White, James – Sector General 07 – Code Blue Emergency

the squishy beings in chlorine envelopes who crowded past her. But on both

occasions, in spite of the respectful manner of her request, the information was

given in a most rude and abrupt fashion.

Her immediate feeling was one of severe personal offense. But then she saw that

the Kelgians were rude and short-tempered even to other members of their own

species, and she decided that it might be better not to upbraid them for their

extreme lack of politeness toward astranger.

When she at last located her room, the door was wide open and the Earth-human

Timmins was lying prone on the floor and holding a small metal box that was

making quiet noises and winking its lights.

“Just testing,” Timmins said. “I’ll be finished in a moment. Look around. The

operating instructions for everything are on the table. If there is anything you

don’t understand, use the communicator to call Staff Training, they’ll help

you.” It rolled onto its back and got to its feet in a way that was physically

impossible for a Som-maradvan, and added, “What do you think of the place?”

“I’m—I’m surprised,” Cha Thrat said, feeling almostJMIWCS WHII fflshocked by its

familiarity. “And delighted. It’s just likfl my quarters at home.”

“We aim to please,” Timmins said. It raised one hand! in a gesture she did not

understand, and was gone.

For a long time she moved about the small room ex-j amining the furniture and

equipment, not quite believing i what she saw and felt. She knew that

photographs and i measurements had been taken of her quarters in the war- j

rior-surgeon level at the Calgren House of Healing, but ‘ she had not expected

such close attention to detail in the reproduction of her favorite pictures,

wall coverings, ‘ lighting, and personal utilities. There were differences, too,

some obvious and others subtle, to remind her that this place, despite

appearances to the contrary, was not on her home world.

The room itself was larger and the furniture more comfortable, but there were no

joints visible in the construction. It was as if every item had been fabricated

in one piece. All the doors and drawers and fastenings in the replicas worked

perfectly, which the originals had never done, and the air smelled different—in

fact, it did not smell at all.

Gradually her initial feelings of pleasure and relief were being diluted by the

realization that this was nothing more than a tiny, familiar bubble of normality

inside a vast, alien, and terrifyingly complex structure. The fear and anxiety

she was beginning to feel were greater than she had ever experienced on her

incredibly distant home planet, and with them was a growing degree of loneliness

so acute that it felt like an intense, physical hunger.

But she was not liked or wanted on far Sommaradva, and here, at least, they had

taken positive measures to welcome her, so much so that she had to remain in

this terrible place if only to discharge the obligation. And she would try to

learn as much as she could before the hospital rulers decided that she was

unsuitable and sent her home.

She should start learning now. Was the hunger real, she wondered, rather than

imaginary? She had not been able to eat to repletion during the earlier visit to

the dining hall because her mind had been on matters other than food. She began

to plan the route there, and to the location of her first lecture in the

morning, from her present position. But she did not feel like another trip along

the hospital’s weirdly populated corridors just yet. She was very tired, and the

room had a limited-menu food dispenser for trainees who did not wish to

interrupt their studies by going to the dining hall. She referred to the list of

foods suited to her metabolism and tapped for medium-to-large portions. When she

was feeling comfortably distended, she tried to sleep.

The room and the corridor outside were full of quiet, unidentifiable sounds, and

she did not know enough to be able to ignore them. Sleep would not come and she

was beginning to feel afraid again, and to wonder if her thoughts and feelings