tested, but only under the supervision of one of the
medical team who will be visiting you from time to time.

Unlike this
compartment, it went on, your casualty deck facility will be in use
only during the trip from Goglesk to the hospital, so the wall covering will be
a plastic film, painted to represent the wood paneling here and applied to the
ship's inner plating and bulkheads. This saves on installation time and,
anyway, Captain Fletcher would not approve of us boring unnecessary holes in
his ship. When you think you understand what you will be doing, collect the
material from Stores and take it to the ship. I'll see you there before you go
off-duty. ..”

Why the
transparent wall and remote
handling equipment? Cha Thrat asked quickly, as the Lieutenant turned to go. An FOKT classification doesn't sound
like a particularly large or dangerous life-form.”

... To answer any questions not covered by your information tape, it ended firmly. Enjoy
yourself. •The days that followed were not particularly enjoyable except
in retrospect. The tri-di drawings and assembly instructions gave her a
permanent headache during the first day and night but, from then on, Timmins's visits to check on
progress became less and less frequent. There were three visits from Charge
Nurse Nay-drad, the Kelgian member of the medical team who, Tarsedth informed
her, was an expert in heavy rescue techniques.

Cha Thrat was
polite without being subservient and Naydrad, in the manner of all Kelgians,
was consistently rude. But it did not find fault with her work, and it an-,
swered any questions that it did not consider either irrelevant or stupid.

I do not
fully understand the reason for the transparent division in this
compartment, she said during one of its visits. The Lieutenant tells me it is for psychological reasons,
so that the patient will feel protected. But surely it would feel more
protected by an opaque wall and a small window. Is the FOKT in need of a wizard
as well as an obstetrician?”

A wizard?
said the Kelgian in surprise, then it went on. Of course, you must be the ex-medical trainee they're all talking about who thinks O'Mara is a
witchdoctor. Personally, I think you're right. But it isn't just the patient, Khone, who needs a wizard, it's the whole planetary population of Goglesk. Khone is a
volunteer, a test case and a very brave or stupid FOKT.”

I still don't understand, Cha Thrat said. Could you explain,
please?”

No,
Naydrad replied. I don't have the time to explain all the ramifications of the case,
especially to a maintenance technician who has a morbid curiosity but no direct
concern, or who feels lonely and wants to talkinstead of work. Be glad you
have no responsibility, this is a very tricky one.

Anyway,
it went on, pointing toward the viewer and reference shelves at the other side
of the compartment, our copy of the case-history tape runs for over two
hours, if you're that interested. Just don't take it off the ship.”

She continued
working, in spite of a constant temptation to break off for a quick look at the
FOKT tape, until the maintenance engineer who had been checking Control poked
its Earth-human head into the casualty deck.

Time for
lunch, it said. I'm going to the dining hall. Coming?”

No, thank
you, she. replied. There's something 1 have to do here.”

This is the
second time in three days you've missed lunch, the Earth-human said. Do Sommaradvans have some kind of crazy work
ethic? Aren't you hungry, or is it just an understandable aversion to hospital food?”

No, yes very, and sometimes, Cha Thrat said.

I've a pack of sandwiches, it said. Guaranteed nutritious, nontoxic to all oxy-breathers and if
you don't look too' closely at what's inside, you should be able to make them stay down. Interested?”

Very
much, Cha Thrat replied gratefully, thinking that now she would be able to satisfy her complaining stomach and spend
the whole lunch period watching
the FOKT tape.

The muted but
insistent sound of the emergency siren brought her mind back from Goglesk and its peculiar problems to the realization that she had spent much longer than the stipulated lunch period watchjng the tape, and that the empty ship was rapidly filling with people.

She saw three
Earth-humans in Monitor Corps greengo past the casualty deck entrance, heading toward Control, and a few minutes later the lumpy green ball
that was Danalta rolled
onto the casualty deck. It was closely followed by an Earth-human, wearing
whites with Pathology Department insignia, who had to be the DBDG female, Murchison; then Naydrad and Prilicla
entered, the Kelgian
undulating rapidly along the deck and the insectile Cinrusskin empath using the ceiling. The Charge Nurse went straight to
the viewer, which was still running the FOKT tape, and switched it off as two
more Earth-humans came in.

One of them was
Timmins and the other, judging by the uniform insignia and its air of authority, was the ship's ruler, Major Fletcher. It was the
Lieutenant who spoke first.

How long will it take you to finish here? it said.

The rest of today, Cha Thrat replied promptly, and most of the night.”

Fletcher shook
its head.

I could bring in more people, sir, Timmins said. They would have to be briefed on the job, which would waste some time. But I'm sure I could shorten
that to four, perhaps three hours.”

The ship ruler shook its head again.

There is
only one alternative, the Lieutenant said.

For the first time Fletcher looked directly at Cha Thrat. It said, The Lieutenant tells me that you are capable of completing
and testing this facility yourself. Are you?”

Yes,
Cha Thrat said.

Have you any objections to doing so during a three-day trip to Goglesk?”

No,
she said firmly.

The Earth-human
looked up at Prilicla, the leader of the ship's
medical team, not needing to speak.

I fee! no
strong objections from my colleagues to this being accompanying us, friend Fletcher, the empath said, since
this is an emergency.”

In that
case, Fletcher said as it turned to go, we leave in fifteen minutes.”

Timmins looked as
if it wanted to say
something, a word of caution, perhaps, or advice, or reassurance. Instead it
held up a loosely clenched fist with the oppos-able thumb projecting vertically
from it in a gesture she had
not seen it make before, and then it, too, was gone. Cha Thrat heard the sound
of its feet on the metal floor of the ship's boarding tube and, in spite of the four widely different
life-forms closely surrounding her, suddenly she felt ail alone.

Don't
worry, Cha Thrat, Prilicla said, the musical triils and clicks of its native speech backing
the translated words. You are
among friends.”

There's a problem, Naydrad said. No acceleration furniture to suit that stupid shape of yours. Lie down
on a casualty litter and I'll strap you in.”

Chapter 12

The FOKT facility was completed and thoroughly
tested, first by Naydrad and then, on the orders of Major Fletcher, by Rhabwar^ engineer officer, Lieutenant Chen. That,
apart from brief meetings on the way to or from the combination dining area and recreationdeck,
was her only direct contact with any of the ship'sofficers.

It was not that
they tried to discourage such contact between the officer-ruler level and a
being of the lowest technical rank, or that they deliberately tried to make her
feel inferior. They did neither. But all Monitor Corps personnel who passed the
very high technical and academic requirements for service on interstellar ships
were automatically considered, at least to the status-conscious mind of a Sommaradvan, to be as close to ruler status as made no difference. Without meaning to give
offense they kept slipping into a
highly technical and esoteric , language of their own, and they made her feel very uncomfortable.

In any case she felt more at home with the civilian medics than with the beings who, apart from a few small but significant badges on their collars, wore
the same uniform as she did. As well, it was impossible to be in the same company as Prilicla without feeling very
comfortable indeed. So she made herself as inconspicuous as her physiology would permit, reminded herself
constantly that she now belonged to the
maintenance rather than the medical fraternity, and tried very hard not to join in while the others were discussing the mission.

Goglesk had been
a borderline case so far as the Cultural Contact people were concerned. Full
contact with a technologically backward culture could be dangerous because, when the Monitor Corps ships dropped out of their skies, they could
never be sure whether they
were giving the natives
evidence of a future technological goal at which they could aim or a destructive inferiority complex. But the Gogleskans, in spite of their backwardness in the physical sciences and the devastating
racial psychosis that forced them to remain so, were psychologi-cally stable, at least as individuals, and their planet had
not known war for many thousands of years.

The easiest
course would have been for the
Corps to withdraw and leave the Gogleskan culture to continue as it had been doing since the
dawn of its history, and
write their problem off as insoluble. Instead they had made one of their very
few compromises by setting up a small base for the purposes of observation, investigation,
and limited contact.

Progress for any
intelligent species depended on increasing levels of cooperation among its
individuals and family or tribal groups. On Goglesk, however, any attempt at
close cooperation brought drastically reduced intelligence, a mindless urge to
destruction, and serious physical
injury in its wake, so that the Gogleskans had been forced into becoming a race of individualists who had close physical
contact only during the brief reproductive period or while caring for the very young.

The problem had
come about as the result of a solution forced on them in presapient times. They
had been a food source for every predator infesting their oceans, but they,
too, had evolved natural weapons of offense and defense—stings that paralyzed
or killed the smaller life-forms and long cranial tendrils that gave them the
faculty of telepathy by contact. When threatened by large predators they had linked bodies and minds together to
the size required to neutralize
any attacker with their combined stings.

There was fossil evidence on Goglesk of a titanic struggle for survival between them and a gigantic
and particularly ferocius species of ocean predator, a battle that had raged for many, many thousands of years. The FOKTs had won in the end, and had evolved into intelligent land-dwellers, but they had paid a terrible price.

In order to sting to death one of those giant predators,physical and telepathic link-ups ot hundreds of individual FOKTs had been required. A great many of them
had perished, been torn apart or eaten
during every such encounter, and the consequent and oft-repeated death agonies of the slain had been shared
telepathically by every single member of the groups. In an attempt to reduce their suffering,
the effects of the group telepathy had been diluted by the generation of a mindless urge to destroy indiscriminately everything within reach.
But even so, the mental scars
inflicted during their prehistory had not healed.

Once heard, the audible signal emitted by Gogleskans in distress that triggered the process could not
be ignored ' at either the
conscious or unconscious levels, because that call to join represented only one thing—the threat of ultimate danger. And even in present times, when
such threats were imaginary or
insignificant, it made no difference. A joining led inevitably to the mindless
destruction of everything in their immediate vicinity—housing, vehicles, mechanisms, books, or art
objects—that they had been able to build
or accomplish as individuals.

That was why the
present-day Gogleskans would not allow, except on very rare
occasions, anyone to touch or come close to them or even address them in anything but the most impersonal terms, while they fought helplessly and, until Conway's recent visit to the planet, hopelessly
against the conditioning imposed on them by evolution.

It was plain to Cha Thrat that the only subjects that the medical team wanted to discuss were the Gogleskan problems in general and Khone in particular, and
they talked about them endlessly and without arriving anywhere except back to where they had started. Several times she had wanted to make suggestions or ask questions, but found
that if she kept quiet and waited patiently, a form of behavior that had always been foreignto her nature, the ideas and the questions were suggested!
and answered by one of the others.

Usually it was
Naydrad who asked such
questions, although much less politely than Cha Thrat would have j done.

Conway
should be here, the Kelgian said, fur ruffling in disapproval. It
made a promise to the patient J There should be no excuses.”

The yellow-pink
face of Pathologist Murchison deepened in color. On the ceiling Prilicia's
iridescent wings were quivering in response to the emotional radiation being
generated below, but neither the empath nor the female Earth-human spoke.

It is my
understanding, Danalta said suddenly, moving the eye it had extruded to regard the Kelgian, that Conway was
successful in breaching the conditioning of just one Gogleskan, by an
accidental, dangerous, and unprecedented joining of minds. For this reason the
Diagnostician is the only other-species being who has any chance of approaching the patient closely,
much less of touching it before or during the birth. Even though the call came much earlier than
expected, there must be many others in the hospital who are capable and willing to take over the
Diagnostician's workload for the few days necessary
for the trip.

I, too,
think that Conway should have come with us, the shape-changer ended. Khone is its friend, and it promised to do so.”

While Danalta was
speaking, Murchison's face had retained the deep-pink coloration except for patches of
whiteness around its lips, and it was obvious from Prilicla's trembling that the
Pathologist's emotional radiation was anything but pleasant for an empath.

I agree
with you, Murchison said in a tone that suggested otherwise, ''that nobody, not even the
Diagnosti-cian-in-Charge of Surgery, is
indispensable. And rm not defending him simply because he happens to be my life-mate. He can call for assistance from quite a few of
the Senior Physicians who are capable of performing the work. But not quickly, not while surgery is actually in
progress. And the briefings for his operating schedule would have taken time, two hours at least. The
Goglesk call had the Most Urgent
prefix. We had to leave at once, without him.”

Danalta did not
reply, but Naydrad's fur made discontented waves as the Kelgian said, Is this the only excuse Conway gave you for breaking its promise to the
patient? If so, it is
unsatisfactory. We have all had expe-'rience with emergencies arising that necessitated people doing other people's work, without notice or
detailed briefings. There is a lack of consideration being shownfor its patient—”

Which one? Murchison asked angrily. Khone or the being presently under his knife? And an
emergency, in case you've forgotten, occurs spontaneously or because a situation is out of control. It should not be caused deliberately simply because someone feels hon-orbound to be somewhere else.

In any case, it went on, he was in surgery and did not have time to say more than a few
words, which were that we should leave at once without him, and not worryabout it.”

Then it
is you who is making excuses for your life-niate's misbehavior... Naydrad began
when Prilicla, speaking for the first time, interrupted it.

Please,
it said gently, I feel our friend Cha Thrat wanting to say
something.”

As a Senior Physician and leader of Rhabwar's medical team it would have been
quite in order for Prilicla to tell them that their continued bickering was causing itdiscomfort,
and that they should shut their speaking ori- 11 fices forthwith. But she also
knew that the little empath 11 Would never dream of doing any such thing,
because the resultant feelings of embarrassment and guilt over the pain they
had caused their inoffensive, well-loved, and emotion-sensitive team leader
would have rendered it even more uncomfortable.

It was therefore
in Prilicla's own selfish interests to give orders indirectly so as to minimize
trie generation of unpleasant feelings around it. If it felt her wanting to
speak, it was probable that it could also feel that she, too, was wanting to
reduce the current unpleasantness.

They were all
staring at her, and Priiicla had ceased trembling. Plainly the emotion of
curiosity was much less distressing than that which had gone before.

I,
too, Cha Thrat said, have studied the Goglesk tape, and in
particular the material on Khone__”

Surely this
is no concern of yours, Danalta broke in. You are a maintenance
person.”

A most inquisitive maintenance person, Naydrad said. Let it
speak.”

A
maintenance person, she replied angrily, should be inquisitive
about the being for whose accommodation she is responsible! Then she saw
Priiicla begin to tremble again, and controlled her feelings as she went on.
It seems to me that you may be concerning yourselves needlessly. Diagnostician Conway did not speak to Pathologist Murchison as if it felt unduly concerned. What exactly did the
message from Goglesk say about the condition of the patient?”

Nothing,
Murchison said. We know nothing of the clinical picture. It isn't
possible to send a lengthy message from a small, low-powered base like Goglesk. A lot of energy is needed to punch a signal through hyperspace so that—”

Thank
you, Cha Thrat said politely. The technical problems were covered in one of my maintenance
lectures. What did the message say?”

Murchison's face
had deepened in color again as it said, The exact wording was 'Attention, Conway, Sector General. Most
Urgent. Khone requires ambulance ship soonest possible. Wainright, Goglesk Base.'“

For a moment Cha Thrat was silent, ordering her thoughts, then she said, I am assuming
that Healer Khone and its
other-species friend have been keeping themselves informed regarding each other's progress. Probably they have been exchanging lengthier, more detailed and perhaps personal
messages carried aboard the Monitor Corps courier vessels operating in this sector, which would avoid the obvious disadvantages of
information transmitted through hyperspace.”

Naydrad's fur was
indicating that it was about to interrupt. She went on quickly. From my
study of the Gogleskan material, I am also assuming that Khone is, within the limits imposed by its conditioning, an unusually thoughtful
and considerate being who would be unwilling to inconvenience its friends unnecessarily. Even if Conway had not mentioned the subject directly, Khone would already have learned from its sharing of
the Earth-human's mind the full
extent of the duties, responsibilities, and workload carried by a Diagnostician. And Conway, naturally, would be equally well informed about Khone's mind and its probable reaction to that knowledge.

As the
being who wished to be responsible for this patient, she continued, the hyperspace signal was for Conway's attention. But it urgently requested an ambulance ship, not the presence of the
Diagnostician.

Conway
knew why this was so, Cha Thrat went on, because
it also knew as much about Gogleskan preg-nancies as Khone itself did, so it might be that
the literal wording of the signal released Conway from the promise. Knowing that
its patient required nothing more than fasl transport to the hospital, the
Diagnostician was no| overly concerned, and it told you not to be concerned,
either, by its absence.

It may well
be, she ended, that the recent criticism of Diagnostician Conway's
seemingly unethical behavior' was without basis.”

Naydrad turned
toward Murchison and made the closest thing to an apology that a Kelgian could
make as it said, Cha Thrat is probably right, and I am stupid.”

Undoubtedly
right, Danaita joined in. I'm sorry, Pathologist. If I was in
Earth-human form right now, my face would be red.”

Murchison did not
reply but continued to stare at Cha Thrat. The Pathologist's face had returned
to its normal coloration, but otherwise displayed no expression that she could
read. Prilicla drifted toward her until she could feel the slight, regular
down-draft from its wings.

Cha
Thrat, the Cinrusskin said quietly, I have a strong feeling that
you have made a new friend...”

It broke off as
the casualty deck's speaker came to life with the overamplified voice of
Fletcher.

Senior
Physician, Control here. it said. Hyper-space Jump complete and we
are estimating the Goglesk orbiting maneuver in three hours, two minutes. The
lander is powered up and ready to go, so you c transfer your medical gear as
soon as convenient.

We are in
normal-space radio contact with Lieutenant Wainright, it went on,
who wants to talk to you about your patient, Khone.”

Thank you,
Captain, Prilicla replied. We want to talk about Khone as well.
Please relay friend Wainright'smessage to the casualty deck here and to the lander bay when we move out. We can work as we talk.”

Will
do, Fletcher said. Relay complete. You
are through to Senior Physician
Prilicla, Lieutenant. Goahead.”

In spite of the distortion caused by the translation into Sommaradvan, Cha Thrat
could detect the deep anxiety in Wainright's voice. She listened carefully with
only part of her mind on the job
of helping Naydrad load medical equipment onto the litter.

I'm sorry,
Doctor, it said, the original arrangements for the pickup on our
landing area will have to be scrapped. Khone isn't able to travel, and sending
transport manned by off-planet people to collect it from its town will be tricky. At a time like this the
natives are particularly, well, twitchy, and the arrival of visually horrifying
alien monsters to carry it and its unborn child away could cause a joining and—”

Friend Wainright, Prilicla interrupted gently, what is the condition of the patient?”

I  don't  know,
Doctor,   the  Lieutenant replied. When we met three days ago it told me
that Junior would arrive very soon and would I please send for the ambulance ship. It also said that it had to make arrangements to have its patients cared for, and that it
would come to the base shortly
before the lander was due. Then a few hours ago a message was relayed verbally to the base saying that it could not move from its
house, but the bearer of the message could not tell me whether the cause was illness or injury. Also, it asked if you had another power pack for the scanner Conway left with it. Khone has been impressing its patients with that particular marvel of Federation medical science and the energy cell is flat, which would explain why Khone was unableto give us any clinical
information on its own present j condition.”

I'm sure
you are right, friend Wainright, Prilicla I said. However, the
patient's sudden loss of mobility in- 1 dicates a possibly serious condition
that may be deter- 1 iorating. Can you suggest a method of getting it into the ! lander, quickly and with minimum risk to
itself and its j friends?”

Frankly,
no, Doctor, Wainright said. This is going to be a maximum-risk job
from the word go. If it was a member of any other species we know of, I could
load it onto my flyer and bring it to you within a few minutes. But no
Gogleskan, not even Healer Khone, could sit that close to an off-planet
creature without emitting a distress call, and you know what would happen then.”

We
do, Prilicla said, trembling at the thought of the widespread,
self-inflicted property damage to the town and the mental anguish of
the inhabitants that would ensue.

The Lieutenant
went on. Your best bet would be to ignore the base and land as close as possible to Rhone's house, in a small clearing between it and the shore of
an inland lake. I'll circle the area in a flyer and guide you down. Maybe we can devise something on the spot. You'll
need some special remote handling devices to move it out, but I can help you with the external dimensions of Rhone's house and doorways...”

While Cha Thrat helped the rest of the medical team move equipment into the lander, Wainright and the empath continued to
wrestle with the problem. But it
was obvious that they had no clear answers and were, instead,
trying to provide for all eventualities.

Cha
Thrat, Prilicla said, breaking off its
conversation with the base commander. As a nonmember of the crew I cannot give you
orders, but we'll need as manyextra hands down there as we can assemble. You areparticularly well equipped with manipulatory appendages, as well as an understanding of the devices
used to move and temporarily
accommodate the patient, and I feel in you a willingness to accompany us.”

Your
feeling is correct, Cha Thrat said, knowing that the intensity of excitement and gratitude the
other's words had generated made
verbal thanks unnecessary.

If we load any more gadgetry into the lander, Nay-drad said, there won't be enough space
for the patient, much less a hulking great Sommaradvan.”

But there was enough space inside the lander to take all of them, especially when those not wearing
gravity compensators, which was everyone but Prilicla, were further compressed by the lander's savage deceleration. Lieutenant Dodds, Rhabwar's astrogation
officer and the lander's pilot, had been
told that speed had priority over a comfortable ride, and it obeyed that particular order with enthusiasm. So fast and uncomfortable was the descent that Cha Thrat saw nothing of Goglesk until she stepped onto its surface.

For a few moments she thought that she was back on Somrnaradva, standing in a grassy clearing beside the shore of a great inland lake and with the tree-shrouded outlines of a small, servile township in the
middle distance. But the ground beneath her feet was not that of her home planet, and the grass, wildflowers, and
all the vegetation around her were subtly different in color, odor, and leaf structure from their counterparts on Som-maradva. Even the distant trees, although looking incredibly similar to some of the lowland varieties at home, were the products of a completely different evolutionary
background.

Sector General had seemed strange and shocking toher at first, but it had been a fabrication of metal, a gigantic artificial
house. This was a different world!

Is your species afflicted with sudden and inexplicable bouts of
paralysis? Naydrad asked. Stop wasting time and bring out the
litter.”

She was guiding
the powered litter down the unloading ramp when Wainright's flyer landed and
rolled to a stop close beside them. The five Earth-humans who manned the
Goglesk base jumped out. Four of them scattered quickly and began running
toward the town, testing their translation and public address equipment as they
went, while the Lieutenant came toward the lander.

