 Chapter 10 of Star Surgeon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Star Surgeon by Alan E. Norse. Read by Scott D. Farquhar. Chapter 10. The Boomerang Clue. It was a virus beyond doubt. The electron microscope told them that, now that they had the substance isolated and could examine it. In the culture tubes in the Lancet's incubators, it would begin to grow nicely, and then falter and die. But when guinea pigs were inoculated in the ship's laboratory, the substance proved its virulence. The animals injected with tiny bits of the substance grew sick within hours and very quickly died. The call to the hospital ship was cancelled, as the three doctors worked in feverish excitement. Here at last was something they could grapple with, something so common among the races of the galaxy that the doctors felt certain that they could cope with it. Very few, if any, higher life forms existed that did not have some sort of submicroscopic parasite afflicting them. Bacterial infection was a threat on every inhabited world, and the viruses, the tiniest of all submicroscopic organisms, were the most difficult and dangerous of them all. And yet, virus plagues had been stopped before, and they could be stopped again. Jack radioed down to the planet's surface that the diagnosis had been made. As soon as the proper medications could be prepared, the doctors would land to begin treatment. There was a new flicker of hopefulness in the Brookhians' response and an appeal to hurry. With renewed energy, the doctors went back to the lab to start working on the new data. But trouble continued to dog them. This was no ordinary virus. It proved resistant to every one of the antibiotics and antiviral agents in the Lancet's stock room. No drug seemed to affect it, and its molecular structure was different from any virus that had ever been recorded before. If one of the drugs would only just slow it up a little, we'd be ahead, Tiger said in perplexity. We don't have anything that even touches it, not even the purified globulins. What about antibodies from the infected people, Jack suggested? In every virus disease I've ever heard of, the victim's own body starts making antibodies against the invading virus. If enough antibodies are made fast enough, the virus dies and the patient is immune from then on. Well, these people don't seem to be making any antibodies at all, Tiger said. At least not as far as I can see. If they were, at least some of them would be recovering from the disease. So far not a single one has recovered once the thing started. They all just go ahead and die. I wonder, Dow said, if Fuzzy had any defense. Jack looked up. How do you mean? Well, Fuzzy was infected, we know that. He might have died too if we hadn't caught it in time, but as it worked out he didn't. In fact, he looks pretty healthy right now. That's fine for Fuzzy, Jack said impatiently. But I don't see how we can push the whole population of 31 brocker 7 through a virus filter. They're flesh and blood creatures. That's not what I mean, Dow said. Maybe Fuzzy's body developed antibodies against the virus while he was infected. Remember, he doesn't have a rigid body structure like we do. He's mostly just basic protein, and he can synthesize pretty much anything he wants to or needs to. Jack blinked. It's an idea, at least. Is there any way we can get some of his body fluid away from him? Without getting bit, I mean? No problem there, Dow said. He can regenerate pretty fast if he has enough of the right kind of food. He won't miss an ounce or two of excess tissue. He took a beaker over to Fuzzy's platform and began squeezing off a little blob of pink material. Fuzzy seemed to sense what Dow wanted. Obligingly, he thrust out a little pseudopod which Dow pinched off into the beaker. With the addition of a small amount of saline solution, the tissue dissolved into thin pink suspension. In the laboratory, they found two or three of the guinea pigs in the last stages of the infection and injected them with a tiny bit of the pink solution. The effect was almost unbelievable. Within 20 minutes, all of the injected animals began to perk up, their eyes brighter, nibbling at the food in their cages, while the ones that had not been injected got sicker and sicker. Well, there's our answer, Jack said eagerly. If we can get some of this stuff injected into our friends down the below, we may be able to protect the healthy ones from getting the plague and cure the sick ones as well, if we still have enough time, that is. They had landing permission from the Brachian spokesman within minutes. And an hour later, the Lancet made an orderly landing on a newly repaved landing field near one of the central cities on the 7th planet of 31 Brucker. Tiger and Jack had obviously not exaggerated the strange appearance of the towns and cities on this plague-ridden planet, and Dao was appalled at the ravages of the disease that they had come to fight. Only one out of ten of the Brachians was still uninfected, and another three out of the ten were clearly in the late stages of the disease, walking about blankly and blindly, stumbling into things in their paths, falling to the ground and lying mute and helpless until death came to release them. Under the glaring red sun, weary parties of stretch-bearers went about the silent streets, moving their grim cargo out to the mass graves at the edge of the city. The original spokesman who had come up to the Lancet was dead, but another had taken his place as negotiator with the doctors, an older, thinner Brachian who looked as if he carried the total burden of his people on his shoulders. He greeted them eagerly at the landing field. You have found a solution, he cried. You have found a way to turn the tide. But hurry, every moment now is precious. During the landing procedures, Dao had worked to prepare enough of the precious antibody suspension with Fuzzy's cooperation to handle a large number of inoculations. By the time the ship touched down, he had a dozen flasks and several hundred syringes ready. Hundreds of the unafflicted people were crowding around the ship, staring in open wonder as Dao, Jack, and Tiger came down the ladder and went into close conference with the spokesman. It took some time to explain to the spokesman why they could not begin then and there with the mass inoculations against the plague. First, they needed test cases in order to make certain that what they thought would work in theory actually produced the desired results. Controls were needed to be certain that the antibody suspension alone was bringing about the changes seen and not something else. At last, orders went out from the spokesman. Two hundred uninfected Bruckeans were admitted to a large roped-off area near the ship and another two hundred in late stages of the disease were led stumbling into another closed area. Preliminary skin tests of the antibody suspension showed no sign of untoward reaction. Dao began filling syringes while Tiger and Jack started inoculating the two groups. If it works with these cases, it will be simple to immunize the whole population, Tiger said. From the amounts we used on the guinea pigs, it looks as if only tiny amounts are needed. We may even be able to train the Bruckeans to give the injections themselves. And if it works, we ought to have a brand new medical service contract ready for signature with Hospital Earth, Jack added eagerly. It won't be long before we have those stars you wait and see. If we can only get this done fast enough. They worked feverishly, particularly with the group of terminal cases. Many were dying even as the shots were being given, while the first symptoms of the disease were appearing in some of the unafflicted ones. Swiftly, Tiger and Jack went from patient to patient while Dao kept check of the names, numbers, and locations of those that were inoculated. And even before they were finished with the inoculations, it was apparent that they were taking effect. Not one of the infected patients died after inoculation was completed. The series took three hours, and by the time the 400 doses were administered, one thing seemed certain, that the antibody was checking the deadly march of the disease in some way. The Bruckean spokesman was so excited he could hardly contain himself. He wanted to start bringing in the rest of the population at once. We've almost exhausted this first batch of material, Dao told him. We will have to prepare more, but we will waste time trying to move a whole planet's population here. Get a dozen aircraft ready and a dozen healthy, intelligent workers to help us. We can show them how to use the material and let them go out to the other population centers all at once. Back aboard the ship, they started preparing a larger quantity of the antibody suspension. Fuzzy had regenerated back to normal weight again, and much to Dao's delight had been splitting off small segments of pink protoplasm in a circle all around him, as though anticipating further demands on his resources. A quick test run showed that the antibody was also being regenerated. Fuzzy was voraciously hungry, but the material in the second batch was still as powerful as in the first. The doctors were almost ready to go back down, loaded with enough inoculum and syringes to equip themselves and a dozen field workers when Jack suddenly stopped what he was doing and cocked an ear toward the entrance lock. What's wrong, Dao said. Listen a minute. They stopped to listen. I don't hear anything, Tiger said. Jack nodded. I know, that's what I mean. They were hollering their heads off when we came back aboard. Why so quiet now? He crossed over to the view screen scanning the field below and flipped on the switch. For a moment he just stared. Then he said, Come here a minute. I don't like the looks of this at all. Dao and Tiger crowded up to the screen. What's the matter, Tiger said? I don't see—wait a minute. Yes, you'd better look again, Jack said. What do you think, Dao? We'd better get down there fast, Dao said, and see what's going on. It looks to me like we've got a tiger by the tail. They climbed down the ladder once again, with the