Silvery fur puckered into irregular waves along its flanks in a way, she had
learned from observing Tarsedth, that indicated anger and impatience. It
continued. “From what I’ve heard of you, Nurse, you are the type who will
already have studied the available Hudlar material and will be eager to make a
contribution. Don’t even try. This is a special project of Diagnostician Conway,
we are breaking new surgical ground here, so your’knowledge is already out of
date. Except for those times when you are required by O’Mara for AUGL-One
Sixteen, you will do nothing but watch, listen, and occasionally perform a few
simple duties at the direction of the more experienced nurses or myself.
“I would not want to be embarrassed,” she ended, “by you producing a miracle
cure on your first day.”
It was easy to pick out her FROB classmate from among the other nurses on
duty—they were either Kelgian DBLFs or Melfan ELNTs—and even easier to tell it
apart from all the FROB patients. She could scarcely believe that there was such
a horrifying difference between a mature and an aged Hudlar.
Her classmate’s speaking membrane vibrated quietly on her close approach. It
said, “I see you’ve survivedyour first encounter with Segroth. Don’t worry about
the Charge Nurse; a Kelgian with authority is even less charming than one
without. If you do exactly as it tells you, everything will be fine. I’m glad to
see a friendly, familiar face in the ward.”
It was an odd thing to say, Cha Thrat thought, because Hudlars did not possess
faces as such. But this one was trying hard to reassure her and she was grateful
for that. It had not, however, called he’r by name, and whether the omission was
deliberate or due to an oversight she did not know. Perhaps the Hudlars and
Chalders had something in common besides great strength. Until she was sure that
their names could be used without giving offense, they could call each other
“Nurse” or “Hey, you!”
“I’m spraying and sponging-off at the moment,” the Hudlar trainee said. “Would
you like to strap on a spare nutrient tank and follow me around? You can meet
some of our patients.”
Without waiting for her reply, it went on. “This one you won’t be able to talk
to because its speaking membrane has been muffled so that the sounds it makes
will not distress the other patients and staff. It is in considerable discomfort
that does not respond very well to the pain-killing medication, and, in any
case, it is incapable of coherent speech.”
It was immediately obvious that this was not a well Hudlar. Its six great
tentacles, which normally supported the heavy trunk in an upright position for
the whole of its waking and sleeping life, hung motionless over the sides of its
support cradle like rotted tree trunks. The hard patches of callus—the knuckles
on which it walked while its digits were curled inward to protect them against
contact with the ground—were discolored, dry, and cracking. The digits
themselves, usually so steadyand precise in their movements, were twitching in
continual spasm.
Large areas of its back and flanks were caked with partially absorbed nutrient
paint, which would have to be washed off before the next meal could be sprayed
on. As she watched, a milky perspiration was forming on its underside and
dripping into the suction pan under its cradle.
“What’s wrong with it?” Cha Thrat asked. “Can it, is it being cured?”
“Old age,” the nurse said harshly. In a more controlled and clinical tone it
went on. “We Hudlars are an energy-hungry species with a greatly elevated
metabolic rate. With advancing age it is the food absorption and waste
elimination mechanisms, both of which are normally under voluntary control, that
are first to suffer progressive degeneration. Would you respray this area as
soon as I’ve washed off the dried food, please?”
“Of course,” Cha Thrat said.
“This in turn causes a severe impairment in the circulation to the limbs,” the
Hudlar went on, “leading to increasing deterioration in the associated nerve and
muscle systems. The eventual result is general paralysis, necrosis of the limb
extremities, and termination.”
It used the sponge briskly and moved clear to enable Cha Thrat to apply fresh