If you have
anything to do that involves two or more of you working closely together,
it said quickly, do it now while the flyer is hiding you from view of the
town. And when you move
out, remain at least five meters apart. If these people see you moving closer together than that, or making actual bodily contact by touching limbs, it won't precipitate a joining, but it will cause them to feel deeply shocked and intensely uncomfortable. You must also—”

Thank you, friend Wainright, Prilicla said gently.
We cannot be reminded too often to be careful.”

The Lieutenant's
features deepened in color, and it did not speak again until, walking i a well-separated line abreast,
they were approaching the
outskirts of the town.

It doesn't look like much to us, Wainright said softly, the feelings behind its words making Prilicla tremble, but they had to fight very hard every day of their lives to achieve it, and I think they're losing.”

The town occupied
a wide crescent of grass and stony outcroppings enclosing a small, natural harbor. There were several jetties projecting into deep water, and most of the craft tied up alongside had
thin, high funnels andpaddle
wheels as well as sails. One of the boats, clearly the legacy of a past
joining, was smoke-blackened and sunk at its moorings. Hugging the water's edge
was a widely separated line of three- and four-story buildings, made of wood,
stone, and dried clay. Ascending ramps running around all four walls gave
access to the upper levels, so that from certain angles the buildings resembled
thin pyramids.

These, according
to the Goglesk tape, were the town's manufacturing and food-processing
facilities, and she thought that the smell of Gogleskan raw fish was just as
unpleasant as that of their Sommaradvan counterparts. Perhaps that was the
reason why the private ' dwellings, whose roofs and main structural supports
were provided by the trees around the edge of the clearing, were so far away
from the harbor.

As they moved
over the top of a small hill, Wainright pointed out a low, partially roofed
structure with a stream running under it. From their elevated position they
could see into the maze of corridors and tiny rooms that was the town's
hospital and Rhone's adjoiningdwelling.

The Lieutenant
began speaking quietly into its suit mike, and she could hear the words of
warning and reassurance being relayed at full volume from the speakers carried
by the four Earth-humans who had precededthem.

Please do
not be afraid, it was saying. Despite the strange and frightening
appearance of the beings you are seeing, they will not harm you. We are here to
collect Healer Khone, at its own request, for treatment in our hospital. While
we are transferring Khone to our vehicle we may have to come very close to the
healer, and this may accidentally cause a call for joining to go out. A joining
must not be allowed to happen, and so we urgeeveryone to move away from your
homes, deep into th forest or far from the shore, so that a distress signal
will not reach you. As an additional safeguard, we will place! around the
healer's home devices that will make a loud, and continuous sound. This sound
will be as unpleasant to you as it is to us, but it will merge with and change
the sound of any nearby distress signal so that it will no longer be a call for joining.”

Wainright looked
toward Prilicla and when the empath signaled its approval, it changed to the
personal suit frequency and went on. Record and rerun that, please, until
I either amend the message or tell you to stop.”

Will they
believe all that? Naydrad called suddenly from its position along the
line. Do they really trust
us off-planet monsters?”

The Lieutenant
moved several paces down the hill before replying. They trust the Monitor Corps because we have been
able to help them in various ways.
Khone trusts Conway for
obvious reasons and as their trusted
healer, it has been able to
convince the townspeople that Conway's horrifying friends are also worthy of trust. The trouble is, Gogleskans are a race of loners who don't always do as they're told.

Some of
them, it went on, could have good reasons for not
wanting to leave their
homes. Illness or infirmity, young children to be cared for, or for reasons that seem good only to a Gogleskan.
That's why we have to use the sound distorters.”

Naydrad seemed
satisfied but Cha Thrat was not. Out of consideration for Prilicla, who would suffer everyone else's feelings of anxiety as well as her own, she remained silent.

Like everyone
else in Maintenance, she knew about those distorters. Suggested and designed by Ees-Tawn, the department's head of Unique Technology, in re-sponse to one of Conway's
long-term Gogleskan requirements, the devices were still in the prototype
stage. If successful they would go into mass production until they were in
every Gogleskan home, factory, and seagoing vessel. It was not expected that
the devices would eliminate joinings entirely, but with sensitive audio
detectors coupled to automatic actuators, it was hoped that the link-ups that
did occur would be limited to a few persons. That would mean that a joining's
destructive potential would be negligible, shorter in duration, and
psychologically less damaging to the beings concerned.

Under laboratory
conditions the distorters were effective against several FOKT distress call
recordings pro-* vided by Conway, but the device had yet to be tested onGoglesk
itself.

The stink of fish
worsened, and the sound of the monitors broadcasting the Lieutenant's message
grew louder as they neared the hospital. Apart from a few glimpses she had of
the Earth-humans moving between the houses at the edge of the clearing, there
were no signs of life inthe town.

Stop
sending now, Wainright briskly said. Anyone who hasn't acted on the
message by now doesn't intend to. Harmon, take up the flyer and give me an
aerial view of this area. The rest of you place the distorters around the
hospital, then stand by. Cha Thrat, Naydrad, ready with the litter?”

Quickly, Cha
Thrat positioned the vehicle close to the entrance of Khone's dwelling, ran out
the rear ramp, and opened the canopy in readiness to receive the patient. They
could not risk touching Khone within sight of other Gogleskans and were hoping
that the little healer would come out and board the vehicle itself. In case it
did not, Naydrad would send in its remote-controlled probe to find out why.

Because they
would make conversation difficult— and so far nothing had happened that could
cause any Gogleskan to emit a distress call—the distorters remained silent.

Friend Khone,
Prilicla said, and the waves of sympathy, reassurance, and friendship emanating
from it were almost palpable. We have come to help you. Please come out.”

They waited for
what seemed like a very long time, but there was neither sight nor sound of
Khone.

Naydrad...
Wainright began.

I'm doing
it, the Kelgian snapped.

The tiny vehicle,
bristling with sound, vision, and biosensors as well as a comprehensive array
of handling devices, rolled across the uneven surface and into Rhone's front
entrance, pushing aside the curtain of woven vegetable fibers that hung there.
The view all around it was projected onto the litter's repeater screen.

Cha Thrat thought
that the probe itself, to someone who did not know its purpose, was a
frightening object. Then she reminded herself that Diagnostician Conway, and
through it Khone, knew all about such mechanisms.

The probe
revealed nothing but a deserted house.

Perhaps
friend Khone required special medication from the hospital and went to get
it, Prilicla said worriedly. But I cannot feel its emotional
radiation, which means that it is either far from here or unconscious. If the
latter, then it may require urgent attention, so we cannot afford to waste time by searching every room and passageway in the hospital with the probe. It will be quicker if I search for it myself.”

Its. iridescent
wings were beating slowly,
already moving it forward when it went on. Move well back, please, so that
your conscious feelings will not obscure the fainter, unconscious radiation of
the patient.”

Wait!
the Lieutenant said urgently. If you nna u, and it awakens suddenly to see you hovering aboveit...”

You are correct, friend Wainright, Prilicla
said. Itmight be frightened into
sending out a distress call. Use your distorters.”

Cha Thrat quickly moved back with the medical team beyond the range of maximum sensitivity for the Cinrusskin's empathic faculty, and they adjusted their headsets to deaden external sounds while enabling them to communicate with each other. As a screaming,
moaning, whistling cacophony erupted
from the distorter posi-, tions around the hospital, Cha Thrat wondered about the depth of unconsciousness of their patient. The
noise was enough to wake the dead.

It was more than enough to rouse Khone.

Chapter 13

I feel it! Prilicla called, excitement causing its hovering flight to become wildly unstable. Friend Naydrad, send in the probe. The patient is
directly beneath me, but I don't want to risk frightening it by a sudden, close approach. Quickly, it is very weak and in pain.”

Now that it had an accurate fix on Khone's position, Naydrad quickly guided the probe to the room occupied by the Gogleskan. Priiicla rejoined the others around thelitter's repeater screen where the sensor data was already
being displayed.

The pictures
showed the interior of one of the hospital's tiny examination rooms with the
figure of Rhone lying against the low wall that separated the healer and
patient during treatment. A small table contained a variety of very
long-handled, highly polished wooden implements that appeared to be probes,
dilators, and spatulas for the nonsurgical investigation of body orifices, some
jars of local medication, and, incongruously, the lifeless x-ray scanner left
by Conway. A few of the instruments had fallen to the floor, and it seemed
likely that Rhone had been examining a patient on the other side of the wall
when the healer had collapsed. It was also probable that the patient concerned
had originated the last message received by Wainright.

1 am
Prilicla, friend Rhone, the empath said via the probe's communicator.
Do not be afraid...”

Wainright made an
untranslatable sound to remind Prilicla
that, apart from the initial words of identification, Gogleskans did not
address each other as persons and became mentally distressed if anyone tried to
do so.

This device
will not cause pain or harm, Prilicla continued more impersonally.
Its purpose is to lift the patient, very gently, and convey it to a
position where expert attention is available. It is beginning to do so now.”

On the repeater
screen Cha Thrat saw the probe extend two wide, flat plates and slide them between the floor and Rhone's
recumbent body.

Stop!”

The two voices,
Rhone's through the communicator and Prilicla's in response to the Gogleskan's
blast of emotional radiation, sounded as one. The empath's fragile body was
shaking as if caught in a high wind.

'Tm sorry, friend
Rhone... it began, then remembering, went on. Sincere apologies are
tendered for the severe discomfort caused to the patient. Even greater gentleness will be
striven for in future. But is the patient-healer able to furnish information on
the exact position of, and possible reasons for, the pain?”

Yes and no, Rhone said weakly. Its pain had diminished because
Prilicla was no longer trembling. It went on. The pain is located in the area of the birth canal. There is loss
of function and diminished sensation in the lower limbs, and the upper limbs
and the medial area are similarly but less markedly affected. The cardiac
action is accelerated and respiration is difficult. It is thought * that the birth process had begun and was
interrupted, but the reason is unknown
because the scanner has not worked for some time and it is doubted if the patient's digits retain sufficient dexterity to change the
powercell.”

The probe
mounts its own scanner, Prilicla said reassuringly, and its visual
and clinical findings will be transmitted to the healers out here. It will also change the power cell in the other scanner so that
the patient will be able to aid
the healers outside with its own Gog-leskan observations and experience.”

The empath began trembling again, but Cha Thrat had the feeling that the shaking was due to its
personal concern for Rhone rather than a return of the other's pain.

The scanner is being deployed now, Prilicla went on. It will approach closely but
will not touch the patient.”

Thanks
are expressed, Rhone said.

As she watched the increasingly detailed scan of Rhone's pelvic area, Cha Thrat grew more
and more angry over her
ignorance of Gogleskan
physiology. And it made little
difference that the degree of ignorance ofPrilicla, Murchison, and Naydrad was
only slightly less than her own. The one person with the ability to help Rhone
now was many light-years away in Sector General, and there was a strong
probability that even the presence of the Diagnostician Conway would not have
resolved this problem.

The
healer-patient can see for itself, Prilicla said gently, that the
fetus is large and is improperly presented to the birth canal. It is also
pressing against the major nerve bundles and impeding the blood supply to the
muscles in the area, making it impossible for the fetus to be expelled in its
present position.

Would the
healer-patient agree, the empath went on, that the birth cannot
proceed without immediate surgical intervention?”

No!
Rhone said vehemently, forgetting to be impersonal. You must not touch
me!”

But we're
your... Prilicla began. It hesitated for an instant, then went on.
Only friends wishing to help the patient are here. The psychological
difficulties are understood. If necessary the probe can be instructed to
administer sedative medication so that the patient will be unconscious and
unaware of being touched while the operation is in progress.”

No,
Rhone said again. 'The patient must be conscious during and for a short period
following the birth. There are things that the parent must do for the newborn.
Can your mechanism be instructed to perform the operation? The patient would be
less frightened by the touch of a machine than that of an off-world monster.”

Prilicla trembled
again with the emotional effort needed to make a negative reply. It said,
Regrettably not. The remote-controlled manipulators are not sufficiently
accurate or responsive for such a delicate procedure. If an observation might
be made, the patient is in a1severely weakened state and may shortly become unconscious without the
assistance of medication.”

Rhone was silent
for a moment, then with a note of desperation in its voice the Gogleskan said,
It is consciously realized that the off-world healers feel friendship and
deep concern for the patient. But subconsciously, on the darker, unthinking levels of the mind,
the close approach of one of these visually horrifying creatures would
represent an immediate and deadly threat to the life of the patient, which
would inevitably lead to a call for joining.”

The call
would not be heard, Prilicla said, and explained the purpose of the sound
distorters. But Rhone's reply set the empath trembling again.

A call for
joining, it said, presupposes a condition of extreme mental distress that is followed
by a massive and uncontrolled expenditure of physical energy. The effect on the
patient and fetus could lead to termination.”

Quickly Prilicla
said, Time is short and the clinical condition is deteriorating rapidly. Risks must be taken. The probe mechanism can be made to provide
two-way vision, and pictures of
the off-world friends will be sent. Will the patient choose from among them the least frightening being, who will then try to assist
it?”

While the litter's vision pickup swung to cover each of them in turn, Rhone was saying The
Earth-humans are familiar and trusted, as are the Cinrusskin and Kelgian seen during the earlier visit to Goglesk, but
all of them would arouse blind,
instinctive terror if they approached closely. The other two beings are unfamiliar, both to the recollection of the patient or in the memories of
the Earth-human Conway. Are they
healers?”

There was a note of relief in the empath's voice as it replied, Both are recent arrivals at the
hospital and were unknown to Conway at the time of its first visit.

The small,
globular being is Danalta, an entity capable of taking any required physical
form including, if desirable, that of a Gogleskan, or of extruding any limbs or
sensory organs necessary for the repair or alleviation of an organic
malfunction. It will work under the Senior Physician's direction and is an
ideal choice for—”

A
shape-changer! Rhone broke it.
Apologies are tendered to this entity, whose nonphysical qualities are
doubtless admirable, but the thought of such a being is terrifying, and its
close approach in the guise of one of my people would be unbearably repugnant.
No!

The tall
creature, it added, would be much less disturbing.”

The tall
being, said Prilicla apologetically, is a hospital
maintenance-technician.”

' And
previously, Cha Thrat added quietly, a warrior-surgeon of
Sommaradva, with other-species experience.”

The empath was
trembling again, and this time because of the storm of mixed feelings being
generated by the other members of the medical team.

Apologies
are tendered, Prilicla said hastily. A short delay is necessary.
This matter requires discussion.”

For
clinical reasons, Khone replied, the patient-healer hopes that the delay will be very short.”

It was
Pathologist Murchison who spoke first. It said, Your other-species experience is limited to an Earth-human DBDG and a Hudlar FROB, both involving simple,
external surgery to a limb. Neither of them or, for that matter, your own DCNF
classification, bears any resemblance to a Gogleskan FOKT. After that Hudlar limb-for-a-limb
business, I'm surprised you want to take the responsibility.”

If this
goes wrong, Naydrad joined in,
its furtwitching with concern, if the patient or newborn
terminate, I don't know what piece of medical melodrama you will pull in
atonement. Better keep out of this.”

I don't
know why, Danalta said, in a tone that suggested that its feelings were
hurt, it prefers an ungainly, stiff-boned life-form like Cha Thrat to me.”

The
reason, Khone said, making them realize that they had forgotten to switch off the probe's
communicator, is degrading and probably insulting to the being concerned,
but it should be mentioned in case the Som-maradvan finds it necessary to
withdraw its offer.”

Khone went on.
There are physical, psychological, and perhaps ridiculous reasons why
this being might closely approach, but not touch except with long-handled instruments, the
patient.”

There were few visual similarities between the FOKT and DCNF classifications, Khone explained,
except in the eyes of very
young Gogleskans who tried to make models of their parents. But the mass of hair covering the ovoid body, the four short, splayed-out
legs, the digital clusters, and the four long, cranial stings, were beyond their sculptoring skill. Instead they
produced lumpy, conical shapes
made from mud and grass, into which they stuck twigs that were not always straight or of uniform thickness. The results, on a much smaller scale, had a distinct resemblance to the body
configuration of a Sommaradvan.

These crudely fashioned models were fabricated during the years preceding the change from childhood to maturity, when the young adult's stings became a threat to its parent's life, and they were kept and treasured by both parent and offspring as reminders of the
only times in their lives when they could feel in safety the warmth and closeness of extended contact with another of their kind.

It was a memory
that, in their later and incredibly lonely adult lives, helped keep them sane.

Murchison was the first to react after Khone finished speaking. The Pathologist looked at Cha Thrat and
said incredulously, 1 think it is telling us that you look like an
oversized Gogleskan equivalent of an Earth teddy bear!”

Wainright gave a nervous laugh, and the others did not react. Probably they were as ignorant about teddy bears as Cha Thrat was. However, if
the creature resembled her in many ways, it could not be entirely unbeauti-ful.

The
Sommaradvan is willing to assist, Cha Thrat said, and offense has
not'been taken.”

And neither,
Prilicla said, turning its eyes toward her, will responsibility be taken.”

The musical
trills and clickings that were the Cinruss-kin's native speech changed in pitch, and for the first time in Cha Thrat's experience the little empath's translated words carried the firmness and authority of a ruler as it
went on. Unless the Sommaradvan can give an unqualified
assurance that there is no possibility of a recurrence of the Hudlar amputation, the'Sommaradvan will not be allowed to assist.

The
healer-maintenance technician is being used for one reason only, it continued, because the close proximity of the more experienced healers is contraindicated for this patient. It will consider
itself simply as an organic probe whose mind, sensors,
and digits are under the direction of the Senior Physician, who accepts sole responsibility for treatment and
subsequent fate of the patient. Is
this clearly understood?”

The idea of sharing or, in this instance, completely
relegating responsibility for her actions to another person was repugnant to a warrior-surgeon, even thoughshe could understand the reasons ror n. rmi than her feeling of shame was the sudden, warm
upsurge of gratitude and pride at once
again being called to work as a healer.

It is understood, she said.

Silently the
empath indicated that it was changing from the probe frequency, so as not to be verbally hampered by having to use the
listening Gogleskan's impersonal mode of speech.

Thank you,
Cha Thrat, it said quickly. Use my Cinrusskin instruments, they are
best suited to your upper digits and I would feel more comfortable directing you in their use. Fit the protective devices
before trying to do anything else;
you could not help the patient if you were to be paralyzed by its stings. When you are with Khone, make no sudden movements that might
frighten it without first
explaining the reason for them. I shall be monitoring friend Rhone's emotional radiation from here, and will warn you if any action causes a sudden increase of fear. But you are well aware of the
situation, Cha Thrat. Please
hurry.”

Naydrad had her
carrier pack already filled and waiting. She added the replacement power cell
for Rhone's scanner and began
climbing from the top of the litter on to the hospital roof.

Good luck, Murchison said. Naydrad ruffled its
fur and the others made
untranslatable noises.

The roof sagged alarmingly under Cha Thrat's weight, and one of her forefeet went right through the flimsy structure, but it was a much quicker route
than crawling through a maze of
low-ceilinged corridors. She dropped into the uncovered passageway leading to Rhone's room, crouched
awkwardly onto two knees and three of her medial limbs, and, with Prilicla warning the patient of her arrival, moved only her head and shouldersthrough the
entrance. For the first time she was able to study a Gogleskan FOKT at close
quarters.

The
intention, Cha Thrat said carefully, is not to touch the patient
directly.”

Gratitude
is expressed, Khone replied in a voice that was barely audible above the
sound of the distorters.

The mass of
unruly hair and spikes that covered the erect, ovoid body were less irregular
in color and position than the probe pictures had suggested. The body hair had
mobility, although not to the extent as that possessed by the Kelgians, and
lying motionless amid the multicolored cranial fur were a number of long, pale
tendrils that were used only during a joining to link the member minds of the
group. Four small, vertical orifices, two for breathing and speaking and two
for food ingestion, encircled its waist.

The spikes
covering the body were highly flexible, grouped together into digital clusters,
and were capable of fine manipulation, and the lower body was encircled by a
thick apron of muscle, under which the four short legs could be withdrawn when
the being wished to rest.

Now it lay on its
side, a position from which even a fully fit and active Gogleskan would have
difficulty in recovering.

Quietly Cha Thrat
said, Instruct the probe to bring the scanner here. When the power cell
has been replaced, return it to within easy reach of the patient, then move the
machine aside.”

To Khone she went
on. Unlike the visiting healers, the patient has been unaware of its own
condition and an immediate self-examination is requested. Since the patient is
also a healer with extensive knowledge of its own life processes, any comments
or suggestions it cares to make would be helped to the off-planet colleagues.”

Prilicla's voice came from her earpiece but not the probe's
speaker, which meant that the empath wanted to talk to her alone. It said, That was well spoken, Cha Thrat. No patient, no matter how ill or
injured, wants to feel completely useless and dependent.
Otherwise well-intentioned healers sometimes forget that.”

That was one of the first lessons she had learned at the medical school on Sommaradva. Another, which
had obviously been learned by
Prilicla, was that junior medics facing a new and difficult job benefited from encouragement.”

The patient, Khone said suddenly, is unable toguide the scanner.”

There was nothing in the Cinrusskin's instrument pack long enough to reach Khone from Cha Thrat's
present position. Impersonally she asked, Is
it permitted to use the Gogleskan
instruments? Of course, Khone said.

On the side table there was a set
of long, expanding tongs, made from highly polished wood and with hinges of a soft, reddish metal, used for bringing instruments or dressings to bear on the otherwise untouchable
Gogleskan patients. Lying beside them was a thin, conical object that had been fashioned crudely from dried clay, with short twigs and straw stuck all over it. She had mistaken it at first for a piece of
decorative or aromatic vegetation. Now that
she knew what it was, Cha Thrat thought that its resemblance to the aesthetically pleasing Sommaradvan body
shape was close only in the eyes of a very sick Gogleskan.

Awkwardly at first, she used the tongs to lift the scanner from the limp grasp of Khone's digits and moved it over the abdominal
area. While the patient was concentrating on the screen, she edged further into the room and closer to the patient. The unnatural position of herbent forelegs and spine, and the fact that virtually her entire
body weight was being supported on medial limbs normally used only for
manipulation, was threatening to send the associated muscles into spasm. To
ease them she rocked very slowly from side to side, moving a little closer each
time.