antibody flasks and sterile syringes strapped to their backs, but this time the greeting was different from before. The Brachian spokesmen and the others who had not yet been inoculated drew back from them in terror as they stepped to the ground. Before, the people on the field had crowded in eagerly around the ship. Now they were standing in silent groups, staring at the doctors fearfully and muttering among themselves. But the doctors could see only the inoculated people in the two roped-off areas, off to the right among the infected Brachians who had received the antibody. There were no new dead, but there was no change for the better, either. The sick creatures drifted about aimlessly, milling like animals in a cage, their faces blank, their jaws slack, hands wandering foolishly. Not one of them had begun reacting normally. Not one showed any sign of recognition or recovery. But the real horror was on the other side of the field. Here were the healthy ones, the uninfected ones who had received preventative inoculations. A few hours before they had been left standing in quiet, happy groups, talking among themselves, laughing and joking. But now they weren't talking anymore. They stared across at the doctors with slack faces and dazed eyes, their feet shuffling aimlessly in the dust. All were alive, but only half alive. The intelligence and alertness were gone from their faces. They were like the empty shells of the creatures they had been a few hours before, indistinguishable from the infected creatures in the other compound. Jack turned to the Brachian spokesman in alarm. What's happened here? he asked. What's become of the ones we inoculated? Where have you taken them? The spokesman shrank back as though afraid Jack might reach out to touch him. Taking them, he cried. We have moved none of them. Those are the ones you poisoned with your needles. What have you done to make them like this? It must be some sort of temporary reaction to the injection, Jack faltered. There was nothing that we used that could possibly have given them the disease. We only used the substance to help them fight it off. The Brachian was shaking his fist angrily. It's no reaction, it is the plague itself. What kind of evil are you doing? You came here to help us and instead you bring us more misery. Do we not have enough of that to please you? Swiftly the doctors began examining the patients in both enclosures and on each side they found the same picture. One by one they checked the ones that had previously been untouched by the plague and found only the sagging jaws and idiot stares. There's no sense examining every one, Tiger said finally. They're all the same, every one. But this is impossible, Jack said, glancing apprehensively at the growing mob of angry Brachians outside the stockades. What could have happened? What have we done? I don't know, Tiger said, but whatever we've done has turned into a boomerang. We knew that the antibody might not work and the disease might just go right ahead but we didn't anticipate anything like this. Maybe some foreign protein got into the batch, Dow said. Tiger shook his head. It wouldn't behave like this and we were careful getting it ready. All we've done was inject an antibody against a specific virus. All it could have done was to kill the virus but these people act as though they're infected now. But they're not dying, Dow said, and the sick ones we injected stopped dying too. So what do we do now, Jack said? Get one of these that changed like this aboard ship and go over him with a fine-toothed comb. We've got to find out what's happened. He led one of the stricken Brachians by the hand like a mindless dummy across the field toward the little group where the spokesman and his party stood. The crowd on the field were moving in closer. An angry cry went up when Dow touched the sick creature. You'll have to keep this crowd under control, Dow said to the spokesman. We're going to take this one aboard the ship and examine him to see what this reaction could be but this mob is beginning to sound dangerous. They're afraid, the spokesman said. They want to know what you've done to them, what this new curse is that you bring in your syringes. It's not a curse but something has gone wrong. We need to learn what in order to deal with it. The people are afraid and angry, the spokesman said. I don't know how long I can control them. And indeed the attitude of the crowd around the ship was very strange. They were not just fearful, they were terrified. As the doctors walked back to the ship leading the stricken Brachian behind them, the people shrank back with dreadful cries holding up their hands as if to ward off some monstrous evil. Before in the worst throes of the plague there had been no sign of this kind of reaction. The people had seemed apathetic and miserable, resigned hopelessly to their fate but now they were reacting in abject terror. It almost seemed that they were more afraid of these walking shells of their former selves than they were of the disease itself. But as the doctors started up the ladder toward the entrance lock the crowd surged in toward them with fists raised in anger. We'd better get helpin' fast, Jack said as he slammed the entrance lock closed behind them. I don't like the looks of this a bit. Dal, we'd better see what we can learn from this poor creature here. As Tiger headed for the earphones Dal and Jack went to work once again to bring the blood and other body fluids from the striccan brachian. But now, incredibly, the results of their tests were quite different from those they had obtained before. The blood sugar and protein determinations fell into the pattern they had originally expected for a creature of this type. Even more surprising, the level of the antibody against the plague virus was high, far higher than it could have been from the tiny amount that was injected into the creature. They must have been making it themselves, Dal said and our inoculation was just the straw that broke the camel's back. All of those people must have been on the brink of symptoms of the infection and all we did was add to the natural defenses they were already making. Then why did the symptoms appear, Jack said? If that's true, we should have been helping them and look at them now. Tiger appeared at the door, scowling. You've got trouble now, he said. I can't get through to a hospital ship. In fact, I can't get a message out at all. These people are jamming our radios. But why, Dal said? I don't know, but take a look outside there. Through the view screen, it seemed as though the whole field around the ship had filled up with the crowd. The first reaction of terror now seemed to have given way to blind fury. The people were shouting angrily, waving their clenched fists at the ship as the spokesman tried to hold them back. Then there was a resounding crash from somewhere below and the ship lurched, throwing the doctors to the floor. They staggered to their feet as another blow jolted the ship and another. Let's get a screen up, Tiger shouted. Jack, get the engines going. They're trying to board us and I don't think it'll be much fun if they ever break in. In the control room, they threw the switches that activated a powerful protective energy screen around the ship. It was a device that was carried by all GPP ships as a means of protection against physical attack. When activated, an energy screen was virtually impregnable, but it could only be used briefly. The power it required placed an enormous drain on a ship's energy resources and a year's nuclear fuel could be consumed in a few hours. Now the screen served its purpose. The ship, steadied, still vibrating from the last assault and the noise from below ceased abruptly. But when Jack threw the switches to start the engines, nothing happened at all. Look at that, he cried, staring at the motionless dials. They're jamming our electrical system somehow. I can't get any turnover. Try it again, Tiger said. We've got to get out of here. If they break in, we're done for. If they break through the screen, dial said. Not as long as it lasts, but we can't keep it up indefinitely. Once again they tried the radio equipment. There was no response but the harsh static of the jamming signal from the ground below. It's no good, Tiger said finally. We're stuck here and we can't even call for help. You'd think if they were so scared of us, they'd be glad to see us go. I think there's more to it than that, dial said thoughtfully. This whole business has been crazy from the start. This just fits in with all the rest. He picked Fuzzy off his perch and set him on his shoulder as if to protect him from the unsuspected threat. Maybe they're afraid of us, I don't know, but I think they're afraid of something else a whole lot worse. There was nothing to be done but wait and stare hopelessly at the mass of notes and records they had collected on the people of 31 Brooker VII and the plague that afflicted them. Until now the Lancet's crew had been too busy to stop and piece the data together to try to see the picture as a whole. But now there was ample time and the realization of what had been happening here began to dawn on them. They had followed the well-established principles step by step in studying these incredible people and nothing had come out as it should. In theory the steps they had taken should have yielded the answer. They had come to a planet where an entire population was threatened with a dreadful disease. They had identified the disease, found and isolated the virus that caused it, and then developed an antibody that effectively destroyed the virus in the laboratory. But when they had tried to apply the antibody in the afflicted patients the response had been totally unexpected. They had stopped the march of death among those they had inoculated and had produced instead a condition that the people seemed to dread far more than death. Let's face it, Dow said. We bungled it somehow. We should have had help here right from the start. I don't know where we went wrong but we've done something. Well, it wasn't your fault, Jack said gloomily. If we had the right