was turning out vast numbers of conscienceless, organic machines! She had been
surprised when the Hudlar trainee had mentioned the time required for
qualification, and it was possible that the hospital’s tutors would be able to
provide the necessary practical training during that short period. But what
about the long-term indoctrination, the courses of mental and physical exercises
that would prepare the candidates for the acceptance of responsibility and pain,
and the long, presurgery novitiate? As the Diagnostician talked on, there was no
mention of these things.
“This is incredible!” Cha Thrat said suddenly. Softly the Hudlar beside her
said, “Yes, indeed. But be quiet, Nurse, and listen.”
“The degree and extent of the suffering among aging FROBs is impossible to
imagine or describe,” the Earth-human was saying. “If the majority of the other
races in the Federation were faced with the same problem, there would be one
simple, if completely unsatisfactory, answer for the individuals concerned. But
the Hudlars, unfortunately or otherwise, are philosophically incapable of
self-termination.
“Would you bring in Patient FROB-Eleven Thirty-two, please.”
A mobile operating frame driven by a Kelgian nurse glided to a stop in front of
the Diagnostician. It held the patient—one of the Hudlars she had sprayed that
mom-ing—already prepared for surgery.
“The condition of Eleven Thirty-two,” the Earth-human went on, “is too far
advanced for surgical intervention to reverse the degenerative processes
completely. However, today’s procedure will ensure that the remainder of the
patient’s life will be virtually pain-free, which, in turn, means that it will
be mentally alert, and, it will be able to lead a useful if not very active
life. With Hudlars who elect for surgery before the onset of the condition, and
there are few members in the age groups concerned who do not so elect, the
results are immeasurably better.
“Before we begin,” it continued, unclipping the deep scanner, “I would like to
discuss the physiological reasons behind the distressing clinical picture we see
before us…”
What miracle of irresponsible and illegal surgery, Cha Thrat wondered sickly,
could make Eleven Thirty-two well again?But her curiosity was outweighed by a
growing fear. She did not know whether or not she could bear to hear the answers
that this terrible Earth-person would give, and still retain her sanity.
“In common with the majority of the life-forms known to us,” the Diagnostician
continued, “the primary cause of the degenerative process known as aging is
caused by increasing loss of efficiency in the major organs and an associated
circulatory failure.
“With the FROB life-form,” it went on, “the irreversible loss of function and
the abnormal degree of calcification and fissuring in the extremities is
aggravated by the demand for nutrient, which is no longer available.
“From your FROB physiology lectures,” it continued, “you know that a healthy
adult of the species possesses an extremely high metabolic rate that requires a
virtually continuous supply of nutrient, which is metabolized, via the
absorption mechanism, to supply major organs such as the two hearts, the
absorption organs themselves, the womb when the entity is in gravid female mode,
and, of course, the limbs. These six immensely strong limbsform the most
energy-hungry system of the body, and demand close to eighty percent of the
total nutrient metabolized.
“If this excessive demand is removed from the energy equation,” the
Diagnostician said slowly and emphatically, “the nutrient supply to
less-demanding systems is automatically increased to optimum.”
There was no longer any doubt in Cha Thrat’s mind regarding the surgical
intentions of the Earth-human, but still she was trying to convince herself that
the situation was not quite as bad as it seemed. With quiet urgency she asked,
“Do this life-form’s limbs regenerate?”
“That is a stupid question,” the Hudlar beside her said. “No, if such were the
case, the limb musculature and circulation would not have degenerated to their
present state in the first place. Please be quiet, Nurse, and listen.”
“I meant the Earth-human’s limbs,” Cha Thrat said insistently, “not the
patient’s.”
“No,” the Hudlar impatiently said. When she tried to ask other questions, it
ignored her.
Conway was saying, “The major problem encountered while performing deep surgery
on any life-form evolved for heavy gravity and high atmospheric pressure