The
Sommaradvan healer is larger than was expected, Khone said suddenly,
looking up from the scanner. It did not take Prilicla to tell her that the
Gogleskan was very frightened.

Cha Thrat held
herself motionless for a moment, then said, The Sommaradvan healer,
despite its size, will no more harm the patient than the sculptured likeness lying on the floor. The
patient must surely know this.”

The patient
knows this, Khone agreed, with a distinct trace of anger in its voice. But has the
Sommaradvan healer ever suffered nightmares, in which it is haunted, and
hunted, by dark and fearful creatures of the undermind intent on its
destruction? And instead of fleeing in unreasoning fear, has it ever tried to
stop in the midst of such a nightmare, and think through or around its terror, and turned to face these dreadful phantasms, and tried to look upon them as friends?”

Ashamed, Cha
Thrat said, Apologies are tendered, and admiration for the patient-healer who is trying to do, who is doing,
that which the stupid and insensitive Sommaradvan healer would find
impossible.”

Prilicla's voice
sounded in her earpiece.
You have irritated friend
Khone, Cha Thrat, but its fear has receded a
little.”

She took the opportunity of moving closer and said, It is
realized that the patient-healer's intentions toward the Sommaradvan are friendly, and any harm that might befall it
would be the result of a purely
instinctive reac-tion or accident. Both the eventualities canbe avoided by rendering the stings harmless”

Khone's emotional reaction to that suggestion had both Prilicla and Cha Thrat badly worried, but time was running out for this patient and, if anything was going to be done for it, there was no real alternative to
capping those stings. The
little Gogleskan knew that as well as they did. It was being asked to surrender its only re-maining weapon.

Cha Thrat dared
not  move a muscle other than her larynx, and that onewas being seriously
overworked as she tried to convince
Khone's unconscious as well as its already half-convinced conscious mind that, in a truly civilized society, weapons were unnecessary.
She told it that she, too, was a
female, although she had yet to produce an offspring. She then  spoke of her
most personal feelings, many of them petty rather than praiseworthy, about her past life and career on Sommaradva and in
Sector General, and of the things
she had done wrong in bothplaces.

The team member waiting impatiently by the litter must be wondering if she had contracted a ruler's disease and had lost contact with the reality of the situation,
butthere was no time to stop  and explain- Somehow she had to get through to the Gogleskan's dark undermind
and convince it that
psychologically she was leaving
herself as open and defenseless by what she was telling it as Khone was by relinquishing its only natural
weapons.

She could hear
Naydrad's voice, which was being picked up by the
Cinrusskin's headset, demanding to know whether Khone was a psychiatrist as well as
a healer, and if so, the stupid Sommaradvan had picked the wrong time to lie,on its couch! Prilicla did not speak and she went on talking unhurriedly to the patient whose voice, like the rest of it, seemed to be paralyzed by fear.

Suddenly there
was a response.

The
Sommaradvan has problems, Khone said. But if intelligent beings did
not occasionally do stupid things, there would be no progress at all.”

Cha Thrat was
unsure whether the Gogleskan's words represented some deep, philosophical truth
or were merely the product of a mind clouded by pain and confusion. She said,
The problems of the healer-patient are much more urgent.”

There is
agreement, Khone said. Very well, the stings may be covered. But
the patient must be touched only by the machine.”

Cha Thrat sighed.
It had been too much to hope that a few highly personal revelations would
demolish the conditioning of millennia. Without mbving any closer, she held the
scanner in position with the long tongs and used the rear medial limb to open
her pack so that the probe's manipulators, which were being guided with great
precision by Naydrad, could extract the sting covers.

Those covers had
been designed to contain the needle-pointed stings and absorb their venom. Once
in position, they released an adhesive that would ensure that they remained so until Khone reached
Sector General. This property of the covers had not been mentioned to the
patient. But with the distorters making
it impossible for any call for joining to be heard by the other townspeople and
its stings rendered impotent, the Gogleskan would be unable to avoid direct physical contact with one of
the frightful off-worlders.

Considering the
rapidly worsening clinical picture, the sooner that happened the better.

But Khone was not
stupid and probably it had already
realized what was to happen,
which would explain its
growing agitation as two, then three of the four sting covers were placed in
position. Now it was moving itshead weakly from side to side, deliberately avoiding me last cover. Quickly Cha Thrat tried to give it something else to think about.

As can be clearly observed in the scanner and biosensor displays, she
said impersonally, the fetus is being presented
laterally to the birth canal and is immobilized in this position. It has exerted pressure on
important blood vessels and nerve
connections to the parent's mid- and lower body, which has resulted in loss of muscle function and sensation and, unless relieved, will
lead to necrosis in the areas concerned. The umbilical is also being increasingly compressed as the involuntary
mus-, cles continue trying to expel
the fetus. The fetal heartbeat is weak, rapid, and irregular, and the vital signs of the parent are not good, either. Has the patient-healer any suggestion or comments on this case? Khone did not reply.

Only Prilicla would know how much Cha Thrat's coldly impersonal tone belied her true feelings toward the incredibly brave little creature who lay like a
tumbled haystack so close to her,
but still too far away in the non material distances of the mind for her to be able to help it. Yet they were alike in so many ways, she
thought. Both had taken risks that
no other members of their species were willing to take—she had treated an off-world life-form she
had never seen before, and Khone had volunteered itself for treatment by off-worlders. But of the two, Khone was the braver and its risks the greater.

Is this condition rare or common among gravid females, she asked quietly, and what is the normal procedure in such cases?”

The other's
voice was so weak that the reply was barely audible as it said, The condition is not rare. Normal procedure in such cases is to administer massivedoses of medication that enables the
patient and fetus to terminate with minimum discomfort.”

Cha Thrat could think of nothing to say or
do.

In the stillness
of Rhone's room she became increas- I ingly aware of the external noises: the
constant whistling and hissing of the distorters; and coming to her through the
empath's communicator, the voice of Naydrad complaining about the difficulty of
capping the stings of a patient who would not cooperate; and more quietly,
Murchison, Danalta, and Prilicla itself as they suggested and quickly discarded
a number of wildly differing procedures.

The medical
team's voices are unclear, Cha Thrat said anxiously. Has anything
been decided? What are the immediate instructions?”

Suddenly the
voices became loud and very clear indeed, because they were coming from the
probe's speaker as well as her own earpiece. Naydrad, its attention
concentrated on the probe's remote-controlled manipulators as it tried to fit
the last sting cover, must have decided that she wanted more volume and reacted
to her statement without thinking.

The conversation
was completely unguarded.

Prilicla was
speaking, quietly and reassuringly, and clearly unaware that its words were
reaching Khone as well as herself, Cha Thrat realized. The intense and
conflicting emotional radiation emanating from the other team members grouped
so closely around it was keeping the empath from detecting her own sudden burst
of surprise and fear.

Cha
Thrat, it said, there has been some argument, which has since been
resolved in your favor, regarding who should perform the operation. Friend Rhone's need is urgent, its condition has
deteriorated to the stagewhere the risk of moving it out tor surgery is able, and your only option is to—”

No!
she said urgently. Please stop talking?' Do
not be distressed, Cha Thrat, the empath continued, mistaking the reason
for the objection. Your professional competence is not in doubt, and
Pathologist Murchison and myself have
studied Conway's notes on the FORT life-form, as have you, and we will guide you at every stage of the procedure and take
complete responsibility throughout.

Immediate
surgical intervention is required to relievethis condition, it went on.
As soon as the last sting iscapped, you will use a Number Eight scalpel
to enlarge' the birth opening with an incision from the pelvis up tothe— What is happening?”

There was no need to tell it what was happening because in the time taken to
ask the question it already knew the answer. Rhone, faced with the imminent prospect of a major surgical attack, had reacted
instinctively by emitting the call
for joining and was trying to sting to death the only strange, and therefore threatening, being within reach. With its legs virtually paralyzed,
Rhone was twisting
violently from side to side and using its digital clusters to pull itself
toward Cha Thrat.

The remaining uncapped sting, long, yellow, and with tiny drops of venom already oozing from its
point, was swaying and jerking
closer. Frantically Cha Thrat pushed backward with the forefeet and medial limbs, launching herself toward the Gogieskan and grasping the base
of the sting with three of her
upper hands.

Stop
it! she shouted above the noise of the call.

Forgetting to be impersonal, she went on. Stop movingor you'll injure yourself and the young one.
I'm a friend,I want to help you.
Naydrad, cap it! Cap it quickly!”

Hold it still, then, the Relgian snapped back,C.B.E.—9swinging the probe's manipulator arm
above Rhone's jerking head. Hold it very still.”

But that was not
easy to do. Her upper, neck-level arms and digits had been evolved for more
precise and delicate operations and lacked the heavy musculature of the medial
limbs, and using them meant that Rhone's head and her own were almost touching.
She strained desperately to tighten her ridiculously weak grip on the sting,
sending waves of pain into her neck and upper thorax. She knew that if those fingers
slipped the sting would immediately be plunged into the top of her head.

The medical team
would probably get to her quickly enough to save her life, but not those of
Rhone and the fetus, which was their only reason for being here. She was wondering
how Murchison, the Diagnostician's life-mate; and Prilicla, its long-term
friend; and Cha Thrat herself would face Con way with the news of Rhone's death
when Naydrad shouted, Got it!”

The last sting
was covered. She could relax for a moment. But not Rhone, who was still jerking
and writhing on the floor and stabbing ineffectually at her with all four of
its capped stings. Close up, the sound of its distress call was like a gale
whistling and howling through a ruined building.

At least
the distorters are working, Wainright said, and added warningly,
but hurry it up, they won't last much longer.”

She ignored the
Earth-human and grasped tufts of the Gogleskan's hair in her upper and medial
hands, trying vainly to hold it motionless. Pleadingly she said, Stop
moving. You're wasting what little strength you've got. You'll die and the baby
will die. Please stop moving. I'm not an enemy, I'm yourfriendl”

The call for
joining was still howling out with un-diminished volume, making her wonder how
such asmall creature could make so great a noise, but its physical movements
were becoming noticeably less violent. Was it a symptom of sheer physical weakness, or was she getting through to the Gogleskan? Then she
saw that the long, pale tendrils on
its head were uncurling from the concealing hair and were standing out straight. Two of them fell slowly to lie along the top of her own
head; and suddenly Cha
Thrat wanted to scream.

Being Rhone's friend was much, much worse than being its enemy.

Chapter 14

There was fear as she had never known it before—the sudden, overriding, and senseless
fear of everything and everyone that was not joined tightly to her for the group defense; and a terrible, blind fury that diminished the fear; and the memories and expectation of pains past, present, and to come. And with those fearful memories there came a dreadful and confused
nightmare of all the frightful and
painful things that had ever happened to her—on Sommaradva and Goglesk and in Sector General.
Many elements of the nightmare were utterly strange to her; the feeling of terror at the sight of Prilicla, which was ridiculous, and the sense of loss at the departure of the male Gogleskan who
had fathered the child within her. But now there was no fear of theoutsized, off-world animated doll
who was trying to help her.

Even with the
confusion of fear, pain, and alien experiences dulling her capacity to think,
the conclusion was inescapable. Khone had invaded her mind.

Now she knew what
it was like to be a Gogleskan; at a time like this the choice was simple.
Friends joined and enemies—everyone and everything that was not part of the
group—were attacked and destroyed. She wanted to break everything in the room,
the furniture, instruments, decorations, and then tear down the flimsy walls,
and she wanted to drag Khone around with her to help her do it. Desperately she
tried to control the blind and utterly alien fury that was building up in her.

Amid the storm of
Gogleskan impressions a tiny part of her own mind surfaced for a moment,
observing that the tight grip she retained on Khone's fur must have fooled its
subconscious into believing that she had joined with it, and was therefore a friend
worthy of mind-sharing.

/ am Cha
Thrat, she told herself fiercely, once a Som-maradvan warrior-surgeon
and now a trainee maintenance technician of Sector General. I am not Khone of
Goglesk and / am not here to join and destroy...

But this was a
joining, and memories of a larger, more destructive joining came crowding into
her mind.

She seemed to be
standing on top of a land vehicle stopped on high ground overlooking the town,
watching the joining as it happened. The Earth-human Wainright was beside her,
warning her that the Gogleskans were dangerously close, that they should leave,
that there was nothing she could do and, for some strange reason, while it was
saying these things it sometimes called Doctor but more often
sir. She felt very bad because she knew that the joining had been
her fault, that it had happenedbecause she had tried to help, and had touched, an industrial accident casualty.
Below her she could clearly see Khone attaching itself to the other Gogleskans without being able to understand the reason, and at the
same time she was Khone and knew the reason.

With individual Gogleskans hurrying to join it from nearby buildings, moored ships, and surrounding
tree dwellings, the group-entity became a great, mobile, stinging carpet that crawled
around large buildings and engulfed small ones as if it did not know or care what it was doing. In its wake it left a trail of
smashed equipment, vehicles, dead animals, and a capsized ship. The group-entity moved inland to continue its
self-destructive defense against an enemy out of prehistory.

In spite of the terrible fear of that nonexistent enemy in Khone's mind, which was now her mind, Cha
Thrat tried to make herself
think logically about what had happened to her. She thought of the wizard
O'Mara and how it had said that Educator tapes would never be for her, and remembered the reasons it had given. Now she knew what it was like to have a completely alien entity occupying her mind, and she wondered if her sanity would be affected. Perhaps the fact that Khone, like
herself, was a female might make a
difference.

But there was a growing realization that it was not only Khone's
mind and memories that she had to contend with. The memory and viewpoint from the top of the land vehicle was not from the Gogleskan's mind, nor her own. There were memories of the ambulance ship and the exploits of its medical team that were definitely not her own, and some vivid and—to her—fearful and wonderful recollections of events in Sector General that were totally outside her experience. Had O'Mara been right? Were factual recollections and insane fantasies intermingling, and she was no longer sane?But she did not think she was insane. Madness was supposed
to be an escape from a too-painful reality to a condition that was more
bearable. There was too much pain here and the memories or fantasies were too painfully   sharp.
And  one  of them
was  of  Lieutenant] Wainright standing beside her, its head on a level with!
hers, and calling her sir.”

With a sudden
shiver of fear and wonder she realized what was happening. She was sharing'
Rhone's mind,' and Khone had earlier shared it with someone else.

Conway!

For some time Cha
Thrat had been aware of Prilicla's! voice in her earpiece, but the words were
just sounds without meaning to her already overloaded mind. Then she felt
its warmth and sympathy and reassurance all around her, and the pain and
confusion receded a little so that the meaning came through.

Cha Thrat,
my friend, the empath was saying, please respond. You have been
holding onto the patient's fur for the past few minutes, not doing anything and
not answering us. I am on the roof directly above you, and your emotional radiation
distresses me. Please, what is wrong? Have you been stung?”

N-no,
she replied shakily, there is no physical damage. I feel badly confused
and frightened, and the patient is—”

I can read your feelings, Cha Thrat, Prilicla said gently, but not the reason for them. There is nothing
to be ashamed of, you've already done more than could be reasonably expected of
you, and it was unfair of us to let you volunteer for this operation in the first place. We are in danger of losing the patient. Please withdraw and let me perform the surgery—”

No,
Cha Thrat said, feeling Rhone's body twitch in her hands. The long, silvery tendrils that were the or-ganic conductors tor metelepathy-by-wire were still lying across
her head, and anything Cha Thrat felt or heard or thought was immediately available to Khone, who did not like the idea of
an alien monster operating on it,
for reasons that were both personal and medical. Cha Thrat added, Please give me a moment. I'm beginning to regain control of my
mind. You are, Prilicla said, but hurry. Incredibly, it was her mind-partner who was doing most to aid the process. In common with the rest of its long-suffering  and   nightmare-ridden  species,
it  had learned how to control and compartmentalize its
thinking, feelings, and natural urges
so that the enforced loneliness necessary to avoid a joining was not only
bearable but, at times, happy. And now the Conway-memories of Sector General and some of its monstrous patients were surging into the forefront of her mind.

Be selective, Khone was telling her. Use only
what isuseful.

All the memories and experience of a Sommaradvan warrior-surgeon,
a Gogleskan healer, and half an Earth-human lifetime spent in Sector General were
hers, and with that vast quantity of
other-species medical and physiological expertise available she could not believe that, even at this late stage, the Khone case was hopeless. Then from somewhere in that vast and incredibly varied store of knowledge, the glimmerings of an
idea began to take shape.

I no
longer feel that surgical intervention is the answer, she said firmly, even as a last resort.
It is unlikely that the patient would survive.”

Who the blazes does it think it is? Murchison said angrily. Who's in charge of this op, anyway? Prilicla,pin its ears back!”

Cha Thrat could
have answered both questions, butdid not. She
knew that her words and tone had been wrong for someone in her lowly position—she
sounded much too self-assured and authoritative. But there was no time for
either long explanations or pretensions of humility, and it would be better if
the true explanation was never given. With any luck Pathologist Murchison would
believe, and go on believing, that Cha Thrat was a self-opinionated maintenance
technician and one-time trainee nurse with delusions of grandeur and, for the
time being at least, the team leader was leaving her ears unpinned.

Explain,
Prilicla said.

Quickly Cha Thrat
reviewed the current clinical picture, gravely worsened now by the extreme
debilitation that, even in a healthy Gogleskan, followed a joining. When she
said that Rhone lacked the strength and physical resources to withstand major
surgery—it would have to be a cesarean procedure rather than a simple
enlargement of the birth opening—she spoke with absolute certainty because she
had the patient-healer's viewpoint of the case as well as her own. But she did
not mention that, saying instead that Rhone's emotional radiation would confirm
her observations.

It
does, the empath said.

She went on
quickly. The FOKT classification is one of the few life-forms capable of
resting in the upright position, although they can also lie down. Since their ancestors emerged from the oceans, their bodies and internal
organs have been acted on by vertical G forces, as are those of the Hudlars and
Tralthans and Rhenithi. I am reminded of a case in Tralthan Maternity a few
years ago that was broadly similar to this one and required—”

You didn't
learn that from Cresk-Sar, Murchison broke in suddenly. Trainee nurses
aren't told about the
near-failures, at least not in first year.”

I liked
to study odd cases outside me syuauus, ^u * Thrat lied smoothly, and I still do, when
I'm not engrossed in a maintenance
manual.”

Her emotional radiation would tell the Cinrusskin that she was lying, but it could only guess at what she was lying about. All it said was Describe your
procedure.”

Before I do, she went on quickly, please remove the canopy from the litter and reposition the
gravity grids to act laterally in
opposite directions. Set the body
restraints to the size and
weight of the patient under anything up to an alternating plus and minus three Gs. Move the probe into the passageway, so I can step
from it onto the roof. Hurry, please.
I'm bringing out the patient now and will explain on the way...”

Cradling the
barely conscious Khone in two medial arms and with all of her free hands gripping its fur tightly to make it feel that it was still joined to a
friend, she climbed awkwardly onto
the roof and sidled back the way she had come. Prilicla hovered anxiously above her all the way, Naydrad complained bitterly that its
litter would never be the same
again, and Murchison reminded it that they had a maintenance technician, or something,with them.

She continued to
grip the Gogleskan's fur while Naydrad expertly fitted the restraints and Murchison
attached an oxygen supply to all breathing orifices. With her head touching Rhone's and the long,
silvery tendrils still making contact, she checked that the other had a clear view of the scanner display, which she in
her present awkward position did
not, then braced herself and gave the signal to begin.

Cha Thrat felt her head and upper limbs being pulled sideways as Naydrad fed power to the gravity grid positioned above the
patient's head. It was difficult to keep her balance because her lower body and legs were out-side the influence of the artificial
gravity field. But so far I as Khone was concerned, it was tied upside-down to
the litter under double, increasing to treble and Gogleskan standard gravity
pull.

Heart rate
irregular, Prilicla reported quietly. Blood pressure increasing in
the upper body and head, respiration labored, minor displacement of thoracic
organs, but the fetus hasn't moved.”

Shall I
increase the pull to four Gs? Naydrad asked, looking at Prilicla. But it
was Cha Thrat who replied.

No,
she said. Give it two Gs alternating as rapidly as possible between
normal and reverse pull. You've got to try to shake Junior loose,”

Now she was being
knocked from side to side, as if by the soft, invisible paws of some great
beast, while the patient was suffering the same maltreatment in the vertical
plane. She managed to keep her head and the hands gripping Khone's fur steady,
but she was feeling a growing nausea that reminded her of childhood bouts of
travel sickness.

Friend Cha
Thrat, are you all right? Prilicla asked. Do you wish to stop?”

Can we
spare the time?”

No,
the empath replied, then: The fetus is moving! It is—”

Reverse,
two Gs steady, Cha Thrat said quickly, effectively standing Khone on its
head again.

—now
pressing against the upper womb, Prilicla continued. The umbilical
is no longer being compressed, and pressure on the blood vessels and nerve
linkages in the area has been relieved. The muscles are beginning rapid,
involuntary contractions...”

Enough to
expel the fetus? she broke in.

No,
it replied. They are too weak to complete thebirth process. In any case the fetus is sun noi
in me optimum position.”

Cha Thrat used a swear word that was definitely not Sommaradvan, and said,
Can we reposition and refocus the gravity grids so as to pull the fetus
into the proper position for—”

I would need time to— Naydrad began.

There isn't
any time, said Prilicla. I'm surprised friend Khone is still with
us.”

This was not
going nearly as well as the remembered case in the Tralthan maternity ward had gone, and there was no consolation in
telling herself that, in this instance, the life-form was strange and the
operating facilities virtually non-existent. Khone's mind was no longer sending
or receiving impressions, so that she could not even make the Last Apology to it for her failure.

Please do
not distress yourself, friend Cha, the Cinrusskin went on, beginning to
tremble violently. No blame can be attached to you for attempting a task that, because of the
peculiar circumstances, none of us were able to do. Your present emotional radiation
is worrying me. Remember, you
aren't even a member of the medical team, you have no authority, and the
responsibility for allowing you to
try this procedure is not yours... You have just thought of something?”

We both
know, Cha Thrat said, so quietly that her voice reached only Prilicla, that I have made it my responsibility. And
yes, I've thought of something.”