diagnosis this wouldn't have happened. And I still can't see the diagnosis. All I've been able to come up with is a nice mess. We're missing something, that's all Dow said. The information is all here. We just aren't reading it right somehow. Somewhere in here is a key to the whole thing and we just can't see it. They went back to the data again going through it step by step. This was Jack Alvarez's specialty, the technique of diagnosis. The ability to take all the available information and trace and about its illness and piece it together into a pattern that made sense. Dow could see that Jack was now bitterly angry with himself yet at every turn he seemed to strike another obstacle, some fact that didn't jibe, a missing fragment here, a wrong answer there. With Dow and Tiger helping, he started back over the sequence of events trying to make sense out of them and came up squarely against a blank wall. The things they had done should have worked. Instead, they had failed. A specific antibody used against a specific virus should have destroyed the virus or slowed its progress and there seemed to be no rational explanation for the dreadful response of the uninfected ones who had been inoculated for protection. And as the doctors sifted through the data, the Brachian they had brought up from the enclosure sat staring off into space, making small noises with his mouth and moving his arms aimlessly. After a while, they led him back to a bunk, gave him a medicine for sleep and left him snoring gently. Another hour passed as they poured over the notes, with Tiger stopping from time to time to mop perspiration from his forehead. All three were aware of the moving clock hands, marking off the minutes that the force screen could hold out. And then Dow Timgara was digging into the pile of papers, searching frantically for something he could not find. That first report we got, he said hoarsely, there was something in the very first information we ever saw on this planet. You mean the confederations data? It's in the radio log. Tiger pulled open the thick logbook. But what? It's there, plain as day, I'm sure of it, Dow said. He read through the report swiftly until he came to the last paragraph, a two-lined description of the largest creatures the original exploration ship had found on the planet, described by them as totally unintelligent and only observed on a few occasions in the course of the exploration. Dow read it and his hands were trembling as he handed the report to Jack. I knew the answer was there, he said. Take a look at that again and think about it for a minute. Jack read it through. I don't see what you mean, he said. I mean that I think we've made a horrible mistake, Dow said, and I think I see now what it was. We've had this whole thing exactly 100% backward from the start and that explains everything that's happened here. Tiger peered over Jack's shoulder at the report. Backward? As backward as we could get it, Dow said. We've assumed all along that these flesh-and-blood creatures down there were the ones that were calling us for help because of a virus plague that was attacking and killing them. All right, look at it the other way. Just suppose that the intelligent creature that called us for help was the virus and that those flesh-and-blood creatures down there with the blank stupid faces are the real plague we ought to have been fighting all along. End of chapter 10. Chapter 11 of Star Surgeon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Star Surgeon by Alan E. Norse. Read by Scott D. Farquhar. Chapter 11. Dow Breaks a Promise. For a moment the others just stared at their Garvian crewmate, then Jack Alvarez snorted. You'd better go back and get some rest, he said. This has been a tougher grind than I thought. You're beginning to show the strain. No, I mean it, Dow said earnestly. I think that is exactly what's been happening. Tiger looked at him with concern. Dow, this is no time for double-talk and nonsense. It's not nonsense, Dow said. It's the answer if you'll only stop and think. An intelligent virus, Jack said. Who ever heard of such a thing? There's never been a life-form like that reported since the beginning of the galactic exploration. But that doesn't mean there couldn't be one, Dow said. And how would an exploratory crew ever identify it if it existed? How would they ever even suspect it? They'd miss it completely unless it happened to get into trouble itself and try to call for help. Dow jumped up in excitement. Look, I've seen a dozen articles showing how such a thing was theoretically possible. A virus life-form with billions of submicroscopic parts acting together to form an intelligent colony. The only thing a virus creature would need that other intelligent creatures don't need would be some kind of host. Some sort of animal body to live in so that it could use its intelligence. It's impossible, Jack said scornfully. Why don't you give it up and get some rest? Here we sit with our feet in the fire and all you can do is dream up foolishness like this. I'm not so sure it's foolishness, Tiger Martin said slowly. Jack, maybe he's got something. A couple of things would fit that don't make sense at all. All sorts of things would fit, Dow said. The viruses we know have to have a host, some other life-form to live in. Usually they are parasites, damaging or destroying their hosts and giving nothing in return, but some set up real partnership housekeeping with their hosts so that both are better off. You mean a symbiotic relationship, Jack said. Of course, Dow said. Now suppose these virus creatures were intelligent and came from some other place looking for a new host they could live with. They wouldn't look for an intelligent creature, they would look for some unintelligent creature with a good, strong body that would be capable of doing all sorts of things if it only had an intelligence to guide it. Suppose these virus creatures found a simple-minded, unintelligent race on this planet and tried to set up a symbiotic relationship with it. The virus creature would need a host to provide a home and a food supply. Maybe they, in turn, could supply the intelligence to raise the host to a civilized level of life and performance. Wouldn't that be a fair basis for a sound partnership? Jack scratched his head doubtfully. And you're saying that these virus creatures came here after the exploratory ship had come and gone. They must have. Maybe they only came a few years ago, maybe only months ago. But when they tried to invade the unintelligent creatures the exploratory ship found here, they discovered that the new host's body couldn't tolerate them. His body reacted as if they were parasitic invaders and built up antibodies against them. And those body defenses were more than the virus could cope with. Dow pointed to the piles of notes on the desk. Don't you see how it all adds up? Right from the beginning, we've been assuming that these monkey-like creatures here on this planet were the dominant intelligent life forms. Anatomically, they were ordinary cellular creatures like you and me. And when we examined them, we expected to find the same sort of biochemical reactions we'd find with any such creatures. And all our results came out wrong because we were dealing with a combination of two creatures, the host and the virus. Maybe the creatures on 31 Brecker 7 were naturally blank-faced idiots before the virus came. Or maybe the virus was forced to damage some vital part just in order to fight back. But it was the virus that was being killed by its own host, not the other way around. Jack studied the idea no longer scornful. So you think the virus creature called for help hoping we could find some way to free them from the hosts that were killing them. And when Fuzzy developed a powerful antibody against them and we started using the stuff, Jack broke off, shaking his head in horror. Dal, if you're right, we were literally sluthering our own patients when we gave those injections down there. Exactly, Dal said. Is it any wonder they're so scared of us now? It must have looked like a deliberate attempt to wipe them out. And now they're afraid that we'll go get help and really move in against them. Tiger nodded. Which was precisely what we were planning if you stop to think about it. Maybe that was why they were so reluctant to tell us anything about themselves. Maybe they've already been mistaken for parasitic invaders before, wherever in the universe they came from. But if this is true, then we're really in a jam, Jack said. What can we possibly do for them? We can't even repair the damage that we've already done. What sort of treatment can we use? Dal shook his head. I don't know the answer to that one, but I do know we've got to find out if we're right. An intelligent virus creature has as much right to life as any other intelligent life form. If we've guessed right, then there's a lot that our intelligent friends down there haven't told us. Maybe there'll be some clue there. We've just got to face them with it and see what they say. Jack looked at the view screen at the angry mob milling around on the ground, held back from the ship by the energy screen. You mean just go out there and say, look, fellas, it was all a mistake. We didn't really mean to do it. He shook his head. Maybe you want to tell them, not me. Dal's right, though, Tiger said. We've got to contact them somehow. They aren't even responding to radio communication and they've scrambled our outside radio and fouled our drive mechanism somehow. We've got to settle this while we still have an energy screen. There was a long silence as the three doctors looked at each other. Then Dal stood up and walked over to the swinging platform. He lifted Fuzzy down onto his shoulder. It'll be all right, he said to Jack and Tiger, I'll go out. We had ribbons, Tiger protested. Dal shook his head. I don't think so, he said quietly. I don't think they'll touch me. They'll greet me with open arms when I go down there and they'll be eager to talk to me. Are you crazy? Jack cried, leaping to his feet. We can't let you go out there. Don't worry, Dal said. I know exactly