told everyone who would listen my feelings, and reminded them of my utter lack
of competence in relation to the level of surgery practiced here. I was not
pretending to modesty. I really was, and am, ignorant. Because I was warrior
level, I could not be forced, but it was strongly suggested by my colleagues and
local rulers that I come.”
“Ignorance can be a temporary condition,” O’Mara said. “And it must have been a
pretty strong suggestion. Why was it made?”
“In my hospital I am respected but not liked,” she went on, hoping that the
anger in her voice was not reproduced by the translator. “In spite of being one
of the first female warrior-surgeons, an innovation in itself, 1 am a
traditionalist. I will not tolerate the reduced standards of professional
behavior that are becoming increasingly prevalent, and I am critical of
colleagues and superiors alike if they become lax. It was suggested to me that
if I did not take advantage of the opportunity being offered by the
Earth-humans, there would be a continuing increase of the nonmaterial pressures
associated with my work as a surgeon. The situation was too complex for me to
describe briefly, but my rulers made suggestions to the Monitor Corps, who were
very reassuring and persuasive. The Earth-humans pulled while my superiors
pushed, and I am here.
“Now that I am here,” she ended, “I shall use my limited abilities, under
direction, as best I can.”
O’Mara was looking at the ship ruler now. Chiang had taken its hand away from
its eyes, but its pink face was a deeper color than she had ever seen before.
“The Sommaradvan contact was widening nicely,” Chiang said, “but it was at a
delicate stage. We didn’t | want to risk refusing what seemed to them to be such
a small favor. And anyway, we were pretty sure that they were giving Cha Thrat a
hard time and we—I—thought she would be happier here.”
“So,” O’Mara said, still looking at the ship ruler, whose face was now an even
deeper shade of pink, “we have not only a political appointee but an unwilling
volunteer and possibly a misfit. And, out of a misplaced sense of gratitude, you
tried to conceal the true situation from me. That’s great!”
It turned to face Cha Thrat again and said, “I appreciate your truthfulness.
This material will be useful in the preparation of your psych profile but it
does not, in spite of what your misguided friend may think, preclude your
acceptance by the hospital provided the other requirements are satisfied. Those
you will learn during training, which will begin first thing in our morning.”
The words were coming faster than before, as if O’Mara’s time for talking were
limited, as ;t went on. “In the outer office you will be given an information
package, maps, class schedules, general rules, and advice, all printed in the
most widely used language on Sommar-adva. Some of our trainees will tell you
that their first and most difficult test was finding their rooms.
“Good luck, Cha Thrat.”
As she was picking her way between the alien furniture toward the door, O’Mara
was saying “I’m primarily interested in your postoperative emotional condition,
Major Chiang. Have there been any waking fears, recurrent nightmares,
unexplained episodes of tension, with or without accompanying perspiration,
associated with the operation? Any feelings of drowning, strangulation,
increasing and unreasoning fear of the dark?…”
Truly, she thought, O’Mara was a great wizard.
In the outer office, the Earth-human Braithwaite gave verbal as well as printed
advice together with a white band to wear on one of her upper arms. It signified
to all that she was a trainee, it said, laughing, and likely to become confused
and lost. Should that happen she could ask any member of the hospital staff for
directions. It, too, ended by wishing her well.
Finding the way to her room was a nightmare worse, she was sure, than any that
Chiang might be relating to O’Mara. She needed directions on two occasions, and
each time she asked groups of the silver-furred Kelgians who seemed to be
everywhere in the hospital, rather than any of the great, lumbering monsters or