In a louder voice she went on quickly. Naydrad, we need a rapid one-G
push-pull this time, just enough to keep the fetus moving. Danalta, the muscle wall around the womb is thin, and relaxed due to the patient's unconsciousness. Will you produce some suitable limbs and hands? Prilicla will tell you the size and shape needed, and use the scanner to direct your movements
of thefetus into the proper position. Murchison, will you stand by to help
withdraw it, if or when it is born?”

Apologetically
she added, I cannot assist you. For the time being it would be better if
I retained the closest possible physical contact with the patient. My feeling
is that, unconscious or not, it will derive a greater measure of emotional
comfort from my doing so.”

Your
feeling is correct, Prilicla said. But time is short, friends.
Let's do it.”

While Naydrad
kept the fetus twitching slowly within the womb, and Danalta, using appendages
whose shape and movements would give Cha Thrat bad dreams for many nights to
come, tried to press and turn it into optimum position, she tried desperately
to get through to her deeply unconscious mind-partner.

You will be all right. Your child will be
all right. Hang on, please don't die on me!

It was like
thinking into a black and bottomless pit. For an instant she thought there was
a flicker of awareness, but it was probably that the feeling had come because
she wanted it to be so. She turned her head slightly, so as not to break
contact with the long, silvery tendrils, and wished that she was in a position
to see the scanner display.

It's in
optimum position now, Prilicla said suddenly. Danalta, move your
hands lower. Be ready to press when I tell you if the fetus starts turning
again. Naydrad, two Gs steady, down!”

For a moment
there was silence except for the whistling of the distorters, which now seemed
to be wavering in intensity as they labored like the patient, on reduced power,
to perform their function. Time was running out for both of them. Everyone's
attention was on Khone,and even Prilicla was watching the scanner display too
intently to describe what it was seeing.

I see the head! Murchison said suddenly. The top of the head only. But the contractions are too
weak, they aren't helping very much. The legs are at maximum spread, but the
fetal head is moving down, then back again, by a fraction of an inch with each
contraction. Shall I try surgical enlargement of the—”

No surgery, Cha Thrat said firmly. Even if the patient survived it,
she had shared Rhone's mind and knew that serious psychological damage would
result from the inflicting of a surgical wound—not to mention the aftermath
when close physical contact would be necessary to provide treatment and change
dressings—on one whose species was virtually untouchable. The brief physical and mental contact with Conway and Cha Thrat
had knocked a large hole in Rhone's Gogleskan conditioning, but psychologically it was still a strong and
very rigidstructure.

But there was no time to explain her feeling or argue her point of view. Murchison had straightened
up and was looking
questioningly at Prilicla, who shook in the emotional winds blowing from all sides but said nothing. It would be better if we tried to assist the
natural process, Cha Thrat went on. Naydrad, I want alternating positive and reverse gravity again, this time
between zero and three Gs
down, initially for the next five contractions. And watch out for major
displacement of other organs. This species has never been subjected to increased G forces—”

I see the
whole head now! Murchison broke in excitedly. And shoulders.
Dammit, I've got the wee bugger!”

Naydrad,
Cha Thrat said quickly, maintain threeGs down for a moment until the
afterbirth is out, then return to normal gravity conditions. Murchison, place
the newborn between the digital clusters just to the left of my head. My
feeling is that Rhone will derive greater reassurance from holding on to its
little one than from me holding on to its parent.”

She watched as
Rhone's digits curled instinctively around the tiny form, which looked to the
Sommaradvan part of her mind like a slimy, twitching little horror and which
the Gogleskan portion insisted was a thing of indescribable beauty. Reluctantly
she lifted her head from Rhone's and released her grip on its fur.

Your
feeling is accurate, Cha Thrat, Prilicla said, The patient,
although still unconscious, is already emoting more strongly.”

But
wait, Murchison said worriedly. We were told that it must be
conscious if it was to take care of the newborn properly. We've no idea what...”

She broke off
because Cha Thrat, who now knew everything that the Gogleskan healer had known,
was busily doing all that was necessary. It was contrary to her Sommaradvan
upbringing to tell a deliberate lie, but the situation was fraught with ah^1
sorts of interpersonal difficulties and was too complicated for her to take the
time needed to tell the truth.

Instead, Cha Thrat waited until the umbilical had been neatly
severed and sealed off and the patient's lower limbs disposed more comfortably, then said smoothly, There are a
number of physiological similarities between the FORT life-form and my own and,
in any case, we females have certain instincts in these matters.”

The Earth-human shook its head doubtfully and said, Your female instincts are a lot stronger,and more preccisely directed, than mine.”

Friend Murchison, Prilicla said, its voice sounding loud because all but two of the distorters had
ceased their whistling, let us discuss female instincts at a more convenient time. Friend Naydrad, replace the
litter canopy, turn up the internal
heating three points, and maintain a pure oxygen atmosphere and watch out for signs of delayed shock. The emotional radiation indicates a
condition of grave debility, but it
is stable, there is no immediate danger, and circulation and mobility are returning to the lower limbs. We will all feel better, and
especially the patient, when it has the ship's intensive-care equipment looking after it. Please
move quickly.

All except Cha Thrat, it added gently. With you, my Sommaradvan friend, I would like private words.”

Driven by Naydrad and with Danalta and Wainright flanking it, the litter was already moving off. But Pathologist Murchison was hanging
back, its face deep pink and wearing an expression that Cha Thrat could now read and understand.

Don't be too hard on it, Prilicla, Murchison said. 1 think it did a very good job, even if it is
inclined to forget who's in charge at times. I mean, well, let's just say that with Cha Thrat, Maintenance Department's gain was
the medical staff's loss.”

As Murchison turned abruptly to hurry after the
litter, Cha Thrat watched it from
three different and confusing viewpoints and with three sets of very mixed feelings. To her Sommaradvan mind it was a small, flabby,
and unlovely DBDG female. To the Gogleskan mind it was just another off-planet monster, friendly but
frightening. But from her Earth-human viewpoint it was an altogether different entity, one that for many years she had knownto be highly
intelligent, second only to Thornnastor in its professional standing, friendly,
sympathetic, fair-minded, beautiful, and sexually desirable. Some of these aspects of its personality had just been
demonstrated, but the sudden physical attraction Cha Thrat felt toward it, and
the associated mind-pictures of horrible alien grapplings and intimacies, frightened her so badly that
the Gogleskan part of her mind wanted to
call for a joining.

Murchison was a
female Earth-human and Cha Thrat was a female Sommaradvan. She had to
stop feeling this stupid attraction toward a member of another species who was
not even male, because in that direction lay certain madness. She remembered
the discussion about Educator tapes with the wizard, O'Mara, and her own
experience of sharing her mind with those of Kelgians, Tralthans, Melfans among
others.

But that was not her
experience, she reminded herself firmly. She was and would remain Cha
Thrat. The Gogleskan and Earth-human who seemed to be occupying her mind were guests, one of them a particularly troublesome guest where
thoughts of the entity Murchison were concerned, but they should not be allowed to influence her personal
feelings. It was ridiculous to think, or feel, otherwise.

When the
disturbing figure of Murchison had
disappeared into the middle distance and Cha Thrat was feeling more like herself than two other people, she said, And now, I suppose, comes the pinning back of the ears of a big-headed and grossly insubordinate technician with delusions of
medical grandeur?”

Prilicla had
alighted on the roof above Khone's doorway so that its eyes would be on a level with Cha Thrat's. It said gently, Your emotional control is excel-lent, friend
Cha. I compliment you on you But your supposition is wrong. However, your
obvious understanding of the Earth-human terms you have just used, and your earlier
behavior
during
a very tricky clinical situation, leads me to speculate about what might possibly
have happened toyou.

I am merely thinking aloud, you understand, it went on. You are not required, in fact you
are expressly forbidden to say whether my speculations are accurate or not. In this matter I would prefer to remain
officiallyignorant.”

It was evident from the first few words that the empath knew exactly what
had happened to Cha Thrat, even though its certainties were mentioned as
suspicions. It suspected that Cha Thrat had shared minds with Rhone, that the Gogleskan's mind had previously
been shared with that of Conway, and it was the Diagnostician's medical
expertise and initiative that had surfaced before and during the birth of Khone's child. For this reason the Cinrusskin was not offended by the
incident —a Senior Physician
was far outranked by a Diagnostician, even one who was temporarily in residence
within the mind of a
subordinate'. And neither would the other team members feel offended if they were to suspect thetruth.

But they must not
suspect, at least until Cha Thrat was safely lost in the maintenance tunnels of Sector General.

From your
recent emotional radiation, Prilicla went on, I suspect that you had strong if confused feelings of a sexual nature toward friend Murchison
that were not pleasant for your
Sommaradvan self. But consider the intensity of
Murchison's embarrassment if it suspected that you, an entity of a completely different physiologi-cal classification forced by
circumstances to work in close proximity with it, were regarding it with the
eyes and the same strength of feeling as that of its life-mate. And if the
others were to suspect as well, the emotional radiation from the team would be
extremely painful and distressing to me.”

I
understand, Cha Thrat said.

Pathologist
Murchison is highly intelligent, the Cinrusskin continued, and in
time she will realize what has happened, if she doesn't learn it from
Khone first. That is why 1 would like you to explain this delicate situation to
friend Khone at the first opportunity, and ask for its silence in this matter.

Friend
Khone, Prilicla added gently, has the memories and feelings of Cha
Thrat as well as Con way.”

For a moment Cha
Thrat could not speak as the Gog-leskan healer's mind threatened to engulf her
own with its peculiar mixture of fear, curiosity, and parental concern. Finally
she said, Will Khone be able to speak?”

I have the
feeling, not a suspicion, that both our Gogleskans are doing well,
Prilicla replied, shaking out its wings in readiness for flight. But now,
if we don't end this
conversation soon, the others will wonder what I am doing to you, and will be
expecting you to arrive back bruised and bleeding.”

The idea of
Prilicla inflicting any kind of injury on anyone was so ridiculous that even a Gogleskan as well as a
Sommaradvan and Earth-human
considered it funny. Cha Thrat laughed out loud as, with the down-draft from
the empath's wings stirring her hair, they followed the others back to the lander.

You realize, friend Cha, the empath said, its trembling limbs a
visible apology for the words that would diminish her pleasure, that O'Mara will
have to be told.”

Chapter 15

By  the time they had been transfered from the lander to the special FOKT accommodation of Rhab-war's
casualty deck, both patients were fully conscious and making loud hissing noises. The sounds
that the younger one was making
did not translate, but Khone's were divided into repeated expressions of gratitude for its survival and weak but very insistent reassurances about its clinical condition. The healer's
self-diagnosis was supported by the
biosensors and confirmed by the less tangible but even more accurate findings of the emotion-sensitive Prilicla. And now that it was separated from its friendly off-world monsters, and its subconscious fears thereby allayed, by a thick transparent partition, Khone was quite happy to speak to anyone at anytime.

That included the nonmedical crew members who, with Captain Fletcher's permission, left their positions in Control and the Power Room briefly to congratulate the patient and tell
complimentary lies about the obvious
intelligence, parental resemblance, and great beauty of the new arrival, a male child of greater than average weight. In spite of Prilicla's urgings that it should rest and refrain from overexcitement, the atmosphere around Khone's accommodation more closely resembled a birthday party than the casualty deck of an ambulance ship.

207When Captain Fletcher arrived, they did not need an emphatic faculty to
feel the atmosphere change. To Khone the Earth-human made a perfunctory inquiry
about its health, then turned quickly to Prilicla.

I need a
decision, Senior Physician, it went on, one that only you people
can make. The hospital signaled us a few minutes ago, saying that an emergency
beacon had been detected in this sector. The distressed ship is about five
hours subspace flight away; the distress beacon was not one of the types used
by the Federation, so the casualties might be a species new to us. That makes
it difficult to estimate the time needed for the rescue. It could take a couple
of days rather than hours.

The
question is, it ended, do your patients require hospitalization
before or after we respond to this
distress call?”

It was not an
easy decision to make because their patients, although stable and not in need
of urgent treatment, belonged to a life-form about which little was known
clinically, so that unexpected complications might arise at any time.
Surprisingly the discussion, which was animated but necessarily brief, was
ended by Khone itself.

Please, friends,
it said during one of the rare lulls, Gogleskan females recover quickly once the birth trauma is
over. I can assure you, both
as a healer and a parent, that such a delay will not endanger either of us. Besides, here we are receiving
much better attention than would be possible anywhere on Goglesk.”

You're
forgetting something, Murchison said quietly.
We may be going into a disaster situation possibly involving a life-form completely new to us. It is conceivable that they might horrify or scare even us,much less a Gogleskan leaving its planet for the
nrsttime.”

They might, Khone replied, but they would almostcertainly be in a worse condition than I am.”

Very well, Prilicla said, turning back to the Captain. It seems that friend Khone has reminded us of the
priorities and of our duty as healers. Tell the hospital that Rhabwar will
respond.”

Fletcher
disappeared in the direction of Control, and the Cinrusskin went on. We should now eat and sleep, since there might not be an opportunity to do either
for some time. The patients' biosensors will be monitored automatically and any
change in condition signaled to me at once. They need rest, too, and they wouldn't get it if I left a team member on duty. Come along,
everyone. Sleep well, friend Khone.”

It flew gracefully into the gravity-free central well and up toward the dining and recreation deck,
followed in more orthodox fashion
by Naydrad, Danalta, Murchison, and Cha Thrat. But just before they began their weightless climb, Murchison gripped the ladder
with one hand and placed the other on one of her mediallimbs.

Wait, please, it said. I would like to speak to you. Cha Thrat stopped but did not speak. The
sensation of alien digits gently enclosing her arm and the sight of the flabby, pink Earth-human face looking up at her were giving rise to feelings that no Sommaradvan, much less a female one, had any business harboring. Slowly, so as
not to give offense, she disengaged the limb from the other's grip and sought for emotionalcontrol.

I'm worried about this ship rescue, Cha Thrat, it said, and the effect on you of the casualties we may have to treat. Disaster injuries can be pretty bad, colli-sion fractures and explosive
decompressions for the most part, and as a rule there are very few survivors.
You don't seem to be able to keep your Sommaradvan nose out of the medical
area, but this time you must try, try really hard, not to get involved with our
casualties.”

Before Cha Thrat
could reply, it went on. You did some very nice work with Khone, even
though I'm still not sure what exactly was going on, but you were very lucky.
If Khone or the infant or both of them had died, how would you have felt? More
important, what would you have done to yourself?”

Nothing,
Cha Thrat said, trying hard to tell herself that the expression on the pink
face below her was one of friendly concern for an other-species subordinate and
not something more personal. Quickly she went on. I would have felt very
bad, but I would not have injured myself again. The code of ethics of a
warrior-surgeon is strict, and even on Sommaradva there were colleagues who did
not observe it as I have done, and who envied and disliked me for my own strict
observance. To me the code remains valid, but in Sector General and on Gog-lesk
there are other and equally valid codes. My viewpoints have changed...”

She stopped
herself, afraid that she had said too much, but the other had not noticed that
she had used the plural.

We call
that broadening the mind, Murchison said, and I'm relieved and
pleased for you, Cha Thrat. It's a pity that... Well, I meant what I said about
you being the Maintenance Department's gain and our loss. Your superiors find
you a bit hard to take at times, and
after the Chalder and Hudlar incidents I can't imagine you being accepted for ward training by anyone. But maybe if you waited until the fuss died
down, and didn't doanything else to get yourself noticed, I could
speak to a few people about
having you transfered back to the medical staff. How do you feel about that?”

I feel grateful, she replied, trying desperately to find a way of ending this conversation with a
being who was not only
sympathetic and understanding as a person, but whose physical aspect was arousing in her other feelings of the kind
usually associated with the urge to procreate. Most definitely, she thought,
this was a problem that could only be resolved by one of O'Mara's spells. Quickly she added,
I also feel very hungry.”

Hungry!
Murchison said. As the Earth-human turned to resume climbing to the dining
area, it laughed suddenly and said, You know, Cha Thrat, sometimes you remind me of my life-mate.”

She was able to rest after the meal but not sleep and, after three hours of trying, she made the excuse
to herself that Rhone's life-support and synthetic food delivery systems needed
checking. She found the Gogleskan awake, as well, and they talked quietly while
it fed the infant. Soon afterward
they were both asleep and she was left to stare silently at the complex shapes of the casualty deck
equipment, which looked like weird, mechanical phantasms in the night-level
lighting, until the arrival of Prilicla.

Have you
been able to speak with friend Khone? the Cinrusskin asked, hovering over the two Gogles-kans.

Yes,
Cha Thrat replied. It will do as you suggested, to avoid embarrassing us.”

Thank you,
friend Cha, Prilicla said. I feel the others awake and about to join us. We should be
arrivingat any—”

It was
interrupted by a double chime that announced their emergence into normal space,
followed a few min-utes later by the voice of Lieutenant Haslam speaking! from
Control.

We have
long-range sensor contact with a large] ship, the communications officer
said. There are noj indications of abnormal radiation levels, no
expanding cloud of debris, no sign of any catastrophic malfunction.! The vessel
is rotating around its longtitudinal axis as well I as spinning slowly end over
end. We are locking the tele-1 scope into the sensor bearing and putting the
image onf your repeater screen.”

A narrow, fuzzy
triangle appeared in the center of the screen, becoming more distinct as Haslam
brought it into focus.

It went on.
Prepare for maximum thrust in ten minutes. Gravity compensators set for
three Gs. We should close with it in less than two hours.”

Cha Thrat and
Khone watched the screen with the rest of the medical team, who were making
Prilicla tremble with the intensity of their impatience. They were as ready as
it was possible to be, and the more detailed preparations would have to wait
until they had some idea of the physiological classification of the people they
were about to rescue. But it was possible for the ship ruler to draw
conclusions, even at long range.

According
to our astrogation computer, Fletcher said, the nearest star is
eleven light-years distant and without planets, so the ship did not come from there. Although large* it is still much too
small to be a generation ship, so it is highly probable that it uses a form of hyperdrive similar to our own. It does not resemble any vessel, past,
current, or under development, on
the Federation's fleet list.

In spite of
its large size, the Captain went on, it has the aerodynamically clean triangular
configuration typical of a vessel required to maneuver in a planetaryatmosphere. Most of the
star-traveling species that we know prefer, for technical and economic reasons, to keep their combined atmosphere-and-space
vessels small and build the larger
nonlanders in orbit where streamlining is unnecessary. The two exceptions that I know of build their
space-atmosphere ships large because the crews needed to operate them are
themselves physicallymassive.”

Oh,
great, Naydrad said. We'll be rescuing abunch of giants.”

This is
only speculative at the moment, the Captain said. Your screen won't
show it, but we're beginning to resolve some of the structural details. That
ship was not put together by
watchmakers. The overall design philosophy seems to have been one of simplicity
and strength rather than
sophistication. We are beginning to see small access and inspection panels, and
two very large features that must
be entry locks. While it is possible that these are cargo locks that double as entry ports for personnel who are physically small,
the probability is that these people are a very large and massive life-form—”

Don't be
afraid, friend Khone, Prilicla broke in quickly. Even a demented
Hudlar couldn't break through the partition Cha Thrat put around you, and our
casualties will be unconscious anyway. Both of you will be quite safe.”

Reassurance
and gratitude are felt, the Gogleskan said. With a visible effort it added, more personally, Thank you.”

Friend
Fletcher, the empath said, returning its attention to the Captain, can you speculate
further about this life-form, other than that it is large and probably lacks
digital dexterity?”

C.B.E.----IO I was about to, the Captain said. Analysis of internal
atmosphere leakage shows that—”

Then the hull
has been punctured! Cha Thrat said excitedly. From within or
without?”

Technician,
said the ship ruler, reminding her of her position and her insubordination with
the single word. For your information, it is extremely difficult, expensive,
and unnecessary to make a large, space-going structure completely airtight. It is more practical
to maintain the vessel at nominal internal pressure and replace the negligible
quantity of air that escapes. In this case, had escaping air not been observed,
it would almost certainly have meant that the ship was open to space and
airless.

But there
are no signs of collision or puncture damage, Fletcher went on, and
our sensor .data and analysis of the atmosphere leakage suggests that the crew are
warm-blooded oxygen-breathers with environmental temperature and pressure
requirements similar to our own.”

Thank you,
friend Fletcher, Prilicla said, then joined the others who were silently
watching the repeater screen.

The image of the slowly rolling and spinning ship had grown
until it was brushing against
the edges of the screen, when Murchison said, The ship is undamaged,
uncontrolled, and, the sensors tell us,
there is no abnormal escape of radiation from its main reactor. That means
their problem is likely to be disease rather than traumatic injuries, a
disabling or perhaps lethal illness affecting the entire crew. Under illness I
would include the inhalation of toxic gas accidentally released from—”

No, ma'am,
said Fletcher, who had maintained the communicator link with Control.
Toxic contaminationof the air supply system on that scale would have showed up in our leak analyses. There's nothing wrong
with theirair.”

Or,
Murchison went on firmly, the toxic materialmay have contaminated their liquid or food supply,
and been ingested. Either way,
there may be no survivors and nothing for us to do here except posthumously investigate, record the
physiology of a new life-form, and leave the rest to the Monitor Corps.”

The rest, Cha Thrat knew, would mean carrying out a detailed examination of the vessel's power,
life-support, and navigation
systems with the intention of assessing the species' level of technology. That might provide the information that would enable them to
reconstruct the elements of the ship's
course before the disaster occurred and trace it back to its planet of origin.
Simultaneously,   an   even   more   careful
evaluation   of   the nontechnical environment—crew accommodation and furnishings, art or decorative objects, personal effects, books, tapes, and self-entertainment
systems—would be carried out so that they would know what kind of people lived on the home planet when they succeeded in
finding it, as they ultimately
would.

And eventually that world would be visited by the Cultural Contact specialists of the Monitor Corps
and, like her own Sommaradva,
it would never be the same again.

If there
are no survivors, ma'am, Fletcher said regretfully, then it isn't a
job for Rhabwar. But
we'll only know when we go inside
and check. Senior Physician, do you wish to send any of your people with me? At this stage, though, getting inside will be a mechanical rather than a medical problem. Lieutenant Chen and
Technician Cha Thrat, you will assist me with the entry— Wait, something's
happening to the ship!”

