said, “I know how you feel, friend Chiang. And we are not wasting our time.
Would you refuse us, a Melfan and a Cinrusskin who are both keen to enlarge our
other-species experience, the opportunity of tinkering with an Earth-human, even
a perfectly healthy one?”
“I suppose not,” Chiang said. It made another soft, barking sound and added,
“But you would have found it more interesting if you’d seen me after the crash.”
The empath returned to the ceiling. To the Melfan it said, “What is your
assessment, friend Edanelt?”
“The work is not as I would have performed it,” the Melfan replied, “but it is
adequate.”
“Friend Edanelt,” the empath said gently, with a briefglance in the direction of
the gallery, “we are all aware, with the exception of the newest member of our
staff, that you consider as merely adequate the kind of surgery which Conway
himself would describe as exemplary. It would be interesting to discuss the pre-
and postoperative history.”
“That was my thought as well,” the Melfan said. There was a rapid, irregular
tapping of its six boney feet, and it turned to face the observation gallery.
“Will you join us, please.”
Quickly Cha Thrat disentangled herself from the alien chair and followed Danalta
into the ward and across to the group at the table, aware that it was now her
turn to undergo an even more searching examination, one that would establish her
professional rather than her physical fitness to practice in Sector General.
The prospect must have worried her more than she realized because the empath was
beginning to tremble again. And it was disconcerting, even frightening, to be so
close to the Cinrusskin. On Sommaradva, large insects were to be avoided because
they invariably possessed lethal stings. Her instincts told her to swat or run
away from this one. She had hated insects and always avoided looking closely at
them. Now she had no choice.
But there was a subtle visual attraction in the intricate symmetry of the
extraordinarily fragile body and trembling limbs, whose dark sheen seemed to be
reflecting colors that were not present in the room. The head was an alien,
convoluted eggshell, so finely structured that the sensory and manipulatory
organs that it supported seemed ready to fall off at the first sudden movement.
But it was the complex structure and coloration of the partially folded wings,
seemingly made of iridescent gossamer stretched across a framework of impossibly
thin twigs, that made her realize that, alien or not, this insectwas one of the
most beautiful creatures she had ever-seen—and she couid see it very clearly
because its limbs] were no longer trembling.
“Thank you again, Cha Thrat,” the empath said. “Youi learn quickly. And don’t
worry. We are your friends and| are wishing for your success.”
,_Edaneit’s feet were making irregular clicking noises
against the floor, a sound that might possibly be indicating impatience. It
said, “Please present your patient,1 Doctor.”
For a moment she looked down at the Earth-human,: at the pink, oddly formed
alien body that, as a result of the accident, had become so familiar to her. She
remembered how it had looked when she first saw it: the bleeding, open wounds
and the fractured, protruding bones; the general condition that strongly
indicated the immediate use of comforting medication until casualty termination.
Even now she could not find the words to explain why she had not ended this
Earth-human’s life. She looked up again at the Cinrusskin.
Prilicla did not speak, but she felt as if waves of reassurance and
encouragement were emanating from the little empath. That was a ridiculous idea,
of course, and probably the result of wishful and not very lucid thinking, but
she felt comforted nonetheless.
“This patient,” Cha Thrat said calmly, “was one of three occupants of an
aircraft that crashed into a mountain lake. A Sommaradvan pilot and another
Earth-human were taken from the wreck before it sank, but they were already
dead. The patient was taken ashore and looked at by a healer who was
insufficiently qualified, and, knowing that I was spending a recreation period
in the area, he sent for me.
“The patient had sustained many incised and lacerated wounds to the limbs and