what I'm doing. I'll be able to handle the situation, believe me. He hesitated a moment and gave Fuzzy a last nervous pat, settling him more firmly on his shoulder than he started down the corridor for the entrance lock. He had promised himself long before, many years before, that he would never do what he planned to do now. But now he knew that there was no alternative. The only other choice was to wait helplessly until the power failed and the protective screen vanished and the creatures on the ground outside tore the ship to pieces. As he stood in the airlock, waiting for the pressure to shift to outside normal, he lifted Fuzzy down into the crook of his arm and rubbed the little creature between the shoe-button eyes. You've got to back me up now, he whispered softly. It's been a long time, I know that, but I need help now. It's going to be up to you. Dow knew the subtle strength of his people's peculiar talent. From the moment he had stepped down to the ground the second time with Tiger and Jack, even with Fuzzy waiting back on the ship, he had felt the powerful wave of horror and fear and anger rising up from the Brachians, and he had glimpsed the awful idiot vacancy of the minds of the creatures in the enclosure, in whom the intelligent virus was already dead. This had required no effort, it just came naturally into his mind, and he had known instantly that something terrible had gone wrong. In the years on hospital earth he had carefully forced himself never to think in terms of his special talent. He had diligently screened off the impressions and emotions that struck at him constantly from his classmates and from others that he came in contact with. Above all, he had fought down the temptation to turn his power the other way, to use it to his own advantage. But now as the lock opened and he started down the ladder he closed his mind to everything else. Hugging Fuzzy close to his side he turned his mind into a single tight channel. He drove the thought out at the Brachians with all the power he could muster. I come in peace, I mean you no harm. I have good news, joyful news. You must be happy to see me, eager to welcome me. He could feel the wave of anger and fear strike him like a physical blow as soon as he appeared in the entrance lock. The cries rose up in a wave and the crowd surged in toward the ship. With the energy field released there was nothing to stop them. They were tripping over each other to reach the bottom of the ladder first shouting threats and waving angry fists reaching up to grab at Dal's ankles as he came down. And then as if by magic the cries died in the throats of the ones closest to the ladder. The angry fists unclenched and extended into outstretched hands to help him down to the ground. As though an ever widening wave was spreading out around him the aura of peace and goodwill struck the people in the crowd. And as it spread the anger faded from the faces the hard lines gave way to puzzled frowns then to smiles. Dal channeled his thoughts more rigidly and watched the effect spread out from him like ripples in a pond as anger and suspicion and fear melted away to be replaced by confidence and trust. Dal had seen it occur a thousand times before. He could remember his trips on Garvian trading ships with his father when the traders with their fuzzy pink friends on their shoulders faced cold hostile suspicious buyers. It had seemed almost miraculous the way the suspicions melted away and the hostile faces became friendly as the buyer's minds became receptive to bargaining and trading. He had seen it happen on the teagar with Tiger and Jack and it was no coincidence that throughout the galaxy the Garvians always accompanied by their fuzzy friends had assumed the position of power and wealth and leadership that they had. And now once again the pattern was being repeated the Brachians who surrounded Dal were smiling and talking eagerly they made no move to touch him or harm him. The spokesman they had talked to before was there at his elbow and Dal heard himself saying we have found the answer to your problem we know now the true nature of your race the nature of your intelligence you were afraid that we would find out but your fears were groundless we will not turn our knowledge against you we only want to help you. An expression almost like despair had crossed the spokesman's face as Dal spoke now he said it would be good if we could believe you but how can we we have been driven for so long and come so far you would seek to wipe us out as parasites and disease carriers Dal saw the Brachian creatures eyes upon him saw the frail body tremble in the lips move but he knew now that the intelligence that formed the words and the thoughts behind them the intelligence that made the lips speak the words was the intelligence of a creature far different from the one he was looking at a creature formed of billions of microscopic units embedded in every one of the Brachian's body cells trapped there now and helpless against the antibody reaction that sought to destroy them this was the intelligence that had called for help in its desperate plight but had not quite dared to trust its rescuers with the whole truth but was this strange virus creature good or evil hostile or friendly Dal's hand lay on Fuzzy's tiny body but he felt no quiver no vibration of fear he looked across the face of the crowd trying with all his strength to open his mind to the feelings and emotions of these people often enough with Fuzzy nearby he had felt the harsh impact of hostile cruel brutal minds even when the owners of those minds had tried to conceal their feelings behind smiles and pleasant words but here there was no sign of the sickening feeling that kind of mind produced no hint of hostility or evil he shook his head why should we want to destroy you he said you are good and peaceful we know that why should we harm you all you want is a place to live and a host to join with you in a mutually valuable partnership you did not tell us everything you could about yourselves and as a result we have destroyed some of you in our clumsy attempts to learn your true nature they talked then and bit by bit the story came out the life form was indeed a virus unimaginably ancient and intelligent throughout millions of years of its history driven by overpopulation a pure culture of the virus had long ago departed from their original native hosts and traveled like encapsulated spores across space from a distant galaxy the trip had been long and exhausting the virus creatures had retained only the minimum strength necessary to establish themselves in a new host some unintelligent creature living on an uninhabited planet a creature that could benefit by the great intelligence of the virus creatures and provide food and shelter for both finally after thousands of years of searching they had found this planet with its dull-minded fruit-gathering inhabitants these creatures had seemed perfect as hosts and the virus creatures had thought their long search for a perfect partner was finally at an end it was not until they had expended the last dregs of their energy in anchoring themselves into the cells and tissues of their new hosts that they discovered to their horror that the host creatures could not tolerate them unlike their original hosts the bodies of these creatures began developing deadly antibodies that attacked the virus invaders in their desperate attempts to hold on and fight back the virus creatures had destroyed vital centers in the new hosts and one by one they had begun to die there was not enough energy left for the virus creatures to detach themselves and move on without some way to stem the onslaught of the antibodies they were doomed to total destruction we were afraid to tell you doctors the truth the spokesman said as we wandered and searched we discovered that creatures like ourselves were extreme rarities in the universe that most creatures similar to us were mindless unintelligent parasites that struck down their hosts and destroyed them wherever we went life forms of your kind regarded us as disease bears and their doctors taught them ways to destroy us we had hoped that from you we might find a way to save ourselves then you unleashed on us the one weapon we could not fight but not maliciously Dao said only because we did not understand and now that we do there may be a way to help a difficult way but at least a way the antibodies themselves can be neutralized but it may take our biochemists and virologists and all their equipment months or even years to develop and synthesize the proper antidote the spokesman looked at Dao and turned away with a hopeless gesture then it is too late after all he said we are dying too fast even those of us who have not been affected so far are beginning to feel the early symptoms of the antibody attack he smiled sadly and reached out to stroke the small pink creature on Dao's arm your people too have a partner I see we envy you Dao felt a movement on his arm and looked down at fuzzy he had always taken his little friend for granted but now he thought of the feeling of emptiness and loss that had come across him when fuzzy had been almost killed he had often wondered just what fuzzy might be like if his almost fluid infinitely adaptable physical body had only been endowed with intelligence he had wondered what kind of creature fuzzy might be if he were able to use his remarkable structure with the guidance of an intelligent mind behind it he felt another movement on his arm and his eyes widened as he stared down at his little friend a moment before there had been a single 3 inch pink creature on his elbow but now there were two each just one half the size of the original as Dao watched one of the two drew away from the other creeping in to snuggle closer to Dao's side and a pair of shoe-button eyes appeared and blinked up at him trustingly but the other creature was moving down his arm straining out toward the Brachian Spokesman Dao realized instantly what was happening he started to draw back but something stopped him deep in his mind he could sense a gentle voice reassuring him saying it's