White, James – Sector General 05 – Sector General

structure they

supported, but the wiring still attached to them is much too thin to carry power

to a hyperspace generator. In fact, I seri­ously doubt if these people had

either hyperdrive or artificial gravity, and the general level of technology

displayed is pretty elementary for a star-traveling race. Then there is the

apparent absence of an entry port. An airlock for this beastie would have to be

almost as long as the vessel itself.”

“There are a few star-traveling species who do not use them,” Conway said. “For

purely physiological reasons they do not indulge in extravehicular activity,

entering and leaving their ships only at time of departure and arrival.”

“Suppose,” Murchison said, “this vehicle is the being’s spacesuit.”

“A nice idea, ma’am, but no,” Fletcher said apologetically. “Apart from the four

viewports, whose angles of vision are severely limited because of their small

size and the space be­tween the outer and inner hulls, there is no sensory input

of any kind known to me and, more important, no external ma­nipulators. But

there must be some easy way of getting that beastie into and out of that thing,

whether it is a ship, a survival pod, or something else.”

There was a long silence, then Conway said, “I’m sorry, Captain. A few minutes

ago you were about to mention a third possibility when I interrupted you.”

“I was,” Fletcher said in the tone of one graciously receiving an apology. “But

you will understand, Doctor, that the theory is based on my initial visual

observation only and not, as yet, supported by accurate measurements.

Nevertheless, as I have already stated, this vessel is not a true cylinder but

appears to be curved slightly along its longitudinal axis.

“Now, an explosion or collision sufficiently violent to warp the cylinder out of

true,” he went on, slipping into his lecturing manner, “would buckle and open up

seams in the hull plating, and leave evidence of heat discoloration and

indentations from flying debris. There are no such indications. So if the

longi­tudinal axis of the vessel is, in fact, a very flat curve rather than a

straight line, then the curvature was deliberate, built in. This would explain

the lack of power and control linkages and an artificial gravity system because

they used—”

“Of course!” Conway broke in. “The hull beneath the flat

deck was outward facing and free of structural projections, which means that

they got their gravity the old-fashioned way by-”

“Will one of you,” Murchison said crossly, “kindly tell me what you are talking

about?”

“Certainly,” Conway said. “The Captain has convinced me that this structure is

not a ship or a lifeboat, but a section of a space station, an early Wheeltype

of very large diameter, which suffered a collision.”

“A space station away out here?” Murchison sounded in­credulous. Then she began

to realize the implications and added feelingly, “In that case we could have an

awful lot of work ahead of us.”

“Maybe not, ma’am,” Fletcher said. “Admittedly there is a strong possibility of

finding many more space station segments, but the survivors may be very few.”

His tone became suddenly forceful. “Transferring that creature to our Casualty

Deck is out of the question. Instead I suggest we attach it to our hull, extend

Rhabwar’s hyperspace envelope accordingly, and whisk it back to Sector General

where their airlocks can easily handle a patient extraction problem of this

size. I am not the e-t medical specialist, of course, but I think we should do

this at once, leaving Tyrell to search for other survivors, and then return as

soon as possible for the others.” “No,” Conway said firmly.

“I don’t understand you, Doctor.” Behind his helmet visor Fletcher’s face had

gone red.

Conway ignored him for a moment while he addressed Mur­chison and Prilicla, who

had drifted closer in spite of the strong emotional radiation being generated in

the area. He said, “The survivor, so far as we are able to see, is linked to

what appears to be some kind of life-support system by three separate sets of

tubing. It is deeply unconscious but not physically distressed. There is also

the fact that its vessel contains a reservoir of power which is not presently