White, James – Sector General 05 – Sector General

lessons in first aid.

Beside him Grawlya-Ki was on its knees, coughing but still gripping its metal

bar. At any moment the Colonel would make his decision because MacEwan, the

Earth-being on the spot, was too much of a moral coward to make it. But whether

the Colonel decided to save the Illensans or the others he would _-* wrong.

MacEwan moved closer to one of the motionless Hudlars and waved a hand in front

of one of its large, widely spaced eyes.

For several interminable seconds there was no response. He was beginning to

wonder if the being was already dead when

said, “What is it, Earthperson?”

MacEwan took a deep breath through his nose and found at his air had run out.

For a moment he panicked and almost through his mouth, but stopped himself in

time. Using the air remaining in his nearly empty lungs, he pointed to the

console cover and said, “Are you able to break open the cover? Just the cover. I

can… operate… controls…”

Desperately he fought the urge to suck the chlorine-laden air into his deflated

lungs as the Hudlar slowly extended a tentacle and curled it around the cover.

It slipped off the smooth, hemispheric surface. The Hudlar tried again without

success, then it withdrew the tentacle slightly and jabbed at it with its sharp,

steel-hard digits. A small scratch appeared on the cover but the material showed

no sign of cracking. The tentacle with­drew, farther this time.

There was a roaring in MacEwan’s head which was the loudest sound he had ever

heard, and big, throbbing patches of darkness obscured the Hudlar as it made

another attempt to break through the cover. MacEwan shrugged off his tunic,

bunched it tightly in his fist and pressed it against his mouth as a makeshift

filter. With his other hand he pressed the Nidian mask against his face to

protect his eyes, at least, from the chlorine. He inhaled carefully and tried

not to cough as the Hudlar swung its tentacle back for another try.

This time it struck like a battering ram and the cover, con­sole, and even the

floor supports exploded into their component parts.

“I am sorry for my clumsiness,” the Hudlar said slowly. “Food deprivation

impairs my judgment—”

It broke off as a loud, double chime sounded and the board­ing tunnel doors slid

open, bathing them suddenly in a wash of cool, pure air. A recorded voice was

saying, “Will passen­gers please mount the moving way of the boarding tunnel and

have their travel documents ready for inspection.”

The two Hudlars found enough strength between them to lift the heavier

casualties onto the moving way before they got on themselves, after which they

began spraying each other with nutrient and making untranslatable noises. By

then members of the Nidian emergency services, followed by a couple of Illensan

and other offworlder medics, were hurrying in the opposite direction along the

static borders of the moving way.

The incident had placed a six-hour hold on the Tralthan ship’s departure, time

for the less severe casualties to be treated and taken on board while the others

were moved to the various

offworlder accommodations in the city where they could be under the close

supervision of medics of their own species. The transporter, empty of its

Illensan casualties, had been with­drawn and a cold wind from the field blew

through the gap in the transparent wall.

Grawlya-Ki, MacEwan, and the Colonel were standing be­side the entrance to the

boarding tunnel. The multichronometer above them indicated that take-off was

less than half an Earth hour away.

The Colonel touched a piece of the demolished console with his boot and did not

look at them when he spoke. “You were lucky. We were all lucky. I hate to think

of the repercussions if you had failed to get all the casualties away. But you,

both of you and the Hudlars, were instrumental in saving all but five of them,

and they would have died in any case.”

He gave an embarrassed laugh and looked up. “The offworld medics say some of

your ideas on first aid are horrendous in their simplicity, but you didn’t kill

anybody and actually saved lives. You did it in full view of the media, with all