alright there is nothing to fear no harm will come to me these creatures need help and this is the way to help them he saw the Brachian reach out a trembling hand the tiny pink creature that had separated from Fuzzy seemed almost to leap across to the outstretched hand and then the Spokesman held him close and the new Fuzzy shivered happily the virus creatures had found a host here was the ideal kind of body for their intelligence to work with and mold a host where antibody formation could be perfectly controlled Dao knew now that the problem had been solved once before when the virus creature had reached Fuzzy on the ship if they had only waited a little longer they would have seen Fuzzy recover from his illness a different creature entirely than before already the new creature was dividing again with half going on to the next of the Brachians to a submicroscopic virus the body of the host would not have to be large soon there would be a sufficient number of hosts to serve the virus creatures needs forever as he started back up the ladder to the ship Dao knew that the problem on 31 Bracher 7 had found a happy and permanent solution back in the control room Dao related what had happened from beginning to end there was only one detail that he concealed he could not bring himself to tell Tiger and Jack of the true nature of his relationship with Fuzzy of the odd power over the emotions of others that Fuzzy's presence gave him he could tell by their faces that they realized that he was leaving something out they had watched him go down to face a bloodthirsty mob and had seen that mob become docile as lambs as though by magic clearly they could not understand what had happened yet they did not ask him so it was Fuzzy's idea to volunteer as a new host for the creatures Jack said Dao nodded I knew he could reproduce of course he said every Garvian has a Fuzzy and whenever a new Garvian is born the father's Fuzzy always splits so that half can join the newborn child it's like the division of a cell within hours the Fuzzy that stayed down there will have divided to provide enough protoplasm for every one of the surviving intelligent Brachians and your diagnosis was the right one Jack said we'll see Dao said tomorrow we'll know better but clearly the problem had been solved the next day there was an excited conference between the spokesmen and the doctors on the Lancet the Brachians had elected to maintain the same host body as before they had gotten used to it with the small pink creatures serving as a shelter to protect them against the deadly antibodies they could live in peace and security but they were eager before the Lancet disembarked to sign a full medical service contract with the doctors from hospital earth a contract was signed subject only to final acceptance and ratification by the hospital earth officials now that their radio was free again the doctors jubilantly prepared a full account of the problem on thirty one broker and its solution and dispatched the news of the new contract to the first relay station on its way back to hospital earth then, weary to the point of collapse they retired for the first good sleep in days eagerly awaiting an official response from hospital earth on the completed case and the contract it ought to wipe out any black mark doctor tanner has against any of us jack said happily and especially in dowell's case he grinned at the red doctor this one has been yours all the way you pulled it out of the fire after i flubbed it completely and you're going to get the credit if i have anything to say about it we should all get credit dowell said a new contract isn't signed every day of the year but the way we all fumbled our way into it earth shouldn't pay much attention to it anyway but dowell knew that he was only throwing up his habitual shield to guard against disappointment traditionally a new contract meant a star rating for each of the crew that brought it in all through medical school dowell had read the reports of other patrol ships that had secured new contracts with uncontacted planets and he had seen the fanfare and honor that were heaped on the doctors from those ships and for the first time since he had entered medical school years before dowell now allowed himself to hope that his goal was in sight he wanted it to be a star surgeon more than anything else it was the one thing that he had wanted and worked for since the cruel days when the plague had swept his homeland destroying his mother and leaving his father an ailing cripple and since his assignment aboard the one thought had filled his mind to turn in the scarlet collar and cuff in return for the cape and silver star of the full-fledged physician in the red service of surgery always before there had been the half-conscious dread that something would happen that in the end after all the work the silver star would still remain just out of reach that somehow he would never quite get it but now there could be no question even black doctor tanner could not deny a new contract the crew of the lancet would be called back to hospital earth for a full report on the newly contacted race and their days as probationary doctors in the general practice patrol would be over after they had slipped themselves out the doctors prepared the ship for launching and made their farewells to the brookian spokesman when the contract is ratified jack said a survey ship will come here they will have all of the information that we have gathered and they will spend many months gathering more tell them everything they want to know don't conceal anything because once they have completed their survey any general practice patrol ship in the galaxy will be able to answer a call for help and have the information they need to serve you they delayed launching hour by hour waiting for a response from hospital earth but the radio was silent they thought of a dozen reasons why the message might have been delayed but the radio silence still continued finally they strapped down and lifted the ship from the planet still waiting for a response when it finally came there was no message of congratulations nor even any acknowledgement of the new contract instead there was only a terse message proceed to reference point 43621 section 19 and stand by for inspection party tiger took the message and read it in silence then handed it to dow what do they say jack said read it dow said they don't mention the contract just an inspection party inspection party is that the best they can do for us they don't sound too enthusiastic tiger said at least you'd think they could acknowledge receipt of our report it's probably just part of the routine dow said maybe they want to confirm our reports from our own records before they commit themselves but he knew that he was only whistling in the dark the moment he saw the terse message he knew something had gone wrong with the contract there would be no notes of congratulations returning in triumph and honor to hospital earth whatever the reason for the inspection party dow felt certain who the inspector was going to be it had been exciting to dream but the scarlet cape and the silver star were still a long way out of reach end of chapter 11 chapter 12 of star surgeon this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org star surgeon by Alan E. Norse read by Scott D. Farquhar chapter 12 the showdown it was hours later when their ship reached the contact point coordinates there had been little talk during the transit each of them knew already what the other was thinking and there wasn't much to be said the message had set it for them dow's worst fears were realized when the inspection ship appeared converting from conic drive within a few miles of the lancet he had seen the ship before a sleek handsomely outfitted patrol class ship with the insignia of the black service of pathology emblazoned on its hull the private ship of a four star black doctor but none of them anticipated the action taken by the inspection ship as it drew within lifeboat range of the lancet a scooter shot away from its storage rack on the black ship and a crew of black garb technicians piled into the lancet's entrance lock dressed in the special decontamination suits worn when a ship was returning from a plague spot into uninfected territory what is this tiger demanded as the technicians started unloading decontamination gear into the lock what are you doing with that stuff the squad leader looked at him sourly you're in quarantine doc he said class one all precautions contact with unidentified pestilence if you don't like it argue with the black doctor I've just got a job to do he started shouting orders to his men and they scattered throughout the ship with blowers and disinfectants driving antiseptic sprays into every crack of the ship's interior scouring the hull outside in the rigid pattern prescribed for plague ships they herded the doctors into the decontamination lock stripped them of their clothes scrubbed them down and tossed them special sterilized fatigues to wear with masks and gloves this is idiotic jack protested we aren't carrying any dangerous organisms the squad leader shrugged indifferently tell it to the black doctor not me all I know is that the ship is under quarantine until it's officially released and from what I hear it's not going to be released for quite some time at last the job was done and the scooter departed back to the inspection ship a few moments later they saw it returning this time carrying just three men in addition to the pilot in one technician there was a single passenger a portley figure dressed in a black robe horned rimmed glasses and cowl the scooter grappled the lancet's side and black doctor hugo tanner climbed wheezing into the entrance lock followed by the technician he stopped halfway into the lock to get his breath and paused again as the lock swung closed behind him dow was shocked at the physical change in the man in the few short weeks since he had seen him last the black doctor's face was gray every effort of movement brought on paroxysms of coughing he looked sick and he looked tired yet his jaw was still set in angry