White, James – Sector General 05 – Sector General

Genetic factors gen-

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erally make for size differences among the adults of most spe­cies, so I cannot

assume that it is an adolescent or younger. Of one thing I am sure—Thornnastor

is going to enjoy itself with this one.”

“So are you,” Conway said.

She smiled tiredly and went on, “I don’t wish to give the impression that you

are not helping, Doctor. You are. But I had the distinct feeling back there that

the Captain was just being polite, and he wants to see you very urgently.”

Prilicla, who had been resting on the ceiling between trips outside to monitor

the emotional radiation of newly arrived survivors, made trilling and clicking

noises which translated as “For a nonempath, friend Murchison, your feeling was

re^ markably accurate.”

When Conway entered Control a few mintues later, both captains were present and

they looked relieved to see him. It was Nelson who spoke first.

“Doctor,” he said quickly, “I think this rescue mission is getting out of hand.

So far thirty-eight contacts have been made and the sensors report the presence

of life on all but two of them, and more cylinders are being reported every few

minutes. They are all uniform in size and the present indications are that there

are many more sections out there than would be necessary to complete one Wheel.”

“If, for technical or physiological reasons, the alien vessel had to have the

configuration of a Wheel,” Conway said thoughtfully, “then it could have been

built, as were some of our early space stations, in a series of concentric

circles, as wheels within wheels.”

Nelson shook his head. “The longitudinal curvature on all sections is identical.

Could there have been two Wheels, sep­arate but identical vessels, which were in

collision?”

“I disagree with the collision theory,” Fletcher said, joining in for the first

time. “At least between two or more Wheels. There are far too many survivors and

undamaged sections for that. Their vessel seems to have fallen apart. I think

there was a high-velocity collision with a natural body, the shock of which

shook the hub and central support structure apart.”

Conway was trying to visualize the finished shape of this

alien jigsaw puzzle. He said, “But you still think there was more than one

Wheel?”

“Not exactly,” Fletcher replied. “Two of them mounted side by side, with a

different alien or set of aliens in each. Right now we don’t know whether we are

retrieving single aliens who have been surgically modified for travel or pieces

of much larger creatures, and we won’t know how many we are dealing with until

the scoutships begin bringing back heads and tails. I’m assuming that all of the

occupants were in suspended an­imation and their ship ran itself, accelerating

or decelerating along its vertical axis. If I’m right then the hub wreckage

should contain the remains of just one propulsion unit and one section which

contained the automatic navigation and sensor equip­ment.”

Conway nodded. “A neat theory, Captain. Is it possible to prove it?”

Fletcher smiled and said, “All of the pieces are out there, even though some of

them will be smashed into their component parts and difficult to identify, but

given time and the necessary assistance we could fit them together.”

“You mean reconstruct it?”

“Perhaps,” Fletcher replied in an oddly neutral tone. “But is it really any of

our business?”

Conway opened his mouth, intending to tell the other exactly what he thought of

a damn fool question like that, then closed it again when he saw the expressions

on both captains’ faces.

For the truth was that the situation which was developing here was no longer any

of their business. Rhabwar was an ambulance ship, designed and provisioned for

short-duration missions aimed at the rescue, emergency treatment, and transfer

to the hospital of survivors of accident or disease in space. But these

survivors did not require treatment or fast transport to the hospital. They had

been in suspended animation for a long time and would be capable of remaining in

that condition with­out harm for a long time to come. Reviving them and, more

important, relocating them on a suitable planet would be a major project.