Cha Thrat was
very surprised that Fletcher wanted her to help with such important work, badly worried in case she might not be able to perform to his expectations, and more than a little frightened at the thought of what might happen
to them when they got inside the distressed ship. But the feelings were temporarily submerged at the sight of what was happening on the screen.

The ship's rate
of spin and roll were increasing as they watched, and irregular spurts of vapor were fogging the forward and aft hull and
the tips of the broad, triangular
wings. She suffered a moment's sympathetic nausea for anyone who might be inside the vessel and conscious, then Fletcher's voice returned.

Attitude
jets! it said excitedly. Somebody must be trying to check the spin,
but is making it worse. Maybe
the survivor isn't feeling well, or is injured, or isn't familiar with the
controls. But now we know someone is alive in there. Dodds, as soon as we're in range, kill that spin and lock
on with all tractors. Doctor Prilicla, you're in business again.”

Sometimes it's nice, Murchison said, speaking to
nobody in particular, to be proved wrong.”

While Cha Thrat
was donning her suit, she listened
to the discussion between the medical team members and Fletcher that, had it not been for the presence of the gentle little empath, would have quickly developed into
a bitter argument.

It was plain from the conversation that the Captain was Rhabwar's sole ruler so far as all ship operations were concerned, but
at the site of a disaster its authority had to be relinquished to the senior medical person on board, who was empowered to use the resources of the ship and its officers as it saw fit. The main area of con-tention seemea to oe me responsibility ended and Prilicla's began.

The Captain argued that the medics were not,
considering the fact that the distressed ship was structurally undamaged, on the disaster site
until it got them into the ship, and until then they should continue to
obey its orders or, at very least, act on its
advice. Its advice was that they should remain on Rhabwar until it had effected an entry, because to do otherwise was to risk becoming casualties themselves if the
injured or ill survivor—who had already
made a mess of checking its ship's spin with the attitude jets—decided to do something equally
unsuccessful and much more devastating with the main thrusters.

If the medical team was waiting outside the distressed ship's entry lock when thrust was applied, they would either be smashed against the hull plating or
incinerated by its tail flare, and
the rescue would be aborted because of a sudden lack of rescuers.

Fletcher's
reasons for wanting the medics to remain behind until the other ship had been opened were sound, Cha Thrat thought, even
though they had given her a new danger to worry about. But the medical
team had been trained for the
fastest possible rescue and treatment of survivors, and they were particularly anxious not to waste time in this case when there might only be one. By the time she was leaving for the airlock, a
compromise had been worked out.

Prilicla would accompany Fletcher, Chen, and herself to the ship. While they were trying to get inside, the empath would move up and down the outer
hull and try to pinpoint the locations of survivors by their emotional radiation. The
rest of the medical team would hold themselves ready for a fast recovery of casualties as soon as the way was open.

She had been
waiting only a few minutes in the lock antechamber when Lieutenant Chen arrived.

Good,
you're here already, the Earth-human said, smiling. Help me move
our equipment into the lock, please. The Captain doesn't like to be kept
waiting.”

Without giving
the impression that it was lecturing her, Chen discussed the purpose of the
equipment they were moving from the nearby stowage compartment to the lock, so
that Cha Thrat felt her level of ignorance was being reduced without the
feelings of stupidity and inferiority that so often accompanied that process.
She decided that the Earth-human was a considerate and helpful person, in spite
of its rank, and one with whom she might risk a small insubordination.

This is in
no sense a criticism of the ship ruler, she said carefully, but I
am concerned lest Captain Fletcher is giving me credit for more technical
experience than I in fact possess. Frankly, I'm surprised it wanted me along.”

Chen made an
untranslatable sound and said, Don't be surprised, Technician, of worried.”

Regrettably,
Cha Thrat said, I am both.”

For a few minutes
the Lieutenant went on talking about the sections of portable airlock they were
carrying that, when deployed and attached with fast-setting sealant around the
entry port of the other ship', would enable Rhabwar's boarding tube to join the two vessels and allow the medics to do their work unhampered by space-suits.

But rest
your mind, Cha Thrat, Chen
went on. Your maintenance chief, Timmins, spoke to the Captain about you. It said that you are pretty bright, learn quickly, and we should
give you as much work to do as possible. We should do this because, once the
FOKT's accommodation was finished, you would havenothing to do and might fret. It said that, with your past performance in the hospital, the medical team wouldn't allow you anywhere near one of their
patients.”

It laughed suddenly and went on. Now we know how wrong Timmins was. But we still intend to keep
you busy. You have four times as
many hands as I have, and I can't think of a better tool-carrier. Do I offend you,Technician?”

The question had been asked of the trainee technician and not the proud warrior-surgeon she had
been, so the answer had to be
No.”

That's
good, Chen said. Now, close and seal your helmet, and double-check your safety-line attachments.
The Captain's on his way.”

And then she was
outside, festooned with equipment and drifting with the two Earth-humans across the short distance to the distressed vessel,
which was now held by the
rigid, nonmaterial beams of Rhabwar's tractors. While immobilizing the other ship, their own had acquired a proportion of its spin. But the countless stars that wheeled endlessly around the apparently motionless vessels aroused a feeling not of nausea butwonder.

Prilicla was
already there when they arrived,
having exited by the casualty deck's airlock, and was patrolling along the hull in its careful search for
the emotional radiation that would indicate the presence of survivors.

Chapter 16

As soon as they
were standing upright and held to the gray, unpainted hull plating by their
boot magnets, and with the bulk of Rhabwar hanging above them like a
shining and convoluted white ceiling, the Captain began to speak.

It said, 'There
are only so many ways for a door to open. It can hinge in or outward, slide
vertically or laterally, unscrew clockwise or anticlockwise or, if the builders
are sufficiently advanced in the field of molecular engineering, an opening
could be dilated in an area of solid metal. We have yet to encounter a species
capable of the latter and, if we ever do, we'll have to be very careful indeed,
and remember to call them 'sir.1”

Before it had
joined the Monitor Corps, she had learned, Fletcher had been a ruler-academic
and one of Earth's foremost, and certainly most youthful, authorities on
Extraterrestrial Comparative Technology, and the old habits died hard. Even on
the hull of an alien ship that might apply thrust at any moment, it was
lecturing —and remembering to include the occasional dry little joke. It was
also speaking for the benefit of the recorders, in case something sudden and
melodramatic happened.

We are
standing on a large door or hatch that is rectangular in shape with rounded
corners, it went on, sothe probability is that it will open in or out. Below us, according to the sensors, is a large, empty
compartment, which means that it has
to be a cargo or personnel lock rather than an equipment access or inspection panel. The hatch is featureless, so the external actuator
mechanism should be behind one of
the small panels in the door surround. Technician, the scanner, please.”

Because this
particular scanner was designed to see into the vital organs of metal-encased machines rather than the softer structures of flesh and blood,
it was much larger and heavier than
its medical counterpart. In her eagerness to appear fast and efficient, Cha
Thrat miscalculated the inertia and sent it crashing into the hatch cover, where it left a long, shallow dent before
the Captain brought it to a halt.

Thank
you, Fletcher said drily, and added, We are, of course, making no secret of our
presence. A covert entry and
our sudden appearance inside their ship might frighten the survivors, if there are any.”

Chen made an untranslatable noise and said, Whacking the hull with a sledgehammer would have been
even better.”

Sorry,
Cha Thrat said.

Two of the small panels concealed retractable lighting fixtures and the remaining one turned out to be a
large rocker switch set flush
with the hull plating. Fletcher warned them to stand clear, then pressed with its palm on both ends of the switch in turn. It had to
press very hard, so hard that it had pushed its leg and arm magnets away from the hull, before anything happened.

A sudden rush of air from the edge of the slowly opening hatch sent Fletcher spinning away. Cha
Thrat, who had the advantage of four foot-magnets holding her down, grabbed it by one leg and brought the Captain into contact with the hull again.

Thank
you, Fletcher said, as the fog of escaping air cleared, then went on.
Everyone inside. Doctor Prilicia, come quickly. The opening of the lock
is sure to register on their control deck. If there are any survivors up there,
now is the most likely time for them to get nervous and apply thrust...”

There are
survivors, friend Fletcher, the empath broke in. One of them is
forward, probably on the control deck, and several groups of them' farther aft,
but none in your immediate area. Out here I am too far from the sources to be
able to detect individual emotional radiation, but the predominant feelings are
of fear, pain, and anger. It is the intensity of the anger that worries me,
friend Fletcher, so go carefully. I am returning to Rhabwar for the rest
of the medical team.”

With the scanner
they were able to identify and trace the actuator wiring to a set of two rocker
switches. The first one was locked in position, and when they pressed the second,
the lock's outer seal closed behind them, after which the first one moved
freely and opened the inner seal, simultaneously turning on the lighting.

Fletcher said a
few words for the recorders about the intense greenish-yellow lighting that would,
on later analysis, give useful information about the crew's visual organs and
an indication of the type and proximity of their sun to the home planet. Then
it led the way from the lock chamber into the corridor.

The
corridor is about four meters high, square in cross-section, well lit,
unpainted, and gravity-free, the Captain went on. We assume an
artificial gravity system, currently malfunctioning or possibly switched off,
because the inner surfaces are bare of ladders, climbing nets, or handholds
that the crew would need to get about in the weightless condition. At this
level the section of corridor visible to us follows the lateral curvature of
theinner hull, and opposite the
lock entrance there is a wide opening through which we can see two ramps, one
ascending and the other descending, which lead, presumably, to other decks. We
are taking the ascending one.”

Consulting the
analyzer strapped to its arm, the Captain went on. Nothing toxic in the
air, pressure low but still breathable, temperature normal. Open your visors so we can talk together without tying up the
suit frequencies.”

Fletcher and Chen
launched themselves into the air above the ascending ramp. Less expertly, Cha
Thrat did likewise and was halfway to the top when the others arrived—and
dropped suddenly onto the deck with a muffled crash of equipment and a much
less quiet burst of strong language. She had enough warning to be able to land on her feet.

The
artificial gravity system, the Captain said, when it had picked itself up again, is
still operating in this area. Move quickly, please, we're looking for survivors.”

Large
inward-opening doors with simple latch fastenings lined the corridor, and under
Fletcher's direction, the search became a
routine process. First unlatch the door, push it wide open while standing well back in case something nasty came
through it, then search the compartment quickly for crew members. But the
compartments held only racks of equipment or containers of various shapes and
sizes whose labels they could not read, and nothing that in any way resembled furniture, wall decorations, or clothing.

So far, Fletcher reported, the ship's interior seemed incredibly spartan and utilitarian, and it was
beginning to worry about the kind of
people who would build and crew such a vessel.

At the top of the
next ramp, in another section ofcorridor that was
gravity-free, they saw one of them. It was hanging weightless, spinning slowly
and occasionally bumping against the ceiling.

Careful!
Fletcher warned as Cha Thrat moved forward for a closer look. But there was no
danger because she could recognize a cadaver when she saw one, regardless of
its species. A hand placed on its thick, heavily veined neck confirmed the
absence of a pulse and a body temperature that was much too low for a
warm-blooded oxygen-breather who was alive.

The Captain
joined her and said, This is a big one, almost twice the mass of a
Tralthan, physiological classification FGHI...”

FGHJ,
Cha Thrat corrected.

Fletcher broke
off and took a deep breath, which it expelled slowly through its nose. When it
spoke she could not be sure whether the Captain was being what Earth-humans
called sarcastic, or simply asking a question of a subordinate who appeared to
have more knowledge in a particular area than it had.

Technician,
it said, laying heavy emphasis on the first word, would you like to take
over?”

Yes,
she said eagerly, and went on. It has six limbs, four legs and two arms,
all very heavily muscled, and is hairless except for a narrow band of stiff
bristles running from the top of the head along the spine to the tail, which
seems to have been surgically shortened at an early age. The body configuration
is a thick cylinder of uniform girth between the fore and rear legs but the
forward torso narrows toward the shoulders and is carried erect. The neck is
very thick and the head small. There are two eyes, recessed and looking
forward, a mouth with very large teeth, and other openings that are probably
aural or olfactory sense organs. The legs...”

Friend
Fletcher, Prilicla broke in gently. Wouldyou please switch on your
vision pickup and spotlight, and hold them very steady? We want to see what Cha Thrat is describing.”

Suddenly every
surface detail of the dead FGHJ was illuminated by a light even more intense
than that of thecorridor.

You won't
see a good picture, the Captain said. The shielding effects of the ship's hull will cause foggingand distortion.”

That is
understood, the empath said. Friend Nay-drad is preparing the large pressure litter. We
will be with you very soon. Please continue, Cha Thrat.”

The legs
terminate in large, reddish-brown hooves, she went on, three of
which are covered by thick, heavily padded bags fastened tightly at the tops,
possibly to deaden the sound their feet make on the metal deck. Cylinders of
metal, padded on the inner surfaces, encircle all four legs just below knee-level, with short
lengths of chain attached to them.
The links at the end of the chains have been broken or forced apart.

The
creature's hands are large, with four digits, she continued, and do
not appear particularly dexterous. There is a complicated harness suspended from and belted around the upper torso and flanks. Pouches
of different sizes are attached to
the harness. One of them is open and there are small tools scattered around thebody.”

Technician,
the Captain said, remain here until the medic team arrives, then follow us. We're supposed to find and help the live ones and—”

No!
Cha Thrat said without thinking. Then apologetically she added, I'm
sorry, Captain. I mean, be verycareful.”

Chen was already moving down the corridor, but the Captain checked itself as
it was about to follow.

I am always
careful, Technician, it said quietly, but why do you think I should
be very careful?”

I do not
have a reason, she said, with three of her eyes on the cadaver and one on
the Earth-human, only a suspicion. On Sommaradva there are certain
people, warriors as well as serviles, who behave badly and without honor toward
their fellow citizens and, on rare occasions, grievously injure or kill them.
These lawbreakers are confined on an island from which there is no escape. On
the vessel that transports them to this island the non-crew accommodation lacks
comfort, and the prisoners themselves are immobilized by leg restraints. With
respect, the similarities to our present situation are obvious.”

Fletcher was
silent for a moment, then it said, Let's take your suspicion a stage
further. You think this might be a prison ship, in distress not because of a
technical malfunction but because its prisoners have broken free and may have
killed or injured all or part of the crew before they realized that they were unable to work the ship themselves.
Perhaps some crew members are holed up somewhere, in need of medical attention,
after inflicting serious casualties among the escapees.”

Fletcher looked briefly at the cadaver, then returned its
attention to Cha Thrat.

It's a neat
theory, it went on. If true, we are faced with the job of
convincing the ship's crew and a bunch of unruly prisoners, who are on less
than friendly terms with each other, that we would like to help all of them
without becoming casualties ourselves. But is it true? The leg restraints
support your theory, but the harness and too! pouches suggest a crew member
rather than a prisoner.

Thank you,
Cha Thrat, it added, turning to followChen, I shall bear your suspicions in mind, and be verycareful.”

As soon as the Captain had finished speaking, Prilicla said quickly, Friend Cha, we can see
wounds all over the body surface, but
the details are indistinct. Describe them please. And do they support your theory? Are they the type of injuries that might be sustained
by an entity being moved violently
about inside a spinning ship, or could they have been inflicted deliberately by another member of the same
species?”

On your
answer, Murchison joined in, depends whether or not I go back for a
heavy-duty spacesuit.”

And
I, Naydrad said. Danalta, who belonged to a species impervious to
physical injury, remained silent.

She looked
closely at the brightly lit surfaces of the corridor for a moment, then gently
rotated the cadaver so that its entire
body was presented to the vision pickup. She was trying to think like a warrior-surgeon while at the same time remembering one of the
basic physics tapes she had
viewed as a trainee technician.

There are a
large number of superficial contusions and abrasions, she said, concentrated on the flanks, knees, and elbows. They appear to have been made
by grazing contact with the metal
of the corridor, but the wound that caused its death is a large, depressed fracture located on and covering the top of the skull. It does not look as if it was caused by any type of metal tool or implement but by violent contact with the
corridor wall. There is a patch of congealed blood, comparable to the area of the injury, on the wall where I am
directing the vision pickup.

Remembering
that the cadaver's position in the vessel is approximately amidships, she went on, wondering if the Captain's lecturing manner was a
psychological contagion, it is unlikely that the spinning could havebeen responsible for
such a grievous head injury. My conclusion is that the being, whose legs are very strong, misjudged a jump in weightless
conditions and hit its head against the wall. The lesser wounds could have been
caused while it was tumbling, unconscious and dying, inside the spinning ship.”

Murchison's voice
sounded relieved as it said, So you're telling us that it had an
accident, that no other antisocial type bashed in its skull?”

Yes,
ChaThrat said.

I'll be
with you in a few minutes, it said.

Friend
Murchison, Prilicla began anxiously.

Don't
worry, Doctor, said the Pathologist. If anyone or anything nasty
threatens, Danalta will protectus.”

Of
course, the shape-changer said.

While she was
waiting for them to arrive, Cha Thrat continued to study the cadaver while
listening to the voices of Prilicla, Fletcher, and Rhabwar's communications
officer. The Cinrusskin's empathic faculty had given it approximate locations
for the survivors who, apart from the single crew member in Control, seemed to
be gathered together in three small groups of four or five persons on one deck.
But the Captain had decided
that it would be better to make contact with a single crew member before approaching a group, and was heading directly for the survivor on the Control deck.

Cha Thrat
steadied the cadaver and took one of its large, strong hands in two of her upper manipulators. The fingers
were short and stubby and tipped with claws that had been trimmed short, and
none of the digits were opposable. In this species' prehistory she could imagine those clawed hands conveying
freshly killed food to the mouth that even now was filled with long and very nasty-looking teeth. It did not, she thought, look like amember of a species capable of
building ships that traveled between the stars.

It did not look, well, civilized. You can't always judge by
external appearance, Murchison said, making Cha Thrat realize that she
had been thinking aloud. Your Chalder friend from the AUGL ward makes
this one look like a pussy-cat.”

The rest of the medical team were following closely behind the Pathologist: Naydrad guiding the
litter; Prilicla walking the ceiling on its six, sucker-tipped legs; and, as
she watched, Danalta extruded a thicker, sucker-tipped limb of its own and
attached itself to the wall like some watchful, alien vegetable.

Quickly Murchison
attached its instrument pack to the wall with magnetic pads and used larger magnets and webbing to immobilize the cadaver. It said,
Our friend here was unlucky, but at least it is helping the others. I can do things to it which I would not think of
doing to a living survivor, and
without wasting time on—”

Dammit,
this is ridiculous* a voice said in their suit phones, so distorted by surprise and incredulity
that she did not recognize it
at first as belonging to the Captain. Fletcher went on. We're on the
control deck and we've found another crew member, alive, apparently uninjured, occupying one of five control positions. The
other four positions are empty. But
the survivor is wearing restraints on all four legs and is chained to its
controlcouch!”

Cha Thrat turned away and left without speaking. The Captain had told her that she should follow Chen
and itself as soon as the medical
team arrived, and she wanted to do just that before Fletcher had a chance to countermand the earlier order. Her curiosity about this strange, chained-up ship's officer was so intense
that it was almost painful.

It was not until
she had ascended two decks that she noticed Prilicla silently following her.

Fletcher was
saying I've tried communicating with it, with the translator and my
making the usual friendly signs. Rhabwar's translation computer is
capable of converting simple messages into any conceivable language that is
based on a system of word-sounds. It growls and barks at me but the sounds
don't translate. When I approach closely it acts as if it wants to tear my head
off. At other times its body and limb movements are erratic and uncoordinated,
although it seems anxious to be free of its leg restraints.”

Prilicia and Cha
Thrat arrived at that moment, and the Captain added, See for yourselves.”

The Cinrusskin
had taken up a position on the ceiling just inside the entrance, well away from
the crew member's wildly flailing arms. It said, Friend Fletcher, the emotional radiation disturbs me. There
are feelings of anger, fear, hunger, and blind, unthinking antagonism. There is
a coarseness and intensity in these emotions not usually found in beings
possessing high intelligence.”

I agree,
Doctor, the Captain said, moving back instinctively as one of the
clawless hands stabbed out at its face. But these couches were designed
for this particular life-form, and the controls, switches, and doorhandles that we've seen so far in the ship are suited to those
particular hands. At the moment it is completely ignoring the controls, and the sudden increase in
spin we noticed during our
approach was probably caused by it accidentally striking the keys concerned.

Its couch,
like the other four, is mounted on runners, Fletcher went on. It
has been moved back to the limit of its travel, which makes it very difficult for the being's hands to reach the control consoles. Have
you any ideas, Senior Physician, because I haven't.”

No, friend Fletcher, Prilicla said, but lei us move to a lower deck where it cannot see or hear us.”

A few minutes later it continued. The levels of fear, anger, and antagonism have diminished, and its
hunger remains at the same
intensity. For reasons that aren't clear to me at the moment, the crew member's behavior is irrational and emotionally unstable. But it is
in no immediate danger where it is, and it is not in any pain. Friend Murchison.”

Yes?
the Pathologist responded. When you are examining that
cadaver, it went on, pay special attention to the head. It has occurred to me that the cranial injury may not have been an
accident, ' but was deliberately
self-inflicted in response to acute and continuing cranial discomfort. You should look for evidence of an area of infection or cell
degeneration affecting the brain tissues, which may have adversely affected or destroyed its higher centers of mentation
andemotional control.

Friend Fletcher, it went on without waiting for a reply, we must quickly locate and check the condition of the other survivors. But carefully, in case
they are behaving like our friend
in Control.”

With Prilicla's empathic faculty to guide them, they quickly found the three large dormitory
compartments containing the remaining conscious survivors, five in one room and four in each of the others. The doors
were not locked but the occupants
had not used the simple latch system that would have opened them from the inside. The artificial gravity system was in operation, and the brief look they were able to catch before the
occupants spotted and began to
attack them showed plain, unde-corated metal walls and flooring that was covered by disordered bedding and wrecked waste-disposal
equip-ment. The smell, Cha Thrat thought, could have been cut with a knife.