determination the doctors stood at attention as he stepped into the control room hardly able to conceal their surprise at seeing him well the black doctor snapped at them what's the trouble with you you act like you've seen a ghost or something we heard that you were in the hospital sir did you now the black doctor snorted hospital I had to tell the press something to get the hounds off me for a while these young puppies seem to think that a black doctor can just walk away from his duties any time he chooses to undergo their fancy surgical procedures and you know who's been screaming the loudest to get their hands on me the red service of surgery that's who the black doctor glared at dal timgar well I dare say the red doctors will have their chance at me all in good time but first there are certain things which must be taken care of he looked up at the attendant you're quite certain that the ship has been decontaminated the attendant nodded yes sir and the crew men it's safe to talk to them sir as long as they're intact the black doctor grunted and wheezed and settled himself down in a seat all right now gentlemen he said to the three let's have your story of this affair in the broker system right from the start but we sent in a full report tiger said I'm aware of that you idiot I have waded through your reports all 35 pages of it and I only wish you hadn't been so unwinded now I want to hear what happened directly from you well the three doctors looked at each other then jack began the story starting with the first hesitant greeting that had come through to them he told everything that had happened without embellishments their first analysis of the nature of the problem the biochemical and medical survey that they ran on the afflicted people his own failure to make the diagnosis the incident of fuzzy's sudden affliction and the strange solution that had finally come from it as he talked the black doctor sat back with his eyes half closed his face blank listening and nodding from time to time as the story proceeded and jack was carefully honest and fair in his account we were all of us lost until dal timgar saw the significance of what had happened to fuzzy he said his idea of putting the creature through the filter gave us our first specimen of the isolated virus and showed us how to obtain the antibody then after we saw what happened with our initial series of injections we were really at sea and by then we couldn't reach a hospital ship for help of any kind he went on to relate dal's idea that the virus itself might be the intelligent creature and recounted the things that happened after dal went down to talk to the spokesman again with fuzzy on his shoulder through it all the black doctor listened sourly glancing occasionally at dal and saying nothing so is that all he said when jack had finished not quite jack said I wanted to be on the record that it was my failure in diagnosis that got us into trouble I don't want any misunderstanding about that if I'd had the wit to think beyond the end of my nose there wouldn't have been any problem I see the black doctor said he pointed to dal so it was this one who really came up with the answers and directed the whole program on this problem is that right that's right jack said firmly he should get all the credit something stirred in dal's mind and he felt fuzzy snuggling in tightly to his side he could feel the cold hostility in the black doctor's mind and he started to say something but the black doctor cut him off do you agree to that also doctor martin he asked tiger I certainly do tiger said I'll back up the blue doctor right down the line the black doctor smiled unpleasantly and nodded well I'm certainly happy to hear you say that gentlemen I might say that it is a very great relief to me to hear it from your own testimony because this time there shouldn't be any argument from either of you to just where the responsibility lies and I'm relieved to know that I can completely exonerate you two at any rate jack alvarez's jaw went slack and he stared at the black doctor as though he hadn't heard him properly exonerate us he said exonerate us from what from the charges of incompetence, malpractice and conduct unbecoming to a physician which I am lodging against your colleague in the red service here the black doctor said angrily of course I was confident that neither of you two could have contributed very much to this bungling mess but it is reassuring to have your own statements of the fact on the record they should carry more weight in a council hearing than any plea I might make in your behalf but what do you mean by a council hearing tiger stammered I don't understand you this this problem is solved we solved it as a patrol team all of us we sent in a brand new medical service contract for these people oh yes that the black doctor drew a long pink dispatch sheet from an inner pocket and opened it out the doctors could see the photo reproductions of their signatures at the bottom fortunately for you two this bit of nonsense was brought to my attention at the first relay station that received it I personally accepted it and withdrew it so I could reach hospital earth for filing slowly as they watched him he ripped the pink dispatch sheet into a dozen pieces and tossed it into the disposal vent so much for that he said slowly I can choose to overlook your foolishness in trying to cloud the important issues with a so-called contract to divert attention but I'm afraid I can't pay much attention to it nor allow it to appear in the general report and of course I am forced to classify the Lancet as a plague ship until a bacteriological and virological examination has been completed on both ship and crew the planet itself will be considered a galactic plague spot until proper measures have been taken to ensure its decontamination the black doctor drew some papers from another pocket and turned to dowel timgar as for you the charges are clear enough you have broken the most fundamental rules of good judgment and good medicine in handling the 31 broker affair you have permitted a general practice patrol ship to approach a potentially dangerous plague spot without any notification of higher authorities you have undertaken a biochemical and medical survey for which you had neither the proper equipment nor the training qualifications and you exposed your ship and your crewmates to an incredible risk in landing on such a planet you are responsible for untold possibly fatal damage to over 200 individuals of the race that called on you for help you have even subjected the creature that depends upon your own race for its life and support to virtual slavery and possible destruction and finally you have the audacity to try to cover up your bungling with claims of arranging a medical service contract with an uninvestigated race the black doctor broke off as an attendant came in the door and whispered something in his ear Dr. Tanner shook his head angrily I can't be bothered now they say it's urgent sir yes it's always urgent the black doctor heaved to his feet if it weren't for this miserable incompetent here I wouldn't have to be taking precious time away from my more important duties he scowled at the Lancet crewman you will excuse me for a moment he said and disappeared into the communications room the moment he was gone from the room Jack and Tiger were talking at once he couldn't really be serious Tiger said it's impossible not one of those charges would hold up under investigation well I think it's a frame up Jack said his voice tight with anger I knew that some people on hospital earth were out to get you but I don't see how a four star black doctor could be a party to such a thing either someone has been misinforming him or he just doesn't understand what happened Dal shook his head he understands all right and he's the one who's determined to get me out of medicine this is a flimsy excuse but he has to use it because it's now or never he knows that if we bring in a contract with a new planet and it's formally ratified we'll all get our stars and he'd never be able to block me again and black doctor Tanner is going to be certain that I don't get that star by trying but this is completely unfair Jack protested he's turning our own words against you you can bet that he'll have a survey crew down on that planet in no time bringing home a contract just the same as the one we wrote and there won't be any questions asked about it except that I'll be out of the service Dow said don't worry you'll get the credit in the long run when all the dust settles he'll be sure that you two have the patience for the contract he doesn't want to hurt you it's me that he's out to get well he won't get away with it Tiger said we can see to that it's not too late to retract our stories if he thinks he can get rid of you with something that wasn't your fault he's going to find out that he has to get rid of a lot more than just you but Dow was shaking his head not this time Tiger this time you keep out of it what do you mean keep out of it Tiger can't stand by quietly and watch him cut you down that's exactly what you're going to do Dow said sharply I meant what I said I want you to keep your mouth shut don't say anything more at all just let it be but I can't stand by and do nothing when a friend of mine needs help can't you get it through your thick skull that this time I don't want your help Dow said do me a favor this time leave me alone don't stick your thumb in the pie Tiger just stared at the little guardian look Dow all I'm trying to do I know what you're trying to do Dow snapped and I don't want any part of it I don't need your help I don't want it why do you have to force it down my throat there was a long silence then Tiger spread his hands helplessly okay he said if that's the way you want it he turned away from Dow his big shoulders slumping I've only been trying to make up for some of the dirty breaks you've been handed since you came to hospital earth I know that Dow said and I've appreciated it sometimes it's been the only thing that keeps me going but that doesn't mean that you own me friendship is one