she said, It is a tight-fitting flap, hinged on the top side, and free to move
in or out with gentle pressure. There is a layer of sponge around the edges that
suggests that it is nearly airtight. I can’t get my head close enough to the
floor to see insidethe flap, but when I open it there is a strong smell that
reminds me of the Sommaradvan glytt plant.
“I’m sorry,” she went on. “Quite apart from the fact that you don’t know what a
glytt plant smells like, one wonders whether the seal is intended to keep the
unpleasant smell of FGHJ wastes in or the other smell out. Or maybe it is just
an inlet point for some kind of deodorant …”
“Friend Cha,” Prilicla broke in. “In the short time since you inhaled the odor,
has there been any irritation of your breathing passages, nausea, impairment of
vision, or dulling of sensation or intellect?”
“What intellect?” Fletcher murmured in a disparaging voice.
“No,” she replied. “I am opening the door of the last remaining storage closet
to be searched. It is larger than the others, filled with racked tools and what
looks like replacement parts for the dormitory furniture, but is otherwise
empty. The crew members are still ignoring me. I’m leaving now to search the
next dormitory.”
“Technician,” Fletcher said quietly. “If you can reply to Prilicla I know you
can hear me. Now, I’m willing to consider your earlier disobedience as a
temporary aberration, a fit of overenthusiasm, and a minor disciplinary matter.
But if you continue the search in direct contravention of my orders you will be
in major trouble. Neither the Monitor Corps nor the hospital has time for
irresponsible subordinates.”
“But I take full responsiblity for my actions,” Cha Thrat protested, “including
any credit or discredit that may result from them. I know that I lack the
training to investigate an other-species ship properly, but I am simply opening
and closing doors and being very careful while I’m doing it.”
The Captain did not reply and maintained its silenceeven when the sensors must
have been showing Cha Thrat entering the second dormitory. It was Prilicia who
spoke first.
“Friend Fletcher,” the empath said quietly, “I agree that there is a small
element of risk in what the technician is doing. But it has discussed some of
its ideas with me and is acting with my permission and, well, limited approval.”
Ignoring the tranquilized FGHJs and riot speaking at all, Cha Thrat was able
search the dormitory much more quickly, but with the same negative result. None
of the storage cabinets revealed the missing survivor, adult or child, and the
.narrow, floor-level flap held nothing but the smell of glytt, which never had
been one of her favorite aromas.
But the Cinrusskin’s attempts to divert the Captain’s anger from her aroused
such a sudden emotional warmth in her that she hoped the empath would feel her
gratitude. Without breaking into the conversation, and hoping that Prilicia
could not feel her growing disappointment, she began searching the third and
last dormitory.
“… In any case, friend Fletcher,” the empath was saying, “the responsibility
for whatever happens on the distressed ship until the survivors are treated and
evacuated is not yours, but mine.”
“I know, I know,” the Captain agreed irritably. “On the site of a disaster the
medical team leader has the rank. In this situation you can tell a Monitor Corps
ship commander like myself what to do, and be obeyed. You can even give orders
to a Corps Maintenance Technician Grade Two called Cha Thrat, but I seriously
doubt if they would be obeyed.”
There was another long silence, broken by the subject of the discussion. She
said, “I’ve finished searching thedormitories. All three contain identical
arrangements of fittings and storage compartments, none of which contains the
FGHJ we’re looking for.
“But the first and second dormitories share a common wall,” she went on, trying
to sound hopeful, “likewise the second and third. But the first and third are
divided by a short corridor leading inboard toward what must be another, fairly
large storage compartment whose sides are common to the inner walls of the three