Friend
Fletcher, Prilicla said as they were leaving the last dormitory,
all of the crew members are physically active and without pain, and if it
wasn't for the fact that they are clearly no longer capable of working their
ship, I would say that they are quite healthy. Unless friend Murchison
discovers a clinical reason for their abnormal behavior, there is nothing we
can do for them.

I realize
that I am being both cowardly and selfish, it went on, but I do not
want to endanger our casualty deck equipment and terrify friend Khone by moving
in close on twenty oversized, overactive, and, at present, underintelligent
life-forms who—”

I
agree, Fletcher said firmly. If that lot got loose, they could
wreck my ship and not just the casualty deck. The alternative is to keep them
here, extend Rhabwar's hyperspace envelope, and Jump both ships to
Sector General.”

That was my
thought as well, friend Fletcher, Prilicla replied. Also, that you
rig the boarding tube so that we can have rapid access to the survivors, that
we gather samples of all packets and containers likely to hold this life-form's
food or nutritious fluids. The only symptom these people display is intense
hunger and, considering the size of their teeth, I would like to relieve it as
soon as possible in case they start eating each other.”

And,
the Pathologist's voice joined in, you want me to analyze the samples so
as to tell you which containers hold paint and which soup?”

Thank you,
friend Murchison, the empath said, and went on. As well as your
cranial investigation would you look at the cadaver's general metabolism with a
view to suggesting a safe anesthetic for use on these people, something
fast-acting that we can shoot into them at adistance. They must all be anesthetized very quickly because—”

For fast work like that, Murchison broke in, I'll need Rhabwar^1* lab, not a portable analyzer like this one. And I'll need the whole team to help me.”

Because,
Prilicla resumed quietly, I have a feeling that there is another survivor
who is not healthy and active and hungry. Its emotional radiation is extremely weak and characteristic of an entity who is deeply
unconscious and perhaps dying. But I am unable to locate it because of the stronger, overriding
emanations from the conscious survivors. That is why, as soon as the samples
are gathered for friend Murchison, I would like ' every hole, comer, or compartment large enough to hold
an FGHJ searched.

It must be done quickly, the Cinrusskin ended, because the feeling is very weak indeed.”

Awkwardly Fletcher said, 1 understand, Senior Physician, but there is a problem. Pathologist Murchison needs all of the medical team and extending Rhabwar's
hyperenvelope and realigning our tractors for the Jump and deploying the boarding tube will require all
of theship's officers...”

Which leaves me, Cha Thrat said quietly, withnothing to do.”

... So which should be
given priority? the Captain went on, seeming not to have heard her. The search for your unconscious FGHJ, or getting it and
the rest of them to Sector General as quickly as possible?”

I will search the ship, she said, more loudly.

Thank you, Cha Thrat, Prilicla said, 1 felt you wanting to volunteer. But think carefully
before you decide. The survivor, should
you find it, will be too weak to harm you. But there are other dangers. This ship is e, and as strange to us as it is to you.”

Yes,
Technician, the Captain said. These aren't the maintenance tunnels
at Sector General. The color codings, if present, will mean something entirely
different.! You can't make assumptions about anything you see, and
if you accidentally foul a control link... Very well, you may search, but stay
out of trouble.

Fletcher turned
to look at Prilicla and added plaintively, Or do you feel me feeling that
I'm wasting my breath?”

Chapter 17

With the
printouts from Rhabwar's sensors providing information on the ship's
layout, and in particular on the size and location of its empty spaces, Cha
Thrat began a rapid and methodical search of the alien vessel. She ignored only
the control deck, the occupied dormitories, and areas close to the ship's
reactor that the sensor maps showed to be uninhabitable by the FGHJ life-form
or, for that matter, any other species who were not radiation-eaters. She was
very careful to check all interiors with sound sensors and the heavy-duty
scanner before opening every door or panel. She was not afraid, but there were
times when shivers marched like tiny, icy feet along the length of her spine.

It usually
happened when the realization came that she was searching an alien starship for
survivors of a species whose existence she could not have imagined ashort time
ago, at the direction of other unimaginable beings from a place of healing whose size, complexity, and occupants were like the solid
manifestations of a disordered mind.
But the unthinkable and unimaginable had become not only thinkable but acceptable to her, and all because a
discontented and unloved warrior-surgeon of Sommaradva had risked a limb and
her professional reputation to treat an injured off-world ship ruler.

At the thought of
what her future would have been had she not taken that risk she shivered again,
in dread.

Even though the
first search was to be a fast, perfunctory one, it took much longer than Cha
Thrat had expected. By the time it was completed, Rhabwar's boarding tube was in position, and she could feel
and hear the empty grumbling of both
her stomachs.

Prilicla told her
to relieve these symptoms before making her report.

When she arrived on the casualty deck, Prilicla, Mur-chison, and Danalta were working on the cadaver while
Naydrad and Rhone, its hairy
body pressed against the transparent dividing wall, watched with an interest so intense that only the Cinrusskin sensed her
arrival.

What's wrong, friend Cha? the empath asked. Something disturbed you
on the ship. I felt it evenhere.”

This,
she replied, holding up one of the leg restraints that Murchison had removed
from the cadaver and discarded before
the dead FGHJ had been moved to Rhabwar. The chain is not locked to the leg cuff, it is attached with a
simple spring-loaded bolt that can be released easily when pressure is applied
just here.”

She demonstrated, then went on. When I was searching the control deck
area I looked at the crew member chained to its couch, without being seen, and
noticed that similar fastenings hold the chains to all fourof its leg cuffs. It and the cadaver here could have freed themselves
simply by releasing the fastenings, which are within easy reach of its hands.
It did not have to break free, and neither does the crew member chained to the
control couch, who nevertheless continues to struggle violently against
restraints that it could so easily remove. It is all very puzzling, but I think
we must now discard the theory that any of these people were, prisoners under
restraint.”

They were all
watching her closely as she went on. But what is affecting them? What is
it that leaves a crew member normally a responsible, highly trained individual
capable of guiding a starship, in such a state that it cannot unfasten its
couch restraints? What has rendered the other crew members incapable of opening
their own dormitory doors or finding food for themselves? Why has their
behavior degenerated to that of unthinking animals? Could contaminated food, or
the absence of specific foods, have caused this? And before you left me, the
Senior Physician suggested that an organism might have invaded the brain
tissues. Is it possible that—”

If you will
stop asking questions, Technician, Mur-chison broke in crossly,
I'll have a chance to answer some of them. No, the food supply is
plentiful and contains nothing toxic to this life-form. I have analyzed and
identified several varieties carried on the ship, so you will be able to feed
them when you go back. As for the brain tissues, there are no indications of
damage, circulatory impairment, infection, or any pathological abnormality.

I found
trace quantities of a complex chemical structure that, in the metabolism of
this life-form, would act as a powerful tranquilizer. The residual material
suggests that a massive dose was absorbed perhaps three or four days ago, and
the effect has since worn off. A large sup-ply of this tranquilizer was found
in one of the cadaver's harness pouches. So it seems that the crew members
tranquilized themselves before confining themselves to the control couch and
their dormitories.”

There was a long
silence that was broken by Khone, who was holding up its offspring where the
scrawny little entity could see all the strange creatures on the other side of
its transparent panel. Cha Thrat wondered if the Gogleskan was already trying
to weaken the young one's conditioning, even at the tender age of two days.

Impersonally it
said, It is hoped that the time of more intelligent and experienced
healers will not be wasted by this interruption, but on Goglesk it is accepted
that in certain circumstances, and against their will, otherwise intelligent and civilized beings will behave like vicious and
destructive animals. Perhaps the entities on the other vessel have a similar problem, and must take strong and repeated
doses of medication to keep their animal natures under control so that they can
live civilized lives, and make progress, and build starships.

Perhaps
they are starved, Khone ended, not of food but of their civilizing
drug.”

A neat
idea, Murchison said warmly, then matching the Gogleskan's impersonal tone it went on. Admiration is felt for the originality of the healer's
thinking but, regrettably, the medication concerned would not increase
awareness and the ability to mentate, it would decrease it to the point where continuous
use would cause these people to spend their entire lives in a state of semi-consciousness.”

Perhaps,
Cha Thrat joined in, the state of semi-consciousness is pleasant and
desirable. It shames me to admit it, but on Sommaradva there are people who
deliberately affect and often damage their minds with sub-stances for the
purely temporary pleasure they give the user...”

Sommaradva's
shame, Naydrad said angrily, is shared by many worlds in the
Federation.”

... And
when these harmful substances are withdrawn suddenly from habitual users,
she went on, their behavior becomes irrational and violent and similar,
in many respects, to that of the FGHJs on the other ship.”

Murchison was
shaking its head. Sorry, no again. I cannot be absolutely certain because
we are dealing with the metabolism of a completely new life-form here, but I
would say that the traces found in the cadaver's brain was a simple
tranquilizer that deadens rather than heightens awareness, and is almost
certainly nonaddic-tive. Had this not been so I would have suggested using it
as an anesthetic.

And before
you ask, the Pathologist went on, progress with the anesthetic is
slow. I have gone as far as I can go with the physiological data provided by
the cadaver, but to produce one that will be safe to use in large doses I
require blood and gland secretion samples from a living FGHJ.”

Cha Thrat was
silent for a moment, then she turned to include Prilicla as she said, I
could not find any trace of injured or unconscious survivors during my
preliminary search, but I shall search again more diligently when the required
samples have been obtained. Is the being still alive? Can you give me even an
approximate guide to its location?”

I can still
feel it, friend Cha, Prilicla replied. But the cruder, conscious
emoting of the other survivors is obscuring it.”

Then the
sooner Pathologist Murchison has its samples the sooner we'll have the
anesthetic to knock outthe emotional interference, Cha Thrat said briskly. My medial digits are strong enough to restrain the
arms of the FGHJ on the
control couch while my upper manipulators take the samples. From which veins
and organs, and in what
quantities, must they be removed?”

Murchison laughed
suddenly and said, Please, Cha Thrat, let the medical team do something to justify its existence. You will
hold the crew member tightly to its couch, Doctor Danalta will position the scanner, and I will obtain the samples while—”

Control
here. Fletcher's voice broke in from the wall speaker. Jump in five
seconds from . • •now- The extra mass of the distressed ship will delay our return somewhat. We are
estimating Sector General parking orbit in just under four days.”

Thank you,
friend Fletcher, Prilicla said. Suddenly there was the familiar but
indescribable sensation, unseen, unheard, and unfelt but indisputably present, that signaled their removal from the
universe of matter to the tiny,
unreal, and purely mathematical structure that the ship's hyperdrive generators had built around them. She forced herself to look through
the casualty deck's direct vision panel. The tractor and pressor beams that laced the ships rigidly together were
invisible, so that she saw only
the ridiculously flimsy boarding tube joining them and, at the bottom of the metal chasm formed by the two hulls, the heaving, flickering grayness that seemed to reach up through her
eyes and pull her very brain out of focus.

She returned her attention to the solid, familiar if temporarily unreal world of the
casualty deck before hyper-space could give her an eyestrain headache.

Cha Thrat had time for only a few words with Rhone before following Murchison, Danalta, and Naydrad
to the boarding tube. The
Charge Nurse was helping hercarry packages of the material that Murchison had
identified as food, and she had only to compare them with the hundreds of
others in the other ship's stores to be able to feed all of the surviving crew
members until they bulged at the seams.

Her last sight of
the casualty deck for a long time, although she did not know it just then, was
of Senior Physician Prilicla hovering above the .widely scattered remains of
the cadaver and interspersing its quiet words to Khone with untranslatable
duckings and trillings to the younger Gogleskan.

If we can
spare the time, Cha Thrat said to the Pathologist when they were standing
around the control couch and its agitated and weakly struggling occupant, we could feed it before taking your
samples. That might make the patient more contented, and amenable.”

We can
spare the time for that, Murchison replied, then added, There are
times, Cha Thrat, when you remind me of somebody else.”

Who do we
know, Naydrad asked in its forthright Kelgian manner, who's that
weird?”

The Pathologist
laughed but did not reply, and neither did Cha Thrat. Without realizing it,
Murchison had moved into a sensitive and potentially highly embarrassing area,
and, if it ever did learn exactly what had happened to the Sommaradvan's mind
on Goglesk, it should be from its life-mate, Conway, and not Cha Thrat—Prilicla
had been quite insistent about that.

There was
surprisingly little variety in the FGHJs' food containers—two differently shaped plastic bottles, one holding water and the other a faintly odorous nutrient liquid,
and there were uniform blocks of a dry, spongy material wrapped in a thin plastic film with a large ring for
tearing it open. The liquid and solid foods were synthetic, according to
Murchison, but nutrition-ally tailored to the requirements of the FGHJs'
metabolism, and the small quantities of nonnutrient material present were
probably there to excite the taste buds.

But when Cha
Thrat tossed one of the packages into the crew member's hands, it began tearing
at it with its teeth without removing the plastic wrapping. The simple,
spring-loaded caps sealing the bottles were also ignored. It tore open the neck
of the container with its teeth and sucked out the liquid that it had not already
spilled down its chest.

A few minutes
later the Pathologist made an untranslatable sound and said, Its table
manners certainly leave a lot to be desired, but it doesn't appear to be hungry
anymore. Let's get started.”

Feeding the crew
member made no perceptible difference to its behavior except, perhaps, to give
it more strength to resist them. By the time Murchison had withdrawn its
samples, Naydrad, Cha Thrat, and the Pathologist itself were displaying several
areas of surface bruising and Danalta, whose body could not be injured or
deformed except by the application of ultrahigh temperatures, had been forced into some incredible shape-changes in order to
help them immobilize the
brute. When the task was done, Murchison sent Naydrad and Danalta ahead with its test samples while it remained, breathing
rapidly, and with its eyes fixed on the
crew member.

I don't like this, it said.

It worries
me, too, Cha Thrat said. However, if a problem is restated often enough, in different words, a solution sometimes emerges.”

I suppose
some wise old Sommaradvan
philosopher said that, Murchison said drily. I'm sorry, Technician. What were you going to say?”

An
Earth-human Lieutenant called Timmins said it,”

she replied. And I was about to restate the problem, which is
that we are faced with a ship's crew who are apparently suffering from a
disease that leaves them completely healthy, but mindless. Not only can they
not operate their own undamaged and fully functioning ship, they do not
remember how to unfasten their leg restraints, unlatch doors, or open food
containers. They have become like healthy animals.”

Murchison said
quietly, The problem is being restated, but in the same words.”

The living
quarters are bare and comfortless, Cha Thrat went on, which made us
think at first that this was a prison ship. But is it possible that the crew
members, for reasons that may be psychological and associated with space-travel,
or a disease that affects them during space travel, know that bodily comforts,
pleasant surroundings, and valued personal possessions would be wasted on them
during a voyage because they expect to become animals. Perhaps the
condition is brief, episodic, and temporary, but on this occasion something
went wrong and it became permanent.”

Now,
Murchison said, twitching her shoulders in the movement that Earth-humans
called a shiver, the words are different. But if it is of any help to you,
among the samples Naydrad brought me for analysis there was medication as well
as food. The medication was of one kind only, the tranquilizer capsules of the
type found on the cadaver, in a form intended for oral self-administration. So
you may be right about them expecting the condition and taking steps to reduce
accidental damage to themselves during the mindless phase. But it's strange
that Naydrad, who looks very carefully for such things, found only this one
type of medication, and no sign of any instruments for the purposes of
examination, diagnosis, or surgery. Even if they knew in advance that theywere
going to take sick, it looks as if the ship's crew did not include a medic.”

If
anything, Cha Thrat said, this new information increases the
problem.”

Murchison
laughed, but the pallor of its normally pink face showed that it found nothing
humorous in the situation. It said grimly, I could not find anything
wrong with the being I examined, apart from the accidental head injury that
killed it, nor can I see anything clinically wrong with the other crew members.
But something has trace-lessly destroyed their higher centers of
intelligence and wiped their minds clean of all memory, training, and
experience so that they are left with nothing but the instincts and behavior
patterns of animals.

What kind
of organism or agency, it ended with another shiver, could cause
such a selectively destructive effect as that?”

Cha Thrat had a
sudden urge to wrap her medial arms around the Pathologist and comfort it, and
an upsurge of the kind of
emotion that no Sommaradvan, male or female, should feel for an Earth-human. With difficulty she controlled the feelings
that were not her own and
said gently, The anesthetic might give you the answer. We are seeing
patients in whom the disease, or whatever, has run its course. If they are knocked out and we found the other one, isn't it possible that the
disease might not have run its course with this survivor, or the survivor has natural
resistance to it? By studying the
disease and the resistant patient
you might discover the cure for all of them.”

The
anesthetic, yes, Murchison said, and smiled. Your tactful way of
reminding a stupid Pathologist of the elements of her job would do credit to Prilicla itself. I'm wasting time here.”

It turned to
leave, then hesitated. Its face was still very pale.

Whatever it
is that is affecting these people, it said grimly, is outside my
clinical experience, and possibly that of the hospital. But there should be no
danger to us. You already know from your medical lectures that other-species
pathogens can effect only life-forms that share a common planetary and
evolutionary background, and have no effect on off-planet organisms. But there
are times when, in spite of everything we know to the contrary, we wonder if we
will someday run into the exception that proves the rule, a disease or a
clinical condition that is capable of crossing the species barrier.

The mere
possibility that this might be that exception, it went on very seriously,
is scaring the hell out of me. If this should be our bacteriological
bogeyman, we must remember that the disease does not appear to have any
physical effects. The onset and symptomology of the condition are more likely
to be psychological rather than physical. I shall discuss this with Prilicla,
and we shall be watching you for any marked behavioral changes, just as you
must keep a watch on your own mental processes for uncharacteristic thoughts or
feelings.”

The Pathologist
shook its head in obvious self-irritation. Nothing can harm you here, I'm
as sure of that as I can possibly be. But please, Cha Thrat, be very careful
anyway.”

Chapter 18

SHE did not know
how long she spent watching the mindless struggling of the FGHJ on its couch,
and its strong, blunt-fingered hands that had guided this great vessel between
the stars before she left the control deck, feeling depressed and angry at her
inability to produce a single constructive idea, to begin collecting food for
the other, still-hungry crew members. But when she entered the nearest food
storage compartment a few minutes later, she was startled to find Prilicla
alreadythere.

Friend
Cha, the empath said, there has been achange of plan...”

The anesthetic
that Murchison was producing would have to be tested, in minute but gradually
increasing doses, initially on the FGHJ in Control. That process could take
anything up to three days before the Pathologist could pronounce it safe for
use. Prilicla felt sure that the survivor did not have three days and another
method of pacifying the crew members, not as effective as anesthesia, must be
tried. Adequate supplies of the crew's own tranquilizers were available, and
large doses of these would be added to the crew's food and drink in the hope
that, heavily tranquilized and with their hunger satisfied, the intensity of
their emotional radiation would be245reduced to a level where the empath could isolate and locate the
remaining and seriously ill or injured survivor.

I would
like all of the crew members to be fed and tranquilized as quickly as
possible, Prilicla went on. Our friend's emotional radiation is
characteristic of a mind of high intelligence presently degraded by pain,
rather than one in the condition of its crew-mates, but it grows steadily
weaker. I fear for its life. ,At Prilicla's direction she heavily dosed
the liquid food and water, then distributed it quickly to the dormitories while
the Cinrusskin moved from deck to deck, with its empathic faculty extended to
its maximum range and sensitivity. With full stomachs and dulled minds— some,
of them even went to sleep—the crew members' emotional radiation became less
obtrusive, but otherwise the results were negative.

I still
can't get a fix, Prilicla said, its body trembling to its own as well as
Cha Thrat's disappointment. There is still too much interference from the
conscious survivors. All we can do now is return to Rhabwar and try to
assist friend Murchison. Your charges will not grow hungry again for some time.
Coming?”

No,
she said, I would prefer to continue the normal, physical search for your
dying survivor.”

Friend
Cha, Prilicla said, must I remind you again that I am not a
telepath, and that your secret, inner thoughts remain your own property. But
your feelings are very clear to me, and they are of low-intensity excitement,
pleasure, and caution, with the excitement predominating and the caution barely
detectable. This worries me. My guess is that you have had an idea or come to a
conclusion of some kind, which will involve personal risk before it can be
proved or disproved. Would you like to tell me about it?”

The simple answer
would have been No, but shecould not bring herself to hurt the
empath's hypersensitive feelings with such a verbal discourtesy. Instead she
said carefully, It may be that the idea came as a result of my ignorance
regarding your empathic faculty, hence my reticence in mentioning it until I
was sure that it had some value and 1 would avoid embarrassment.”

Prilicla
continued to hover silently in the center of the compartment, and Cha Thrat
went on. When we first searched the ship you were able to detect the
presence of the unconscious survivor, but not locate it because of the
conscious emoting of the others. Now that they are pacified into
near-unconsciousness, the situation is the same because our survivor's
condition has worsened, and I fear that it will remain the same even when the
anesthetic becomes available and the others, too, are deeply unconscious.”

I share
that fear, the empath said quietly. But go on.”

In my
ignorance of the finer workings of your empathic faculty, she continued,
I assumed that a weak source of emotional radiation positioned nearby
would be more easily detectable than a stronger source at a distance. If there
had been any such variation in strength, I'm sure you would have mentioned it.”

I
would, Prilicla said, and you are right in many respects. In
others, well, my emphathic faculty has limitations. It responds to the quality
and intensity of feelings as well as their proximity. But detection is
dependent on factors other than distance. There is the degree of intelligence and emotional sensitivity,
the intensity of the emotions being felt, the physical size and strength of the
emoting brain, and, of course, the level of consciousness. Normally these
limitations can be ignored when I'm searching for just one source and my friends, usually the medical team, move away or
controltheir emotions while I'm searching. That isn't the case here. But you
must have reached some conclusions. What are they?”

Choosing her
words carefully, Cha Thrat replied, That, because of its location, the
unconscious survivor's radiation is and will remain obscured, and that it is
very close to, or surrounded by, the conscious sources. This narrows the volume
to be searched to the dormitory deck and perhaps the levels above and below it,
and I shall concentrate on that volume only. And you said just now that the
physical size of the emoting brain is a factor. Could it be that the survivor
is a very small, and young, FGHJ hiding close to the mindless parent?”