thing proprietorship is something else I'm not your private property he saw the look on Tiger's face as though he had suddenly turned and slapped him viciously across the face look I know it sounds awful but I can't help it I don't want to hurt you and I don't want to change things with us but I'm a person just like you are I can't go on leaning on you any longer everybody has to stand on his own somewhere along the line you do and I do too and that goes for Jack too they heard the door to the communications shack open and the black doctor was back in the room well he said am I interrupting something he glanced sharply at the tight-lipped doctors the call was from the survey section he went on blandly a survey crew was on its way to 31 Bruckett start gathering some useful information on the situation but that is neither here nor there you have heard the charges against the red doctor here is there anything any of you want to say Tiger and Jack looked at each other the silence in the room was profound the black doctor turned to Dall and what about you I have something to say but I'd like to talk to you alone as you wish you too will return to your quarters and stay there the attendant too Dall said the black doctor's eyes glinted and met Dall's for a moment then he shrugged and nodded to his attendant step outside please we have a private matter to discuss the black doctor turned his attention to the papers on the desk as Dall stood before him with fuzzy sitting in the crook of his arm from the moment that the notice of the inspection ship's approach had come to the Lancet Dall had known what was coming he had been certain what the purpose of the detainment was and who the inspector would be yet he had not really been worried his mind a small comfortable thought had been sustaining him it didn't really matter how hostile or angry black doctor Tanner might be he knew that in a last ditch stand there was one way the black doctor could be handled he remembered the dramatic shift from hostility to friendliness among the brookians when he had come down from the ship with fuzzy on his shoulder before then he had never considered using his curious power to protect himself and gain an end but since then without even consciously bringing it to mind he had known that the next time would be easier if it ever came to a showdown with black doctor Tanner a trap from which he couldn't free himself there was still this way the black doctor would never know what happened he thought it would just seem to him suddenly that he had been looking at things the wrong way no one would ever know but he knew even as the thought came to mind that this was not so now face to face with the showdown he knew that it was no good one person would know what had happened himself on thirty one broker he had convinced himself that the end justified the means here it was different for a moment as black doctor Tanner stared up at him through the horn rimmed glasses dal wavered why should he hesitate to protect himself he thought angrily this attack against him was false and unfair trumped up for the sole purpose of destroying his hopes and driving him out of the service why shouldn't he grasp at any means fair or unfair to fight it but he could hear the echo of black doctor Arnquist's words in his mind I beg of you not to use it no matter what happens don't use it of course doctor Arnquist would never know for sure that he had broken faith but he would know well black doctor Tanner was saying speak up I can't waste much more time dealing with you if you have something to say say it dal sighed he lifted fuzzy down and slipped him gently into his jacket pocket these charges against me are not true he said the black doctor shrugged the crew mates support them with their statements that's not the point they're not true and you know it as well as I do you've deliberately rigged them up to build a case against me the black doctor's face turned dark and his hands clenched on the papers on the desk are you suggesting that I have nothing better to do than to rig false charges against one probationer out of seventy five thousand traveling the galaxy I'm suggesting that we are alone here dal sighed nobody else is listening just for once right now we can be honest we both know what you're trying to do to me I'd just like to hear you admit it once the black doctor slammed his fist down on the table I don't have to listen to insolence like this he roared yes you do dal sighed just this once then I'll be through and dal's words were tumbling out of control and his whole body was trembling with anger you have been determined from the very beginning that I should never finish the medical training that I started you've tried to block me time after time in every way you could think of you've almost succeeded but never quite made it until this time but you know you have to make it if that contract were to go through I'd get my star and you'd never again be able to do anything about it so it's now or never if you are going to break me nonsense the black doctor stormed I wouldn't lower myself to metal with your kind the charges speak for themselves not if you look at them carefully you claim I failed to notify hospital earth that we had entered a plague area but our records of our contact with the planet proved that we did only what any patrol ship would have done when the call came in we didn't have enough information to know that there was a plague there and when we finally did know the truth we would have met with hospital earth you claim that I brought harm to 200 of the natives there yet if you study our notes and records you will see that our errors there were unavoidable we couldn't have done anything else under the circumstances and if we hadn't done what we did we would have been ignoring the basic principles of diagnosis and treatment which we've been taught and your charges don't mention that by possibly harming 200 of the Brachians we found a way to save 2 million of them from food destruction the black doctor glared at him the charges will stand up I'll see to that oh I'm sure you will you can ram them through and make them stick before anybody ever has a chance to examine them carefully you have the power to do it and by the time an impartial judge could review all the records your survey ship will have been there and gathered so much more data and muddied up the field so thoroughly that no one will ever be certain that the charges aren't true but you and I know that they wouldn't be pulled up under inspection we know that they're false right down the line and you're the one who is responsible for them the black doctor grew darker and he trembled with rage as he drew himself to his feet Dow could feel his hatred almost like a physical blow and his voice was almost a shriek alright he said if you insist then the charges are lies made up specifically to break you and I'm going to push them through if I have to jeopardize my reputation to do it you could have bowed out gracefully at any time along the way and saved yourself dishonor and disgrace but you wouldn't do it now I'm going to force you to I've worked my lifetime long to build the reputation of hospital earth and of the earth men that go out to all the planets as representatives I've worked to make the confederation respect hospital earth and the earth men who are her doctors you don't belong here with us you forced yourself in you aren't an earth man and you don't have the means or resources to be a doctor from hospital earth if you succeeded a thousand others will follow in your footsteps chipping away at the reputation that we have worked to build and I'm not going to allow one incompetent alien bungler pretending to be a surgeon to walk in and destroy the thing that I thought to build the black doctor's voice had grown shrill almost out of control but now suddenly he broke off his mouth still working and his face went deathly white the finger he was pointing at Dow wavered and fell he clutched at his chest his breath coming in great gasps and staggered back into the chair something's happened his voice croaked I can't breathe Dow stared at him in horror for a moment then leaped across the room and jammed his thumb against the alarm bell end of chapter 12 chapter 13 of star surgeon this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain if you have any information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org star surgeon by Alan E. Norse read by Scott D. Farquhar chapter 13 the trial read Dr. Dow Timgar knew at once that there would be no problem in diagnosis here the black doctor slumped back in his seat gasping for air his face twisted in pain as he labored into the room and Dow could tell that they knew instantly what had happened coronary Jack said grimly Dow nodded the question is just how bad get to the cardiograph in here we'll soon see but the electrocardiograph was not needed to diagnose the nature of the trouble all three doctors had seen the picture often enough the sudden massive blockage of circulation to creatures with central circulatory pumps the sort of catastrophic accident which could cause irreparable crippling or sudden death within a matter of minutes Tiger injected some medicine to ease the pain and started oxygen to help the labored breathing but the old man's color did not improve he was too weak to talk he just lay helplessly gasping for air as they lifted him up onto a bed then Jack took an electrocardiograph tracing and shook his head we'd better get word back to hospital Earth and fast, he said quietly he just waited a little too long for the cardiac transplant, that's all this is a bad one tell them we need a surgeon out here just as fast as they can move or the black service is going to have a dead physician on its hands there was a sound across the room and the black doctor motioned feebly to Tiger the cardiogram he gasped let me see it there's nothing for you to see, Tiger said you mustn't do anything to excite yourself let me see it Dr. Tanner took the thin strip of paper and ran it quickly through his fingers then he dropped it on the bed and lay his head back hopelessly