survivors or ourselves, let me know at once. Very soon Dodds will be taking off
with the lander and—”
“Naydrad and the casualties,” Murchison ended for him. Quietly but firmly she
went on, “Your theory scares hell out of me, Captain, but it is still only a
theory. You’ve admitted as much yourself. The facts are that there are a large
number of casualties all around us. They don’t know it yet but they are entitled
to the protection of Federation law. Whether their injuries are due to the crash
or to being carved up by some psychopathic or temporarily deranged alien, they
are also entitled, under that same law, to all necessary medical assistance.”
The Captain looked toward the lander where the Pathologist was still working on
the specimen, then back to the Doctor.
“I’ve nothing to add,” Conway said.
Fletcher remained silent while Murchison completed her investigation and Dodds
and Naydrad transferred two casualties into the lander. He did not speak while
the vehicle was taking off or when Conway selected a spot under a large
outcropping of rock which would give waiting casualties shelter from the sun and
windblown sand. Neither did he offer to help them carry the injured e-ts to the
assembly point even though, without the litter, it was hot, back-breaking work.
Instead he moved among the e-ts with his vision pickup, recording them
individually before and after the ground had been disturbed around ftem by
Murchison and Conway, and always positioning himself between the two medics and
the wreck.
Plainly the Captain was taking his strange, new role as a Policeman and
protector of the innocent bystanders very seriously indeed.
The cooling unit in his suit did not seem to be working very *eH and Conway
would have loved to open his visor for a few
minutes. But doing that, even in the shelter of the outcropping, would have
meant letting in a lot of windblown sand.
“Let’s rest for a while,” he said as they placed another casualty beside its
fellows. “Time we had a talk with Prilicla.”
“That is a pleasure at any time, friends Murchison and Conway,” the empath said
promptly. “While I am, of course, beyond the range of the emotional radiation
being generated down there, I sympathize and hope that your feelings of anxiety
about the criminal are not too unpleasant.”
“Our feelings of bewilderment are much stronger,” Conway said dryly. “But maybe
you can help relieve them by going over our information, incomplete as it is,
before the first casualties reach you.”
There was still a little doubt about the accuracy of the physiological
classifications, Conway explained, but there were three separate but related
types—DCLG, DCMH, and DCOJ. The wounds fell into two general categories, incised
and abraded wounds which could have resulted when the ship’s occupants were
hurled against sharp-edged metal during the crash, and a traumatic amputation of
major limbs which was so prevalent among the casualties that an explanation
other than the crash was needed to explain them.
All of the survivors had body temperatures significantly greater than the norm
for warm-blooded oxygen breathers, indicating a high metabolic rate and a
hyperactive life-form. This was supported by the uniformly deep state of
unconsciousness displayed by all of the casualties, and the evidence of
dehydration and malnutrition. Beings who burned up energy rapidly rarely
lingered in a semiconscious state. There were also signs that the beings had an
unusual ability to control bleeding from severe wounds. Coagulation in the
incised wounds, perhaps assisted by the presence of the sand, was rapid but not
abnormally so, while the stumps at the amputation sites showed little evidence
of bleeding.
“Supportive treatment to relieve the dehydration and malnutrition is all that
can be done until we get them to the hospital,” Conway went on. “Murchison has
already specified the nutrients suited to their metabolism. You can also insert
sutures as you see fit. If the load is too great for you, which in my opinion it
is, retain Naydrad and send down only the pilot with
the litter. Murchison can ride with the casualties on the next trip. She will
stay with you while Naydrad comes down for the last batch.”