White, James – Sector General 05 – Sector General

But I am confused.”

“You’re confused!” Murchison began, and stopped because Conway was again at the

communicator.

“Captain,” he said, “return at once to Lock Nine to take on another patient.

Switch on all of your exterior lighting and ignore the traffic instructions. And

please patch me through to Level One Six Three, the EGCL’s recovery room.

Quickly.”

“Right,” the Captain coldly said, “but I want an explana­tion.”

“You’ll get one—” Conway began. He broke off as the Captain’s angry features

were replaced by a view of the re­covery room with the attending nurse, a

Kelgian, curled like a furry question mark beside the EGCL. Its report on the

pa­tient’s condition was brief, accurate, and, to Conway, terri­fying.

He broke contact and returned to the Captain. Apologetically he said, “There,

isn’t much time so I would like you to listen while I explain the situation, or

what I think is the situation, to the others here. I had intended that the

lander be fitted with remote-controlled medical servomechs and used as an

isolation unit, but there isn’t time for that now. The EGCL is waking up. All

hell could break loose in the hospital at any minute.”

Quickly he explained his theory about the EGCL and the reasoning which had led

to it, ending with the proof which was Prilicla’s otherwise inexplicable

recovery.

“The part of this which bothers me,” he concluded grimly, is having to subject

Prilicla to the same degree of emotional torture once again.”

. The empath’s limbs trembled at the remembered pain, but •t said, “I can accept

it, friend Conway, now that I know the condition will be temporary.”

But removing the EGCL was not as easy as had been the abduction of Prilicla. The

Kelgian duty nurse was disposed to |^8ue, and it took all of Naydrad’s powers of

persuasion and ttle combined ranks of Murchison and Conway to make it do 33 ‘l

was told. And while they were arguing, Conway could j6^ the wildly rippling and

twitching fur of the two nurses, the udden, almost manic changes of facial

expression in Murchi-

son, and the emotional overreaction in all of them, in spite of his earlier

warning of what would happen if they did not control their feelings. By the time

the transfer of the patient to Rhab-war’s litter was underway, so much fuss had

been created that someone was sure to report it. Conway did not want that.

The patient was coming to. There was no time to go through proper channels, no

time for long and repeated explanations. Then suddenly he had to find time,

because both Edanelt and O’Mara were in the room. It was the Chief Psychologist

who spoke first.

“Conway! What do you think you’re doing with that pa­tient?”

“I’m kidnapping it!” Conway snapped back sarcastically. Quickly he went on, “I’m

sorry, sir, we are all overreacting. We can’t help it, but try hard to be calm.

Edanelt, will you help me transfer the EGCL’s support systems to the litter.

There , isn’t much time left so I’ll have to explain while we work.”

The Melfan Senior dithered for a moment, the tapping of its six crablike legs

against the floor reflecting its indecision, then it spoke. “Very well, Conway.

But if I am not satisfied with your explanation the patient stays here.”

“Fair enough,” said Conway. He looked at O’Mara, whose face was showing the

indications of a suddenly elevated blood pressure, and went on, “You had the

right idea at the beginning, but everyone was too busy to talk to you. It should

have oc­curred to me, too, if the GLNO tape and concern for Prilicla hadn’t

confused me by—”

“Omit die flattery and excuses, Conway,” O’Mara broke in, “and get on with it.”

Conway was helping Murchison and Naydrad lift the EGCL into the litter while

Edanelt and the other nurse checked the siting of the biosensors. Without

looking up he went on, “Whenever we encounter a new intelligent species the

first thing we are supposed to ask ourselves is how it got that way. Only the

dominant life-form on a planet has the opportunity, the security and leisure, to

develop a civilization capable of inter­stellar travel.”