added the recordings to your psych file and might play them back to you on
request. Or again, he might not.
“Alternatively,” it went on when they were moving again, “you may wish me to
give you a brief summary of these discussions, inaccurate in that the excess
verbiage and the more impolite and colorful phraseology will be deleted.”
“That,” Cha Thrat said, “is what I wish.” “Very well,” it replied. “Let me begin
by saying that the Monitor Corps personnel and all of the senior medical staff
members involved are responsible for this situation. During the initial
interview with O’Mara you mentioned that the lengthy delay in your decision to
treat Chiang was that you did not want to lose a limb. O’Mara assumed, wrongly,
that you were referring only to Chiang’s limb, and he thinks that in an
other-species interview he should have been more alert to the exactmeaning of
the words spoken, and that he is primarily responsible for your self-amputation.
“Conway feels responsible,” it went on, “because he ordered you to perform the
Hudlar limb removal without knowing anything about your very strict code of
professional ethics. Cresk-Sar thinks it should have questioned you more closely
on the same subject. Both of them believe that you would make a fine
other-species surgeon if you could be deconditioned and reeducated. And
Hred-lichli blames itself for ignoring the special friendship that developed
between you and AUGL-One Sixteen. And, of course, the Monitor Corps, which is
originally responsible for the problem, suggested a solution that would give the
minimum displeasure to everyone.”
“By transferring me to Maintenance,” she finished for it.
“That was never a serious suggestion,” the Earth-human said, “because we
couldn’t believe that you would accept it. No, we wanted to send you home.”
A small part of her mind was moving her body forward and around the heavier or
more senior staff members, while the rest of it felt angry and bitterly
disappointed in the life-form beside her that she had begun to think of as a
friend.
“Naturally,” Timmins went on, “we tried to take your feelings into account. You
were interested in meeting and working with off-planet life-forms, so we would
give you a cultural liaison position, as an advisor on Sommar-advan affairs, on
our base there. Or on Descartes, our largest specialized other-species contact
vessel, which will be orbiting your world until another new intelligent species
is discovered somewhere. Your position would be one of considerable
responsibility, and could not be influenced in any way by the people who dislike
you on Sommaradva.
“Naturally, nothing could be guaranteed at this stage,” it continued. “But
subject to your satisfactory performance with us you would be allowed to choose
between a permanent position with the Corps’ Sommar-adva establishment as an
interspecies cultural advisor or as a member of the contact team on Descartes.
We tried to do what we thought was best for you, friend, and everyone else.”
“You did,” Cha Thrat said, feeling her anger and disappointment melting away.
“Thank you.”
“We thought it was a reasonable compromise,” Tim-mins said. “But O’Mara said no.
He insisted that you be given a maintenance job here in the hospital and have
the Corps induction procedures attended to as quickly as possible.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know why,” it replied. “Who knows how a Chief Psychologist’s mind
works?”
“Why,” she repeated, “must I join your Monitor Corps?”
“Oh, that,” Timmins said. “Purely for administrative convenience. The supply and
maintenance of Sector General is our responsibility, and anyone who is not a
patient or on the medical staff is automatically a member of the Monitor Corps.
The personnel computer has to know your name, rank, and number so as to be able
to pay your salary and so we can tell you what to do.
“Theoretically,” it added.
“I have never disobeyed the lawful order of a superior. ..” Cha Thrat began,
when it held up its hand again.
“A Corps joke, don’t worry about it,” Timmins said. “The point I’m trying to
make is that our Chief Psychologist bears the administrative rank of major, but
it is difficult to define the limits of his authority in this place., because he
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