White, James – Sector General 05 – Sector General

not have the strength to move farther, and I suspect there were strong

psychological reasons for remaining close to their ship. Their physical

con­dition, the high temperatures, and the indications of malnutri­tion

observed, which we mistakenly assumed to be due to enforced starvation, were

symptoms of the disease. The state of deep unconsciousness may also have been a

symptom, or possibly some kind of hibernation mode which they adopt when injured

or otherwise distressed and assistance is likely to be delayed, and which slows

the metabolic rate and reduces bleed­ing.”

Fletcher was readying his cutting torch and looking baffled. He said, “Disease

and injuries caused by escaping from the wreck I can believe. But what about the

missing limbs and—”

“Dodds, sir,” Rhobwar’s astrogator broke in. “I’m afraid the midnight drop in

wind strength will not affect your area. There are local weather disturbances.

Three large thorn patches have reached the stern and sections of the peripheral

growth are entering the food storage deck. A lot of hull plating is missing

there. Once they open that concentrated store of food they’ll probably lose

interest in anything else.” His optimism sounded forced.

Murchison said, “We’re not completely sure that it was a disease that caused the

trouble, Captain. From the analysis of the stomach contents of the cadaver from

the dormitory deck.

the indications are that it was a severe gastrointestinal infection caused by a

bug native to their home planet, and the symptom which led us to suspect

malnutrition was total regurgitation of stomach contents in all of the other

cases. The casualty from the dormitory had been knocked unconscious before the

process was complete and was asphyxiated shortly afterward so that involuntary

regurgitation did not take place. But it is also pos­sible that the ship’s own

food supply was contaminated and that caused the trouble.”

Conway wondered if it was possible for a mobile omni­vorous vegetable to get

food poisoning, and if it would take effect in time to save them from the

thorns. He rather doubted it.

“Thank you, Ma’am,” Fletcher said, and went on, “About the missing limbs?”

“There are no missing limbs. Captain,” she replied. “Or perhaps the crew are all

missing the same organ, their head. The large number of the other injuries

concealed the truth at first, but there are no missing limbs, and there is no

criminal.”

Fletcher looked at Conway, too polite to express his disbelief to the

pathologist in words, and the Doctor took over the ex­planation. But he had to

work as he talked because he and Murchison were faced with the long, difficult

job of transferring the big alien from its cupola to the litter.

It was hard to imagine the set of environmental circum­stances which had caused

such an essentially helpless life-form to evolve, become dominant, and in time

achieve a culture capable of star travel, Conway said, but these gross,

limbless, and all too obviously immobile creatures had done just that. It was a

host-symbiote, they now knew, who had developed mul­tiple symbiotes specialized

so as to act as short-and long-range manipulators and sensors. Its stumps and

the areas which on the casualties had been mistaken for amputation sites were

the interfaces which joined the host creature to its symbiotes when physical

activity became necessary or the host required suste­nance.

It was likely that a strong mental as well as physical bond existed between the

host Captain and its crew, but continuous contact was not needed because in and

around the wreck there had been three times the number of crew members as there

OC-V-/ I \jr\ \3CINCnMI_

I I I

were organic connectors on the host. It was also probable that the host entity

did not sleep and provided continual, nonphys-ical support to its symbiotes.

This was borne out by the type of emotional radiation being picked up on Rhabwar

by Prili-cla—confusion and feelings of loss. The host Captain’s tele­pathic or

empathic faculty did not reach as far as the ambulance ship’s orbit.

“The smallest, DCLG life-form is independently intelligent and performs the

finer, more intricate manipulative opera­tions,” Murchison joined in, clarifying

the situation in her own mind as well as for the Captain, who had disappeared