White, James – Sector General 07 – Code Blue Emergency

had perished, been torn apart or eaten during every such encounter, and the

consequent and oft-repeated death agonies of the slain had been shared

telepathically by every single member of the groups. In an attempt to reduce

their suffering, the effects of the group telepathy had been diluted by the

generation of a mindless urge to destroy indiscriminately everything within

reach. But even so, the mental scars inflicted during their prehistory had not

healed.

Once heard, the audible signal emitted by Gogleskans in distress that triggered

the process could not be ignored ‘ at either the conscious or unconscious

levels, because that call to join represented only one thing—the threat of

ultimate danger. And even in present times, when such threats were imaginary or

insignificant, it made no difference. A joining led inevitably to the mindless

destruction of everything in their immediate vicinity—housing, vehicles,

mechanisms, books, or art objects—that they had been able to build or accomplish

as individuals.

That was why the present-day Gogleskans would not allow, except on very rare

occasions, anyone to touch or come close to them or even address them in

anything but the most impersonal terms, while they fought helplessly and, until

Conway’s recent visit to the planet, hopelessly against the conditioning imposed

on them by evolution.

It was plain to Cha Thrat that the only subjects that the medical team wanted to

discuss were the Gogleskan problems in general and Khone in particular, and they

talked about them endlessly and without arriving anywhere except back to where

they had started. Several times she had wanted to make suggestions or ask

questions, but found that if she kept quiet and waited patiently, a form of

behavior that had always been foreignto her nature, the ideas and the questions

were suggested! and answered by one of the others.

Usually it was Naydrad who asked such questions, although much less politely

than Cha Thrat would have j done.

“Conway should be here,” the Kelgian said, fur ruffling in disapproval. “It made

a promise to the patient J There should be no excuses.”

The yellow-pink face of Pathologist Murchison deepened in color. On the ceiling

Prilicia’s iridescent wings were quivering in response to the emotional

radiation being generated below, but neither the empath nor the female

Earth-human spoke.

“It is my understanding,” Danalta said suddenly, moving the eye it had extruded

to regard the Kelgian, “that Conway was successful in breaching the conditioning

of just one Gogleskan, by an accidental, dangerous, and unprecedented joining of

minds. For this reason the Diagnostician is the only other-species being who has

any chance of approaching the patient closely, much less of touching it before

or during the birth. Even though the call came much earlier than expected, there

must be many others in the hospital who are capable and willing to take over the

Diagnostician’s workload for the few days necessary for the trip.

“I, too, think that Conway should have come with us,” the shape-changer ended.

“Khone is its friend, and it promised to do so.”

While Danalta was speaking, Murchison’s face had retained the deep-pink

coloration except for patches of whiteness around its lips, and it was obvious

from Prilicla’s trembling that the Pathologist’s emotional radiation was

anything but pleasant for an empath.

“I agree with you,” Murchison said in a tone that suggested otherwise, ”that

nobody, not even the Diagnosti-cian-in-Charge of Surgery, is indispensable. And

rm not defending him simply because he happens to be my life-mate. He can call

for assistance from quite a few of the Senior Physicians who are capable of

performing the work. But not quickly, not while surgery is actually in progress.

And the briefings for his operating schedule would have taken time, two hours at

least. The Goglesk call had the Most Urgent prefix. We had to leave at once,

without him.”

Danalta did not reply, but Naydrad’s fur made discontented waves as the Kelgian

said, “Is this the only excuse Conway gave you for breaking its promise to the

patient? If so, it is unsatisfactory. We have all had expe-‘rience with

emergencies arising that necessitated people doing other people’s work, without

notice or detailed briefings. There is a lack of consideration being shownfor