as the ruler shook its head. Cha Thrat had already told Chiang that grasping a
strange person’s appendage was considered quite vulgar where she came from, and
it would have been much more considerate of them if they had given her some
indication of their status. Ruler Chiang had spoken to them as equals, but then
it had often done that whileaddressing subordinates on the ship. It was very
careless of the ruler and most confusing for her.
“Timmins will see that your personal effects are moved to your quarters,” the
ruler went on. “I don’t know what DanaJta and Braithwaite have in mind for us.”
“Nothing too onerous,” Braithwaite said as the other Earth-human was leaving.
“On hospital time it is the middle of the day, and the healer’s accommodation
will not be ready until early evening. In midafternoon you are due for a
physical, Major. Cha Thrat is expected to be present, no doubt to receive the
compliments of our medics for what was obviously a very tidy piece of, for a
Sommaradvan, other-species surgery.”
It looked in her direction and for some reason inclined its head forward from
the neck, then went on. “Immediately following the examination both of you have
appointments in Psychology: Cha Thrat for an orientation talk with O’Mara, and
you for an investigation, purely a formality in your case, to ensure that there
is no non-physical trauma resulting from your recent injuries. But until then…
Have you eaten recently?”
“No,” said Chiang, “and I would welcome a change from ship food.”
The other Earth-human made soft barking sounds and said, “You haven’t tasted a
hospital meal yet. But we try hard not to poison our visitors…”
It broke off to apologize and explain hastily that it was making an in-hospital
joke, that the food was quite palatable, and that it had been given full
instructions regarding Cha Thrat’s dietary requirements.
But she was only vaguely aware of what it was saying because her attention was
on the hemisphere of green stuff, the surface of which had begun to ripple
andpucker and grow pseudopods. It wobbled sluggishly and heaved itself upright
until it was as tall as she was, its skin coloration became mottled, the wet
gleam of what could only be eyes appeared, the number of short, crudely formed
appendages increased until it looked like something a young child on Sommaradva
might make from modeling clay. She felt sudden nausea, but her feelings of
curiosity and wonder were even stronger as the body firmed out, became more
finely structured, and the features appeared. Then the clothing and equipment
pouch grew into place, and there was standing before her the figure of another
female Sommaradvan identical in every detail to herself.
“If our Earth-human friends intend subjecting you to the environment of a
multispecies dining hall within minutes of your arrival,” it said in a voice
that was not, thankfully, hers, “I must counteract their lack of consideration
by providing you with something familiar, and friendly, to whom you can relate.
It is the least I can do for a new member of the staff.”
“Doctor Danalta,” Braithwaite said, barking again, “is not as altruistic as it
would have you think, Cha Thrat. Due to the incredibly savage environment of its
planet of origin, the species evolved protective mimicry of a very high order.
There are few warm-blooded oxygen-breathing life-forms in Sector General that it
cannot accurately reproduce within a few minutes, as you’ve seen. But we suspect
that any new, intelligent life-form to arrive at the hospital, be it patient,
visitor, or staff, is regarded by Danalta as a challenge to its powers of
physical mimicry.”
“Nevertheless,” she said, “I am impressed.”
She stared eye to eye at her utterly alien but identical twin, thinking that the
being had displayed concern forher present mental well-being by using its
incredible talent to make her feel more comfortable. It was the action of a
healer of rulers, and it might even be a ruler itself. Instinctively she made
the gesture of respect to superiors, then belatedly realized that neither the
Earth-humans nor her Danalta-copy would recognize it for what it was.
“Why, thank you, Cha Thrat,” said Danalta, returning the gesture. “With