Across the office Braithwaite cleared its breathing passages with a noise which Lioren now knew denoted sympathy. “You have a problem?”
“I’m not sure,” Lioren replied. “O’Mara said that it would take no disciplinary action, but it called me … Who or what is a Carmody, and where will I find the information?”
Braithwaite swung round to face him and said, “You won’t find it there. Lieutenant Carmody’s file was withdrawn after his accident. He was before my time but I know a little about him. He came here from the Corps base on Orligia at his own request and managed to survive in the department for twelve years even though he and O’Mara were always arguing. When an incoming ship whose pilot was badly injured lost control and crashed through our outer hull, he accompanied the rescue team and tried to give reassurance to what he thought was a surviving crewmember. It turned out to be a very large, fear-maddened and nonintelligent ship’s pet, which attacked him. He was very old and frail and gentle, and did not survive his injuries.
“During his time here Lieutenant Carmody became very well liked and highly respected by all of the staff and long-term patients,” Braithwaite concluded, “and his position was not filled, until now.”
Feeling even more confused, Lioren said, “The relevance of what you say eludes me. I am neither old nor frail nor particularly gentle, I have been stripped of all Monitor Corps rank, and my arguments with O’Mara are concerned only with the retention of patient confidences—”
“I know,” said Braithwaite, showing its teeth. “Your predecessor called it the Seal of Confession. And the rank doesn’t matter. Carmody never used his, and most of the people here did not even use his name. They just called him Padre.”
About the Author
JAMES WHITE was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and resided there until 1984 when he moved to Portstewart on the North coast. His first story was printed in 1953. He has since published well-received short stories, novellas, and novels, but he is best known for the Sector General series, which deals with the difficulties involved in running a hospital that caters to many radically different life-forms.