Dr. Prilicla, the spidery, low-gravity and extremely fragile being of physiological classification GLNO, arrived first. O’Mara and Colonel Skempton, the hospital’s senior engineering officer, came together. Dr. Mannon, because of a job in the DBLF theater, arrived late at a near run, braked, then walked slowly around the patient twice.
“Looks like a doughnut,” he said, “with barnacles.”
Everyone looked at him.
“They aren’t anything so simple and harmless,” Conway said, wheeling the X-ray scanner forward, “but a growth which the pathological boys say shows every indication of being malignant. And if you’ll look through here you’ll see that it isn’t a doughnut, but possesses a fairly normal anatomy of the DBLF type-a cylindrical, lightly-boned body with heavy musculature. The being is not ring-shaped, but gives that impression because for some reason known best to itself it has been trying to swallow its tail.”
Mannon stared intently into the scanner, gave an incredulous grunt, then straightened up. “A vicious circle if ever I saw one,” he muttered, then added: “Is this why O’Mara is here? You suspect marbles missing?”
Conway did not think the question serious, and ignored it. He went on, “The growth is thickest where the mouth and tail of the patient come together, in fact it is so widespread in that area that it is nearly impossible to see the joint. Presumably this growth is painful or at least highly irritant, and an intolerable itch might explain why it is apparently biting its own tail. Alternatively, its present physical posture might be due to an involuntary muscular contraction brought about by the growth, a type of epileptic spasm..
“I like the second idea best,” Mannon broke in. “For the condition to spread from mouth to tail, or vice-versa, the jaws must have locked in that position for a considerable time.”
Conway nodded. He said, “Despite the artificial gravity equipment in the wreck I’ve established that the patient’s air, pressure and gravity requirements are very similar to our own. Those gill openings back of the head and not yet reached by the growth are breathing orifices. The smaller openings, partly covered by flaps of muscle, are ears. So the patient can hear and breathe, but not eat. You all agree that freeing the mouth would be the first step?”
Mannon and O’Mara nodded. Prilicla spread four manipulators in a gesture which meant the same thing, and Colonel Skempton stared woodenly at the ceiling, very obviously wondering what he was doing here? Without further delay, Conway began to tell him.
While Mannon and he decided on the operative procedure, the Colonel and Dr. Prilicla were to handle the communications angle. By using its empathic faculty the GLNO could listen for a reaction while a couple of Skempton’s Translator technicians ran sound tests. Once the patient’s audio range was known a Translator could be modified to suit it, and the being would be able to help them in the diagnosis and treatment of its complaint.
“This place is crowded enough already,” the Colonel said stiffly. “I’ll handle this myself.” He strode across to the intercom to order the equipment he needed. Conway turned to O’Mara.
“Don’t tell me, let me guess,” the psychologist began before Conway could speak. “I’m to have the easiest bit-that of reassuring the patient once we’re able to talk to it, and convincing it that your pair of butchers mean it no harm.”
“That’s it exactly,” Conway said, grinning, and returned all his attention to the patient.
Prilicla reported that the survivor was unaware of them and that the emotional radiation was so slight that it suggested the being was both unconscious and close to physical exhaustion. Despite this, Conway warned them all against touching the patient.
Conway had seen malignant growths in his time, both terrestrial and otherwise, but this one took a lot of beating.
Like a tough, fibrous bark of a tree it completely covered the joint between the patient’s mouth and tail. And to add to their trouble the bone structure of the jaw, with which they would be chiefly concerned during the operation, could not be seen plainly with the scanner because of the fact that the growth itself was nearly opaque to X rays. The being’s eyes were also somewhere under the thick, obscuring shell, which was another reason for going carefully.