White, James – Sector General 07 – Code Blue Emergency

“Thank you,” the Senior Physician said, but held up a small, hairy hand to

indicate that the Hudlar should remain where it was. “Any further comments,

questions?”

It was looking at the Kelgian beside her, the one who had asked the original

question, but Cha Thrat spoke on impulse.

“It seems to me that the Hudlars are fortunate,” she said, “in that they are not

troubled by the situation of the members of one sex considering themselves

innately superior to the other, as is the case on Sommaradva..

“And on too many other worlds of the Federation,” the Kelgian interjected, the

fur rising into tufts behind itshead.

“… I thank the Hudlar for its explanation,” Cha Thratwent on, “but I was

surprised to find that it is presently a male. My first thought, based on

observation of what I mistakenly assumed to be cosmetic paint on its body, was

that it was female.”

The Hudlar’s speaking membrane began to vibrate, but Cresk-Sar held its hand up

for silence and said, “What are your second thoughts?”

Confused, she stared at the hairy little creature, wondering what she was

expected to say.

“Come, come,” Cresk-Sar barked. “Tell us what other thoughts, observations,

assumptions, mistaken or otherwise, have been going through your Sommaradvan

mind regarding this life-form. Think and speak clearly.”

Cha Thrat turned all her eyes on it in a way that, had it been a Sommaradvan,

would have elicited an immediate verbal and physical response. She said, “My

first thoughts were as described. My second was that it might be Hudlar males

rather than females, or perhaps both, who wear decorative paint. Then I observed

that the being’s movements were careful, as if it was afraid of injuring nearby

people and equipment, the movements of a gentle being of immense physical

strength. That taken in conjunction with the low, squat form of the body, with

six rather than two or four limbs, suggested that it was a native of a dense,

heavy-gravity world with comparable atmospheric pressure, where an accidental

fall would be damaging. The very hard but flexible skin, which is unbroken by

any permanent body orifices for the intake or elimination of food, suggested

that the paint which I had observed the Hudlar spraying onto itself might be a

nutrient solution.”

The eyes of Cresk-Sar, and the variegated visual sen-sors of the other trainees,

were watching her steadily. Nobody spoke.

Hesitantly she added, “Another thought, wonderful and exciting but, I expect,

pure supposition, is that if this heavy-gravity, high-pressure creature can live

unprotected in the hospital surroundings, its body must be capable of containing

its own very high internal pressures, and an even lower pressure environment

should not inconvenience it. .

“It might be possible,” she went on, expecting a storm of ridicule from the

Nidian Senior, “for it to work unprotected in space. This would mean that—”

“At any moment,” Cresk-Sar said, holding its hand up, “you will give me its

physiological classification coding, even though we haven’t covered that yet. Is

this the first time you’ve seen a Hudlar?”

“I saw two of them in the dining hall,” she replied, “but at the time I was too

confused to know what I was seeing.”

“May your confusion continue to diminish, Cha Thrat,” Cresk-Sar said. Turning

its head toward the others, it went on, “This trainee has displayed the

qualities of observation and deduction that, when trained and refined, will

enable you to live among, understand, and . treat your other-species

colleagues and patients. However, I would advise you not to think of a

particular life-form as a Nidian, a Hudlar, a Kelgian, a Melfan, or a I

Sommaradvan, that is, by their planets of origin, but by • their

physiological classifications, DBDG, FROB, DBLF, ELNT, or DCNF. That way

you will always be ; reminded of their pressure, gravity, and atmosphere

requirements, basic metabolism and other physiological needs, and know

immediately when there is a potential environmental threat to them or to

yourselves.”

It continued, “Should a PVSJ, a chlorine-breathingnative of Illensa,

accidentally rupture its pressure envelope, the risk to the being concerned and

to any oxygen-breathing D, E, and F prefixes in the vicinity would be extreme.