Possibly,
Prilicla replied. But regardless of age or size, it is in very bad shape.”

Controlling her
growing excitement, she went on. 'There must be small storage cabinets, systems
inspection centers, and odd holes and corners where a crew member or child
would not normally go, but where a barely conscious entity whose injuries
caused it to act irrationally might have hidden itself. I feel sure than I will
find it soon.”

I
know, Prilicla said. But there is more.”

Cha Thrat
hesitated, then said, With respect, Cinrusskins are not a robust species,
and for that reason are more sensitive to the risk of physical injury than
beings like myself. I can assure you that I have no intention of placing myself
at risk, for whatever reason. But if I was to tell you my plan in detail, the
possibility exists that you would forbid me to carry it out.”

Would you
obey me if I did? Prilicla asked.

She did not reply.

Friend
Cha, Prilicla said gently, you have many qualities that I find
admirable, including that of moderate cowardice, but you worry me. You have
shown yourselfreluctant to obey orders that you personally feel to be wrong or unjustified. You have been disobedient
in Sector General, on this ship, and, I suspect, on your home world. This is not a quality that people find
admirable in a person of
subordinate rank. What are we going to do with you?”

Cha Thrat was
about to tell the little empath how sorry she felt at causing it mental distress, then realized that it already knew exactly how she felt
toward it. Instead she said, With respect, you could allow me to proceed,
and ask the Captain to concentrate the sensors on the reduced search area I
have indicated, and report any changes to me at once.”

You know that I was thinking in the longer term, Prilicla said. But yes, I shall do as you
suggest. I share friend Murchison's feelings about this situation. There is something very
strange here, and possibly dangerous, but we cannot even guess where the threat, if there is a threat, will come from. Take great care, friend
Cha, and guard your mind as well
as your body.”

Cha Thrat began
the search as soon as Prilicla left her, starting with the level above the dormitory deck, then moving to the one below it. But from the start
her principal intention had been to enter and search those occupied
dormitories, and, as soon as she did so, she knew that there would be a reaction from whoever was
watching the sensor displays.

When it came, the voice in her earpiece was that of the Captain itself.

Technician!
it said sharply. The sensors show a body of your mass and temperature entering one of the dormitories. Get out of there at once!”

It was possible
to argue politely and be circumspect with a gentle little entity like Prilicla, Cha Thrat thought sadly, but not with the Captain. She had just
been givena direct order that she had no intention of obeying, so she spoke as
if she had not heard it.

I have
entered a dormitory and am moving sideways around the room with my back to the
wall, she said calmly. I am moving slowly so as not to disturb or
frighten the occupants, who seem to be half asleep. Two of them have turned
their heads to watch me but are making no threatening movements. There is a
small door, tight-fitting and mounted flush with the wall, probably a recessed
storage cabinet, that might be large enough for an FGHJ to force a way in to
hide. I am opening the door now. Inside there are...”

Switch on
your vision pickup, Fletcher said angrily, and save your breath.”

... shelves
containing what appears to be cleaning materials for the waste-disposal
facility, she continued. In case a fast retreat is necessary, I
have left the heavier equipment outside and am wearing only a headset. Now I'm
moving toward the wall facing the entrance where there is another small door.”

So you can
hear me, Fletcher said coldly. And you heard my order.”

I've opened
it, she went on quickly, and the missing survivor isn't there.
Beside the door at floor level there is a small, flat, rectangular flap.
Possibly it conceals a recessed handle for an upward-opening door. I will have
to lie flat on the floor, and try to avoid the body wastes, to examine it.”

She heard the
Captain make an untranslatable but very unsympathetic sound, then she said, It
is a tight-fitting flap, hinged on the top side, and free to move in or out
with gentle pressure. There is a layer of sponge around the edges that suggests
that it is nearly airtight. I can't get my head close enough to the floor to
see insidethe flap, but when I open it there is a strong smell that reminds me
of the Sommaradvan glytt plant.

I'm
sorry, she went on. Quite apart from the fact that you don't know
what a glytt plant smells like, one wonders whether the seal is intended
to keep the unpleasant smell of FGHJ wastes in or the other smell out. Or maybe
it is just an inlet point for some kind of deodorant ...”

Friend
Cha, Prilicla broke in. In the short time since you inhaled the
odor, has there been any irritation of your breathing passages, nausea,
impairment of vision, or dulling of sensation or intellect?”

What
intellect? Fletcher murmured in a disparaging voice.

No,
she replied. I am opening the door of the last remaining storage closet
to be searched. It is larger than the others, filled with racked tools and what
looks like replacement parts for the dormitory furniture, but is otherwise
empty. The crew members are still ignoring me. I'm leaving now to search the next dormitory.”

Technician,
Fletcher said quietly. If you can reply to Prilicla I know you can hear me. Now, I'm willing to consider your
earlier disobedience as a temporary aberration, a fit of overenthusiasm, and a
minor disciplinary matter. But if you continue the search in direct contravention of my orders you will be in major trouble. Neither the Monitor
Corps nor the hospital has time for irresponsible subordinates.”

But I take
full responsiblity for my actions, Cha Thrat protested, including any credit or discredit that may result from them.
I know that I lack the training to investigate an other-species ship properly, but
I am simply opening and closing doors and being very careful while I'm doing
it.”

The Captain did not reply and maintained its silenceeven when the sensors must
have been showing Cha Thrat entering the second dormitory. It was Prilicia who
spoke first.

Friend
Fletcher, the empath said quietly, I agree that there is a small
element of risk in what the technician is doing. But it has discussed some of
its ideas with me and is acting with my permission and, well, limited approval.”

Ignoring the
tranquilized FGHJs and riot speaking at all, Cha Thrat was able search the
dormitory much more quickly, but with the same negative result. None of the
storage cabinets revealed the missing survivor, adult or child, and the
.narrow, floor-level flap held nothing but the smell of glytt, which
never had been one of her
favorite aromas.

But the
Cinrusskin's attempts to divert the
Captain's anger from her aroused such a sudden emotional warmth in her that she
hoped the empath would feel her gratitude. Without breaking into the
conversation, and hoping that Prilicia could not feel her growing
disappointment, she began searching the third and last dormitory.

... In any
case, friend Fletcher, the empath was saying, the responsibility for whatever happens on the
distressed ship until the survivors are treated and evacuated is not yours, but
mine.”

I know, I
know, the Captain agreed
irritably. On the site of a disaster the medical team leader has the
rank. In this situation you can tell a Monitor Corps ship commander like myself what to do, and be
obeyed. You can even give orders to a Corps Maintenance Technician Grade Two
called Cha Thrat, but I seriously doubt if they would be obeyed.”

There was another
long silence, broken by the subject of the discussion. She said, I've finished searching thedormitories.
All three contain identical arrangements of fittings and storage compartments,
none of which contains the FGHJ we're looking for.

But the
first and second dormitories share a common wall, she went on, trying to
sound hopeful, likewise the second and third. But the first and third are
divided by a short corridor
leading inboard toward what must be another, fairly large storage compartment
whose sides are common to the
inner walls of the three dormitories. The missing FGHJ could be there.”

I don't
think so, Fletcher said. The sensors show it as an empty compartment, about half the size
of a dormitory, with a lot of low-power circuitry and ducting, probably
environmental control lines to the dormitories, mounted on or behind the wall
surfaces. By empty we mean that there are no large metal objects in the room,
although organic material could be present if it was stored in nonmetal
containers. But a piece of organic material of the body mass and temperature of a living FGHJ, whether moving or at rest, would show very clearly.

All the indications are that it is just another storeroom, the Captain
ended. But no doubt you will search it, anyway.”

With difficulty, Cha Thrat ignored Fletcher's tone as she said, During my first search of this
area I looked into this corridor and
saw the blank end-wall containing what I mistakenly thought to be a section of badly fitted wail plating. My excuse for making this mistake
is that there is no external handle or latch visible. On
closer examination I see that it is not a badly fitted plate but an
inward-opening door that is very slightly ajar, and the scanner shows that it fastens only from the inside.

The vision pickup is on, she
added. I'm pushing the door open now.”

The place was a
mess, she thought, with weightlessness adding to the general disorder so that
floating debris made it difficult to see any distance into the room. There was a very strong smell of
glytt.

We aren't
receiving a clear picture, said Fletcher, and something close to
the lens is blocking most of the view. Have you attached the pickup correctly
or are we seeing part of your shoulder?”

No,
sir, she replied, trying to keep her tone properly subordinate. The
compartment is gravity-free and a large number of flat, roughly circular
objects are floating about. They appear to be organic, fairly uniform in size,
dark gray on one surface and with a paler, mottled appearance on the other. I
suppose they could be cakes of preprepared food that escaped from a ruptured
container, or they might be solid body waste, similar to that found in the
dormitories, which has dried and become discolored. I'm trying to move some of
it out of the way now.”

With a sudden
feeling of distaste, she cleared the visual obstructions from the front of the
pickup, using her medial hands because they were the only ones still covered by
gloves. There was no response from Rhabwar.

There are
large, irregular clumps of spongelike or vegetable material attached to the
walls and ceiling, she went on, moving her body so that the pickup's
images would let the others see, however unclearly, what she was trying to
describe. So far as I can see, each clump is colored differently,
although the colors are subdued, and under each one there is a short length of
padded shelf.

At floor
level, she continued, I can see three narrow, rectangular flaps.
Their size and positions correspond to those found in the dormitories. These
pancakes, or whatever, are all over the place, but I cansee something large
floating in a corner near the ceiling ...It's the FGHJ!”

I don't
understand why it didn't register on the sensors, Fletcher said. It was
the kind of Captain who insisted on the highest standards of efficiency from
its crew and the equipment in its
charge, and treated a malfunction in either as a personal affront.

Good work,
friend Cha, Prilicla said, enthusiastically breaking in. Quickly
now, move it to the entrance for loading into the litter. We'll be with you directly. What is the general clinical picture?”

Cha Thrat moved
closer, swatting more obstructions from her path as she said, I can't see
any physical injuries at all, not even minor bruising, or external evidence of an illness. But this FGHJ isn't like the
others. It seems to be a lot thinner
and less well muscled. The skin appears darker, more wrinkled, and the hooves are discolored and cracked in
several places. The body hair is gray. I... I think this is a much older FGHJ. It might be the ship ruler. Maybe it
hid itself in here to avoid what happened to the rest of
its crew...”

She broke off, and Prilicla called urgently, Friend Cha, why are you feeling like that? What
happened to you?”

Nothing happened to me, she replied, fighting to control her disappointment. I am holding the FGHJ now. There is no need to hurry. It is dead.”

That explains why my sensors didn't
register, Fletcher said.

Friend Cha, Prilicla said, ignoring the interruption, are you quite sure ! I can still feel the presence of a deeply unconscious mind.”

Cha Thrat drew the FGHJ toward her so that she could use her upper hands, then said,
The body temperature is very low. Its eyes are open and do not react tolight. The usual vital
signs are absent. I'm sorry, it i dead and... She broke off to look more
closely at th creature's head, then went on excitedly. And I think know
what killed it! The back of the neck. Can you s it?”

Not
clearly, Prilicla replied quickly, obviously feeling her own growing
excitement, and fear. One of those disklike objects is in the way.”

But that's it,
she said. I thought at first that one of them had drifted against the
cadaver and stuck to its head. But I was wrong. The thing attached itself
deliberately to the FGHJ with those thick white tendrils you can see growing
from the edge of the disk. Now that I'm looking for them, I can see that they
all have the tendrils and, judging by their length, the penetration into the
cadaver's spinal column and rear cranium is very deep. That thing is, or was,
alive, and could have been responsible for—”

Technician,
Fletcher broke in harshly, get out of there!”

At
once, Prilicla said.

Very carefully
Cha Thrat released her hold on the dead FGHJ, removed her vision pickup, and
attached its magnetic clips to a clear area of wall. She knew that the medical
team would want to study this strange and abhorrent life-form that was
infesting the ship before deciding how to deal with it. Then she turned toward
the entrance, which now seemed to be very far away.

The disks hung
thickly like an alien minefield between the door and herself. Some of them were
still moving slowly in the air eddies caused by her entry or by the blows with
which she had so casually knocked them aside, or perhaps of their own volition.
They presented views from every angle—the smooth surface of the mot-tied side,
the gray and wrinkled reverse side, and the edges with their fringe of limp
white tendrils.

She had been so busy searching for an FGHJ survivor that she had scarcely looked at the objects she
had mistaken for cakes of food or dried wastes floating in the room. She still did not know what they were, only
of what they were capable, which
was the utter destruction of the highly trained and intelligent minds of their victims to leave them with nothing but the basic and
purely instinctive responses of animals.

The thought of a
predator who did not eat or physically harm its prey, but gorged itself on the intelligence
of its victim, made her
want to seek refuge in madness. She was desperately afraid of touching one of them again, but there were too
many of them for her to avoid doing so. But if any of them got in her way, Cha Thrat decided grimly, she
would touch it, hit it, very hard.

The gentle,
reassuring voice of Prilicla sounded in her earpiece. It said, You are controlling your fear well, friend Cha. Move slowly and carefully and don't—”

She winced as a high-pitched, piercing sound erupted from the earpiece, signifying that too many
people were talking to her at once
and had overloaded her translator. But they realized immediately what was happening because the oscillation wavered
and died to become one voice, the Captain's.

Technician,
behind yourBy then it was too
late.

All of her attention had been directed ahead and to the sides, where the greatest danger lay. When
she felt the surprisingly
light touch, followed by a sensation of numbness on the back of her neck, a cool, detached part of her mind thought that it was considerate
of the thing to anesthetize the
area before inserting its tendrils. She swung an eye to the rear to see what was happening, andinstinctively raised her upper hands to push away the disk that had left
the dead FGHJ and was attaching itself to her. But the hands fumbled weakly,
their digits suddenly powerless, and the arms fell limply away.

Other parts of
her body ceased working, or began twitching and bending in the random,
uncoordinated fashion of a person with serious brain damage. The calm, detached
portion of her mind thought that her condition was not a pleasant sight for
friends to see.

Fight it, Cha Thrat! Murchison's voice shouted from her earpiece.
Whatever it's doing, fight it! We're on our way.”

She heard and
appreciated the concern in the Patholo-gist's voice, but her tongue was one of
the organs that was not working just then because her jaw was clamped shut.
Altogether, she was in a state of considerable physiological confusion as
muscles continued to twitch uncontrollably, her body writhed in weightless
contortions, and sensations of heat, cold, pain, and pleasure affected random areas
of her skin. She knew that the creature was exploring her central nervous
system, trying to find out how her Sommaradvan body worked so that it would be
able to control her.

Gradually the
twitchings and writhings and even her fear diminished and were gone, and her
body was able to resume its interrupted journey. The lens of the vision pickup
turned to follow her. When she reached the door, she slammed it closed and
locked it with fastenings that had suddenly become familiar.

Technician,
Fletcher said sharply, what are you doingTIt was obvious that she
was locking the door from the inside, Cha Thrat thought irritably. Probably the
Captain meant why was she doing it. She tried to reply but her lips and tongue
would not work. But surely her actionswould tell all of them that she, it, both
of them, did not wish to be disturbed.

Chapter 19

They  were all talking at once again. She had to
bend the earpiece back to reduce the sudden howl of translator oscillation that
was making it difficult to think. The vision pickup was still following her and
they must have realized the significance of her action because the babble died
quickly and became one voice.

Friend
Cha, Prilicla said, listen to me carefully. Some kind of parasitic
life-form has attached itself to you and the quality of your emotional
radiation is changing. Try, try hard to pull it off and get out of there before
your condition worsens.”

I'm all
right, Cha Thrat protested. Honestly, I feel fine. Just leave me
alone until I can—”

But your
thoughts and feelings aren't your own anymore, Murchison broke in. Fight,
dammit! Try to keep control of your mind. At least try to open that door
again so we won't waste time burning through it when we get to you.”

No,
the Captain said firmly. I'm very sorry, Technician, they aren't leaving
this ship...”

The argument that
ensued immediately overloaded Cha Thrat's translator again, which made it
impossible for her to talk to any of them. But there were parts of it,particularly when Fletcher was speaking in its ruler's voice, that she
heard clearly.

The Captain was
reminding them, and calling on Prili-cla to support it, that the strictest
possible rules of quarantine governed this situation. They had encountered a
life-form that absorbed the memory, personality, and intelligence of its
victims and left them like mindless animals. Moreover, judging by their recent
observations of Technician Cha Thrat, the things were capable of adapting to
and quickly controlling any life-form.

By then nobody
was trying to interrupt Fletcher as it went on. This could mean that they
are not native to the planet of the FGHJs, that they may have come aboard
anywhere, and are capable of doing this to the members of every intelligent
species in the Federation! I don't know what drives them, why they're content
to suck out the intelligence of their victims instead of feeding on the bodies,
and I don't even want to think about it. Or about how, or how rapidly, they can
reproduce themselves. There are dozens of them in the room with Cha Thrat, and
they're so small that more of them could be hidden in odd corners all over the
ship.

Until we
get a properly equipped and protected decontamination squad in there,
Fletcher went on, I have no choice but to seal and place a guard on the
boarding tube. This is something completely new to our experience, and it may
well be that the hospital will advise the complete destruction of the ship, and
its contents.

If you will
all think about it for a moment, the Captain ended, sounding very unhappy
with itself, you will realize that we cannot take the slightest risk of
that life-form getting onto this ship, or running loose in Sector General.”

There was silence
for several moments while theythought about it, and Cha Thrat thought about the
strange thing that had happened, and was still happening, to her.

While trying to
help Rhone she had experienced a joining, and with it the shock and
disorientation and excitement of having her mind invaded, but not taken over,
by a personality that was completely alien to her. The effect had been rendered
even stranger and more frightening by the fact that the Gogleskan's mind had
also contained material from a previous joining with a mind whose memories were
even more confusing, those of the Earth-human Conway. But this sensation was
entirely different. The approach and entry was gentle, reassuring, and even
pleasant, giving her the feeling that it was a process perfected after a
lifetime of experience. But like herself, this invader seemed to be badly
confused by the contents of her part-Sommaradvan, part-Gogleskan, and part
Earth-human mind and, because of that confusion, it was having trouble
controlling her body. She was still not sure of its intentions, but quite
certain that she was still herself and that she was learning more and more
about it with every passing second.

Murchison was the
first to break the silence. It said, We have protective suits and cutting
torches. Why don't we decontaminate that compartment ourselves and burn them
all, including the one on the technician's neck, and get Cha Thrat back here
for treatment while it still has some of its mind left? The hospital people can
finish the decontamination when we—”

No,
the Captain said firmly. If any of you medics go onto that ship, you
won't be allowed back here.”

Cha Thrat did not
want to join in because speaking would involve a minor mental effort and
consequent disruption in an area of her mind that she wished to remain
receptive. Instead, she moved her lower arms inthe Sign of
Waiting, then realizing that it meant nothing to non-Sommaradvans, held up one
hand palm forward in the Earth-human equivalent.

I am
confused, Prilicla said suddenly. Friend Cha is not feeling pain or
mental distress. It is wanting something very badly, but the emotional
radiation is characteristic of a source trying very hard to maintain calm and
to control its other feelings...”

But it
isn't in control, Murchison broke in. Look at the way it was moving
its arms about. You're forgetting that its feelings and emotions aren't its
own.”

You, friend
Murchison, are not the emotion-sensitive here, Prilicla said in the
gentlest possible of reproofs. Friend Cha, try to speak. What do you want
us to do?”

She wanted to
tell them to stop talking and leave her alone, but she desperately needed their
help and that reply would have given rise to more questions, interruptions, and
mental dislocations. Her mind was a bubbling stew of thoughts, impressions,
experiences, and memories that concerned not only her own past on Sommar-adva
and Sector General, but those of Healer Khone and Diagnostician Conway. The new
occupant was blundering about like an intruder lost in a large, richly
furnished but imperfectly lit household, examining some items and shying away
from others. This, Cha Thrat knew, was not the time to leave it alone.

But if she
answered a few of their questions, said just enough to keep them quiet and make
them do what she wanted, that might be the best course.

I am not in
danger, Cha Thrat said carefully, or in any physical or emotional
distress. I can regain full control of my mind and body any time I wish it, but
choose not to because I don't want to risk breaking mental contact by talking
for too long. As quickly as possible I wantSenior Physician Prilicla and
Pathologist Murchison to join me. The FGHJs are not important right now. Neither is the anesthetic or the search for the other
survivor because—”

'Wo.'
Fletcher broke in, sounding as if it was about to be physically nauseous.
Those things are intelligent. Do you see the insidious way they are trying to get the technician to
reassure us and then entice us over to them? No doubt when you two are taken
over there will be even better
reasons for the rest of us to join you, or you to return here and leave Rhabwar's crew in the same condition as the FGHJs. No, there will be no more victims.”

Cha Thrat tried
not to listen to the interruption because it set off trains of thought in her
mind that were unsettling the new occupant and kept it from communicating properly with her. Very
carefully she lifted her rear medial arm and bent it so that the large digit was pointing at the thing
clinging to the back of her neck.

This is the
survivor, she said, the only survivor.”

Suddenly the stranger
in her mind was feeling a measure of satisfaction and reassurance, as if it had
at last succeeded in making its need understood, and she found that she could speak without the fear of it going away, fading, and perhaps dying on her.

It is very ill, she went on, but it was able to regain mobility and consciousness for a short time when I entered the compartment. That
was when it decided to make a last, desperate try to obtain help for its friends and the host creatures in their charge. The first, fumbled attempts to make
contact were the reason for my uncoordinated limb movements. Only within the
past few minutes has it realized
that it is the only survivor.”

None of them, not
even the Captain, was saying aword now. She continued. That is why I need
Prilicla to monitor its emotional radiation at close range, and Mur-chison to
investigate its dead friends, in the hope of finding out what killed them and
finding a cure before its own condition becomes terminal—”

No,
the Captain said again. It sounds like a good story, and especially
intriguing to a bunch of e-t
medics, but it could still be a ruse to get mental control of more of our
people. I'm sorry, Technician, we can't risk it.”

Prilicla said
gently, Friend Fletcher makes a good point. And you yourself know that
the Captain's arguments are valid because you observed the mindless condition
of the FGHJs after these creatures left them. Friend Cha, I, too, am sorry.”

It was Cha
Thrat's turn to be silent as she
tried to find a solution that would satisfy them. Somehow
she had not expected the gentle little empath to be so tough.

Finally she said,
Physically the creature is extremely debilitated and I could quite easily
remove it to demonstrate its lack of physical control over me, but such a course might kill it. However, if I was to demonstrate my normal physical
coordination by leaving this compartment and descending four levels, where we
would be clear of the emotional interference from the FGHJs, and if I were to urge the creature to remain conscious until then, would the Cinrusskin empathic
faculty be able to detect whether its emotional radiation was that of a highly
intelligent and civilized being, or the kind of mental predator that seems to be scaring you out of your wits?”

Four levels
down is just one deck
above the boarding tube... began the Captain, but Prilicla cut it short.

I could
detect the difference, friend Cha, it said, ifI was close enough to the life-form concerned. I'll meet
you there directly.”

There was another
howl of oscillation from her translator. When it faded Prilicla was saying
Friend Fletcher, as the senior medical officer present it is my
responsibility to make sure whether the life-form attached to Cha Thrat is the
patient and not the disease. However, my species prides itself in being the
most timid and cowardly in the Federation, and all possible precautions will be
taken. Friend Cha, set the vision pickup to show if any of those life-forms try
to leave the compartment and follow you. If any of them do, I shall return at
once to Rhabwar and seal the boarding tube. Is that understood?”

Yes, Senior
Physician, said Cha Thrat.

If anything
suspicious occurs while I am with you, it went on, even if I am
able to avoid capture and still appear to be my own self, friend Fletcher will seal the tube and put the
quarantine procedure into immediate effect.

We need as much information on this life-form as you can give us, it
ended. Please continue, friend Cha, we are recording. I'm leaving now.”

And I'm
going with you, Murchison said firmly. If this is the ship's only survivor, one of a newly discovered intelligent
species and possible future member of the Federation, Thorny will walk on me with all six of its feet if I let it die. Danalta and Naydrad can stay here in case we have need of special equipment and to watch the vision pickup. And in case the little beastie isn't as friendly as Cha Thrat insists it is, I'll add a heavy-duty cutting torch to my instruments so that I can protect your back. .

Thank you,
friend Murchison, Prilicla said, but no.”

But yes,
Senior Physician, the Pathologist replied. With respect, you have
the rank but not the muscles : stop me.”

Impatiently Cha
Thrat said, if you want to be able to detect any conscious emotional
radiation, please hurry. The patient needs urgent attention...”

There was an
immediate objection from Fletcher regarding her unjustified use of the word
patient. She ignored it and, trying her best to describe the
thoughts and images that had been placed with so much effort in her mind, went on to outline the case history of the
survivor and the history of its species.

They came from a
world that even the Sommaradvan, Gogleskan, and Earth-human components of her
mind considered beautiful, a planet so bountiful that the larger species of
fauna did not have to struggle for survival and did not, for that reason, develop intelligence. But from
the earliest times, when all life was in the oceans, a species evolved capable of attaching itself to a variety of native
life-forms. They formed a symbiotic partnership in which the host creature was directed to the best sources of food while the weak
and relatively tiny parasite had the protection of its larger mount as well as the mobility that enabled it to seek
out its own, less readily available food supply. By the time the host creatures
left the oceans to become large and unintelligent land animals, the mutually
profitable arrangement continued and the parasite had become very intelligent
indeed.

The earliest
recorded history told of vain attempts to nurture intelligence in many different species of host creature. The
native, six-limbed FGHJ life-form with its ability to work in a wide variety of
materials, when aparasite was directing its hands, was favored above all the
others.

But more and more
they had wished for mind-partners they could not control, beings who would
argue and debate and contribute new ideas and viewpoints, rather than creatures
who were little more than general-purpose, self-replenishing organic tools with
the ability to see, hear, and manipulate to order.

With these tools
they built great cities and manufacturing complexes and vessels that
circumnavigated their world, flew in the atmosphere above it, and, ultimately
crossed the terrible and wonderful emptiness between the stars. But the cities,
like their starships, were functional and unbeautiful because they had been
built by and for the comfort and use of beings without any appreciation of
beauty, and whose animal needs were satisfied by food, warmth, and regular
satisfaction of the urge to procreate. Like valuable tools they had to be
properly maintained, and many of them were well loved with the affection that a
civilized being feels for a faithful but nonintelligent pet.

But the parasites
had their own special needs that in no respect resembled those of their hosts,
whose animal habits and undirected behavior were highly repugnant to them. It
was vital to their continued mental well-being that the masters escaped
periodically from their hosts to lead their own lives—usually during the hours
of darkness when the tools were no longer in use and could be quartered where
they could not harm themselves. This they did in the small, quiet, private
places, tiny areas of civilization and culture and beauty amid the ugliness of
the cities, where their families nested and they were separated from the host
creatures by everything but distance.

It had long been
an accepted fact among them that nc creature or culture could avoid stagnation
if it did not; outside its family or its tribe or, ultimately, its world. Ir
their continuing search for other intelligent beings like or totally unlike
themselves, many extrasolar planets had been discovered and small colonies
established on them, but none of the indigenous life-forms possessed intelligence
and had become just so many sets of other-species tools.

Because of an
intense aversion to allowing themselves to be touched by the proxy hands of a
nonintelligent creature, their medical science catered chiefly to the needs of
their hosts and did not include surgery. The result was that when one of their
own-planet tools contracted a disease that, to it, was mildly debilitating, the
effect on the parasite was often lethal.

Cha Thrat paused
for a moment and raised one of her upper hands to support the weight of the
parasite. Sensation had returned to her neck and she felt that the creature's
tendrils were loosening and pulling free. She could hear Prilicla and Murchison
on the deck below.

That is
what happened to their ship, she went on. The host FGHJs caught
something that caused a mild, undulant fever, and recovered. The parasites,
with this one exception, perished. But before they returned to their own quarters to die, they placed their now-undirected
host creatures in places where food was available and they would not injure
themselves, in the hope that help would reach the host creatures in time. The
survivor, who seemed to have a partial resistance to the disease, rendered the
vessel safe and accessible to rescuers, released the distress beacon, and
returned to the ship's Nest
to comfort its dying friends.

But the
effort to do this work, Cha Thrat went on, talking directly to Prilicla
and Murchison who were nowcoming up the ramp toward her, was too much for its host, an aging FGHJ of whom it was particularly
fond, and the creature had a
sudden cardiac malfunction and died inside the Nest, The distress signal was answered not by one of their own ships, but by Rhabwar she
concluded, and the rest we know.”

Prilicla did not reply and Murchison moved to one side, keeping the thin tube of its cutting torch aimed at the back of Cha Thrat's neck. Nervously the
Pathologist said, I'd need to check it with my scanner, of course, but I'd say physiological classification DTRC.
It's very similar to the DTSB symbiotes some FGLIs wear for fine surgical work. In those cases it's the
parasite who supplies the digits and
the Tralthan the brains, although there are some OR nurses who would argue about that...”

It broke off as Cha Thrat said, I have been trying to relinquish control of my speech centers so that
it would be able to talk to you
directly through me, but it is much too weak and is only barely conscious, so I must be its voice. It already knows from my mind who you are,
and it is Crelyarrel, of the third
division of Trennchi, of the one hundred and seventh division of Yau, and of the four hundred and eighth subdivision of the great Villa of the Rhiim. I cannot properly describe its feelings in words, but there is joy at the knowledge that the Rhiim are not the only intelligent species in the Galaxy, sorrow that this wonderful knowledge will die with it, and
apologies for anxiety it caused us by—”

I know
what it is feeling, Prilicla said gently, and suddenly they were washed by a
great, impalpable wave of sympathy, friendship, and reassurance. We are happy to meet you and learn of your people, friend Crel-yarrel, and we
will not allow you to die. Let go now, little friend, and rest, you are in good
hands.”

Still radiating
its emotional support, it went on briskly. Put away that cutting torch,
friend Murchison, and go with the patient and friend Cha to the Rhiim quarters.
It will feel more comfortable there, and you have much work to do on its dead
friends. Friend Fletcher, preparations will have to be made at the hospital to
receive this new life-form. Be ready to send a long hypersignal to Thornnastor
as soon as we have a clearer idea of the clinical picture. Friend Naydrad,
stand by with the litter in case we need special equipment here, or for the
transport of DTRC cadavers to Rhabwar for investigation—”

No!
the Captain said.

Murchison spoke a
few words of a kind not normally used by an Earth-human female, then went on.
Captain, we have a patient here, in very serious condition, who is the sole survivor of a disease-stricken ship. You know as well as I that in
this situation, you do exactly as Prilicla tells you.”

No,
Fletcher repeated. In a quieter but no less firm voice it went on. I
understand your feelings, Pathologist. But are they really yours? You still
haven't convinced me that that thing is harmless. I'm remembering those crew
members and, well, it might be pretending to be sick. It could be controlling,
or at least influencing, the minds of all of you. The quarantine regulations remain in force. Until the
Diagnostician-in-Charge of Pathology, or more likely the decontamination squad
clears it, nothing or nobody leaves that ship.”

Cha Thrat was supporting Crelyarrel in three of her small, upper hands. The DTRC's body, now that she knew it for what
it was, no longer looked or felt repug-nant to her. The control tendrils hung limply between her
LF002digits and the color of its skin was lightening and beginning to resemble
that of its dead friends in the Rhiim nest. Had it to die, too, she wondered sadly, because two different
people held opposing viewpoints that they both knew to be right?Proving one of them wrong, especially when the
being concerned was a ruler, would have serious personal repercussions, and she
was beginning to wonder if she had always been as right as she thought she had
been. Perhaps her life would have been happier if, on Sommar-adva and at Sector General, she had been more
doubtful about some of her certainties.

Friend
Fletcher, Prilicla said quietly. As an empath I am influenced by feelings of everyone around
me. Now I accept that there
are beings who, by word or deed or omission, can give outward expression to emotions that they do not feel. But it is impossible for an
intelligent entity to produce false
emotional radiation, to lie with its mind. Another empath would know this to be so, but as a nonempath you must take my word for it.
The survivor cannot and will not harm
anyone.”

The Captain was silent for a moment, then it said, I'm sorry, Senior Physician. I'm still
not fully convinced that it is not speaking through you and controlling your minds, and I cannot risk letting it aboard
this ship.”

In this situation there was no doubt about who was right or about what she must do, Cha Thrat
thought, because a gentle little being like Prilicla might not be capable of doing it.

Doctor
Danalta, she said, will you please go quickly to the boarding tube and take up a
position andshape that will discourage any Monitor Corps officer from sealing,
dismantling, or otherwise closing it to two-way traffic. Naturally, you should
try not to hurt any such officer, and I doubt that lethal weapons will be
deployed against you, for no other reason than that anything powerful enough to
hurt you would seriously damage the hull, but if—”

Technician!”

Even though the
Captain was on Rhatiwar's control deck and at extreme range for
Prilicla's empathic faculty, the feeling of outrage accompanying the word was
making the little Cinrusskin quiver in every limb. Then gradually the trembling
subsided as Fletcher brought his anger under control.

Very well,
Senior Physician, it said coldly. Against my expressed wishes and
on your own responsibility, the boarding tube will remain open. You may move
freely between there and the casualty deck, but the rest of this ship will be
closed to your people and that;.. that thing you insist is a
survivor. The matter of Cha Thrat's gross insubordination, with the strong
possibility of a charge of incitement to mutiny, will be pursued later.”

Thank you,
friend Fletcher, Prilicla said. Then, switching off its mike, it went on.
And you, friend Cha. You have displayed great resourcefulness as well as
insubordination. But I am afraid that, even when it is proved that you acted
correctly, the Captain's present feelings toward you are of the kind that I
have found to be not only unfriendly but extremely long-lasting.”

Murchison did not
speak until they were in the Rhiim compartment, when it paused in its scanner
examination of Crelyarrel to look at her. The expression and tone of voice, Cha
Thrat knew from the Earth-human component of her mind, expressed puzzlement and
sympathyas it said, How can one being get into so much trouble in such a
short time? What got into you, ChaThrat?”

Prilicla trembled
slightly but did not speak.

Chapter 20

Cha Thrat's
arrival for her appointment with the Chief Psychologist was punctual to the second, because she had been told that
O'Mara considered being too early to be as wasteful of time as being too late. But on this occasion the impunctuality, although
indirectly her fault, was on
O'Mara's side. The Earth-human Braithwaite, who was the sole occupant of the large outer office, explained.

I'm sorry for the delay, Cha Thrat, it said, inclining its head toward O'Mara's door, but that meeting is running late. Senior Physician Cresk-Sar and, in order of
seniority, Colonel Skempton, Major
Fletcher, and Lieutenant Tim-mins are with him. The door is
supposed to be soundproof, but sometimes I can hear them talking about you.”

It smiled sympathetically, pointed to the nearest of the three unoccupied console desks beside it, and
said, Sit there, you should find that one fairly comfortable while we're waiting for the verdict. Try not to worry,
Cha Thrat, but if you don't mind, I'd like to get on with my work.”

Cha Thrat said that she did not
mind, and was sur-prised when the screen on the desk
she was occupying lit up with Braithwaite's work. She did not know what the
Earth-human was doing, but while she was trying to understand it the
realization came that it was deliberately giving her something to occupy her
mind other than the things they were probably saying about her in the next room.

As one of the
wizard's principal assistants, Braith-waite was capable of working a few
helpful spells of its own.

Since her return
to the hospital, Cha Thrat had been relegated to a kind of administrative
hyperspace. Maintenance Department wanted nothing to do with her, the Monitor
Corps ruler she had so grievously offended on Rhabwar seemed to have
forgotten her very existence, and the medical training people treated her with
sympathy and great care, much as they would a patient who was not expected to
be long among them.

Officially there
was nothing for her to do, but unofficially she had never been busier in her
whole life.

Diagnostician
Conway had been very pleased with her work on Goglesk, and had asked her to
visit Khone as often as possible because Cha Thrat and itself were the only people
that the FOKT would allow within touching distance, although that situation was
beginning to change for the better. With behind-the-scenes assistance from the
Chief Psychologist and Prilicla, progress was being made toward breaking down
the Gogleskan racial conditioning, and Ees-Tawn was working on a miniature
distorter, permanently attached to the subject and triggered automatically
during the first microseconds of a distress call, which would make it impossible for the wearer to initiate
one of the suicidal joinings.

O'Mara had warned them that the final solution to the Gogleskan problem might take many generations, that Khone would never be completely
comfortable at the close approach or touch of another person, regardless of species, but that its offspring was already
giving indications of being quite happy among strangers.

Thornnastor and
Murchison had been successful in isolating and finding a specific against the pathogen affecting
Crelyarrel, although they had admitted to Cha Thrat that the principal reason for its survival on the Rhiim ship was its possession of a fair degree of natural resistance. Now the little symbote was going from strength to strength, and was beginning to concern
itself about the health and comfort of the FGHJ host creatures. It wanted to know how soon new Rhiim parasites could be brought to Sector
General to take charge of them.

Similar questions
were being asked by the group of visiting Monitor Corps officers who seemed to
be ignorant of, or perhaps disinterested in, her recent insubordination on Rhabwar.
They were Cultural Contact specialists investigating the ship with a view to gaining as much information as possible about the species who had caused it to be built, including the location of their planet of origin, before making a formal approach to the Rhiim on behalf of the Federation. They badly
wanted to talk to the survivor.

Crelyarrel was
anxious to cooperate, but the problem was that its people communicated by a combination of touch and telepathy
limited to their own species. It was not yet well enough to take full control of a host crew member and,
until it was able to do so, the translation computer could not be programmed with the language used by their FGHJ hosts.

Even though it
was now generally accepted that the parasitic Rhiim were a highly intelligent and cultured species, none of the hospital
staff were particularly eager to surrender their bodies, however temporarily, to DTRCcontrol—and the feeling was mutual. The only person that Crelyarrel
would agree to take over and speak through, with her permission,, of course,
was Cha Thrat.

As a result of
these unofficial demands on her time, there had been little of it left for Cha
Thrat to worry about her own problems.

Until now.

The muffled
sounds of conversation from the inner office had died away into inaudibility,
which meant, she thought, that they were either speaking quietly to each other
or not speaking at all. But she was wrong, the meeting was over.

Senior Physician
Cresk-S;ar silently led the way out, its hairy features unreadable. It was
followed by Colonel Skempton, who made an untranslatable sound, then Rhabwar's
ruler, who neither looked nor spoke, and Lieutenant Timmins, who stared at
her for a moment with one eye closed before leaving. She was rising from her
seat to enter the inner office when O'Mara came out.

Sit where
you are, this; won't take long, it said. You, too, Braithwaite.
Soramaradvans don't mind having their problems discussed before concerned
witnesses, and this one certaimly has a problem. Is that deformed bird-cage you're sitting on comfortable? The problem, it went on before she could reply, is that you are an oddly shaped peg who doesn't quite fit into any of our neat little holies. You are intelligent, able, strong-minded yet adaptablle, and have experienced, seemingly without any permanent ill effects, the levels of
mental trauma and disorientation
that would cause many beings
severe psychological! damage. You are well regarded, even respected, by some very
important people here, by many with no influence at all, and disliked by a few. The latter group, chiefly Monitor Corps personneland a few of the
medical staff, feel very unsure of who or what you are, and who has the seniority, while working with you.

Sometimes,
Cha Thrat said defensively, I'm not sure who or what I am myself. When I am thinking like a senior person I can't help behaving like
a... She stopped herself before she said too much.

Like a
Diagnostician, O'Mara said drily. Oh, don't worry, this department never reveals anyone's
deep, dark, and, in your case, peculiar secrets. Prilicla, when it wasn't enthusing over your behavior immediately
preceding and during Rhone's delivery and on the Rhiim ship, told me about the joining it feels you
underwent on Goglesk. Being Prilicla, it is anxious to avoid any painful and embarrassing incidents between its friends
Conway, Murchison, and yourself, and so are we.

But the fact remains, the Chief Psychologist went on, that you shared minds with Khone
who, because of an earlier sharing with Conway, gave you much of the knowledge and experience of a Sector General Diagnostician as well as a Gogleskan
healer. You also became deeply involved on the mental level with one of the Rhiim
parasites, not to mention some earlier prying into the mind of your Chalder friend, AUGL-One
Sixteen. I'm not surprised that there are times when you aren't quite sure who or what you are. Is there any doubt about that at present?”

No,
she replied, you are talking only to Cha Thrat.”

Good,
O'Mara said, because it is Cha Thrat's problematical future that we must now
consider. Since the business on Rhabwar, when you were not only insubordinate
but completely right, the
option of a career in Maintenance, even though Timmins speaks highly ofyou,
is closed, as is any hope you may have had of service as a ship's medic with
the Monitor Corps. Shipboard discipline is often invisible, but it is there and
it is strict, and no ship commander would risk taking on a doctor with a proven
record of insubordination.

The
Cultural Contact people you've been helping with the Rhiim parasite, it
continued, are less discipline-oriented than the others, and they are
impressed with you and are grateful enough to offer you a spot on your home
planet, after the disciplinary dust has had a chance to settle, of course. What
would you say to returning to Sommaradva?”

Cha Thrat made an
untranslatable sound and O'Mara said drily, I see. But the medical and surgical options are also closed to you. In
spite of the respect in which are held by many of the senior staff, nobody
wants a know-it-all trainee nurse on their wards who is likely to say or do
something that will suggest that its Charge Nurse or doctor on duty are, well,
clinically incorrect. And while you have influence in high places, that also
could disappear if the truth about your Gogleskan mind-swap became common knowledge.”

Cha Thrat was wondering if there was anything she could do or say that would halt the relentless closing down of her options, when Braithwaite looked up from its display.

Excuse me, sir, it said. But from my knowledge of the personalities involved, Conway, Rhone, and
Prilicla are unlikely to discuss it
among anyone but themselves, and Murchison, who is a very intelligent entity indeed, will do likewise when she
realizes the truth or learns it from her life-mate. Her psych profile indicates the presence of a well-developed sense of humor, and it might well be that the thought of an other-species entity, andanother female at that,
looking upon her with the same libidinous feelings as those of her life-mate, Conway, would be funnier than it was embarrassing.
Naturally, I would not suggest that any
of these misdirected feelings would be translated into action, but certain entertaining sexual fantasies
could arise that would illuminate the whole area of interspecies—”

Braithwaite,
O'Mara said quietly, it is talk like that which gives people the wrong impression about
e-t psychologists.

As for you, Cha Thrat, it went on, I decided a long time ago that there was only one position here that suited your particular talents. Once again you will
start as a trainee, at the bottom, and advancement will be slow because your chief is very hard to please. It is a difficult and often thankless job that will cause irritation to most people, but then you've become used to that. You will have a few compensations, like being able to poke your olfactory orifices into everyone else's business
whenever you think it necessary. Do you accept?”

Suddenly Cha
Thrat's pulse was clearly audible to her and she was finding it difficult to breathe.
I—I don't understand, she said.

O'Mara took a
deep breath, then exhaled through its nose and said,
You do understand, Cha Thrat. Don't pretend to be stupid when you aren't.”

I do
understand, she agreed, and I am most grateful. The delay was due to a combination of
initial disbelief and consideration of the implications. You are saying that I am to
learn the skills of nonmaterial healing, the casting of spells, and that 1 am to become a trainee wizard.”

Something
like that, the Chief Psychologist said. It glanced at the display on her desk and added,
I see thatIyou've already
been exposed to the senior staff psych chart amendment procedure. It is
routine, unexciting but very necessary work. Braithwaite has been trying to
unload the job on someone for months.”

About the Authorjames white was bom in
Belfast, Northern Ireland, and resides there, though he spent his early years
in Canada. His first story was printed in 1953. He has since published well-received
short stories, novellas, and novels, but he is best known for the Sector
General series, which deals with the difficulties involved in running a
hospital that caters to many radically different life-forms.

eBook Info

Identifier:

AFQMDOOIIF

Title:

Code Blue Emergency

Creator:

James White

Date:

11/2/2002