too late he said so softly they could hardly hear him too late for help now Tiger checked his blood pressure and listened to his heart it will only take a few hours to get help he said you rest and sleep now, there's plenty of time he joined Dall and Jack in the corridor I'm afraid he's right this time, he said the damage is severe and he hasn't the strength to hold out very long he might last long enough for a surgeon and operating team to get here but I doubt it we'd better get the word off a few moments later, he put the earphones aside it'll take six hours for the nearest help to get here he said maybe five and a half if they really crowd it but when they get a look at that cardiogram on the screen they'll just throw up their hands he's got to have a transplant, nothing else and even if we can keep him alive until the surgical team gets here the odds are a thousand to one against his surviving the surgery well, he's been asking for it Jack said they've been trying to get him into the hospital for a cardiac transplant for years everybody's known that one of these towering rages would get him sooner or later maybe he'll hold on better than we think Dow said let's watch and wait but the black doctor was not doing well moment by moment he grew weaker laboring harder for air as his blood pressure crept slowly down half an hour later the pain returned Tiger took another tracing while Dow checked his venous blood pressure and shock level as he finished Dow felt the black doctor's eyes on him it's going to be all right he said there'll be time for help to come feebly the black doctor shook his head no time he said can't wait that long Dow could see the fear in the old man's eyes his lips began to move again as though there were something more he wanted to say but then his face hardened and he turned his head away helplessly Dow walked around the bed and looked down at the tracing comparing it with the first one that was taken what do you think Tiger it's no good he'll never make it for five more hours what about right now Tiger shook his head it's a terrible surgical risk but every minute of waiting makes it worse right that's right then I think we'll stop waiting Dow said we have a prosthetic heart in condition for use don't we good get it ready now it seemed as though someone else were talking you'll have to be first assistant Tiger we'll get him onto the heart lung machine and if we don't have help available by then we'll have to try to complete the transplant Jack you'll give anesthesia and it will be a tricky job try to use the local blocks as much as you can and have the heart lung machine ready well in advance we'll only have a few seconds to make the shift now let's get moving Tiger stared at him are you sure that you want to do this I never wanted anything less in my life Dow said furtively but do you think he can survive until a hospital ship arrives no then it seems to me that I don't have any choice you too don't need to worry this is a surgical problem now and I'll take full responsibility the black doctor was watching him and Dow knew he had heard the conversation now the old man lay helplessly as they moved about getting the surgical room into preparation Jack prepared the anesthetics checked and rechecked the complex heart lung machine which could artificially support circulation and respiration at the time that the damaged heart was separated from its great vessels the transplant prosthetic heart had been grown in the laboratories on hospital earth from embryonic tissue Tiger removed it from the frozen specimen locker and brought it to normal body temperature in the special warm saline bath designed for the purpose throughout the preparations the black doctor lay watching still conscious enough to recognize what was going on attempting from time to time to shake his head in protest but not quite succeeding finally Dow came to the bedside don't be afraid he said gently to the old man it isn't safe to try to delay until the ship from hospital earth can get here every minute we wait is counting against you I think I can manage the transplant if I start now I know you don't like it but I am the red doctor in authority on this ship if I have to order you I will the black doctor lay silent for a moment staring at Dow then the fear seemed to fade from his face anger disappeared with a great effort he moved his head to nod alright son he said softly do the best you know how Dow knew from the moment he made the decision to go ahead that the thing he was undertaking was all but hopeless there was little or no talk as the three doctors worked at the operating table the overhead light in the ship's tiny surgery glowed brightly the only sound in the room was the wheeze of the anesthesia apparatus the snap of clamps and the doctor's own quiet breathing as they worked desperately against time Dow felt as if he were in a dream working like an automaton going through the mechanical motions that seemed completely unrelated to the living patient that lay on the operating table in his training he had assisted at hundreds of organ transplant operations he himself had done dozens of cardiac transplants with experienced surgeons assisting and guiding him until the steps of the procedure had become almost second nature on hospital earth with the unparalleled medical facilities available there and with well trained teams of doctors anesthetists and nurses the technique of replacing an old worn out damaged heart with a new and healthy one had become commonplace it posed no more threat to a patient than a simple appendectomy had posed three centuries before but here in the patrol ships operating room under emergency conditions there seemed a little hope of success already the black doctor had suffered violent shock from the damage that had occurred in his heart already he was clinging to life by a fragile thread the additional shock of the surgery of the anesthesia and the necessary conversion to the heart lung machine while the delicate tissue of the new heart were fitted and sutured into place vessel by vessel was more than any patient could be expected to survive yet dal had known when he saw the second cardiogram that the attempt would have to be made now he worked swiftly his frail body engulfed in the voluminous surgical gown his thin fingers working carefully with the polished instruments speed and skill were all that could save the black doctor now to offer him the one chance in a thousand that he had for survival but the speed and skill had to be dals dal knew it and the knowledge was like a lead weight strapped to his shoulders if black doctor hugo tanner was fighting for his life now dal knew that he too was fighting for his life the only kind of life that he wanted the life of a physician black doctor tanner's antagonism to him as an alien as an incompetent as one who was unworthy to wear the collar and cuff of a physician from hospital earth was common knowledge dal realized with perfect clarity that if he failed now his career as a physician would be over no one not even himself would ever be entirely certain that he had not somehow in some dim corner of his mind allowed himself to fail yet if he had not made the attempt and the black doctor had died before help had come there would always be those who would accuse him of delaying on purpose his mouth was dry he longed for a drink of water even though he knew that no water could quench this kind of thirst his fingers grew numb as he worked and moment by moment the sense of utter hopelessness grew stronger in his mind tiger worked solidly across the table from him in expert help at best because of the sketchy surgical training he had had even his solid presence in support here did not lighten the burden for dal there was nothing that tiger could do or say that would help things or change things now even fuzzy waiting alone on his perch in the control room could not help now nothing could help now but his own individual skill as a surgeon and his bitter determination that he must not and would not fail but his fingers faltered as a thousand questions welled up in his mind was he doing this right this vessel here clamp it and tie it or dissect it out and try to preserve it this nerve plexus which one is it how important how are the blood pressure and respirations doing was the black doctor holding his own under the assault of surgery the more dal tried to hurry the more he seemed to be waiting through waist deep mud unable to make his fingers do what he wanted them to do how could he save ten seconds twenty seconds half a minute that half a minute might make the difference between success or failure yet the seconds ticked by swiftly and the procedure was going slowly too slowly he reached a point where he thought he could not go on his mind was searching desperately for help any kind of help something to lean on something to brace him and give him support and then quite suddenly he understood something clearly that had been nibbling at the corners of his mind for a long time it was as if someone had snapped on a flood light in a darkened room and he saw something he had never seen before he saw that from the first day he had stepped down from the guardianship that had brought him to hospital earth to begin his medical training he had been relying upon crutches to help him black doctor arnquist had been a crutch upon whom he could lean tiger for all his clumsy good heartedness and for all the help and protection he had offered had been a crutch fuzzy who had been by his side since the day he was born was still another kind of crutch to fall back on a way out a port of haven in the storm they were crutches every one and he had leaned on them heavily but now there was no crutch to lean on he had a quick mind with good training he had two nimble hands that knew their job and two legs that were capable of supporting his weight frail as they were he knew now that he had to stand on them squarely for the first time in his life and suddenly he realized that this was as it should be it seemed so clear so obvious and unmistakable that he wondered how he could have failed to recognize it for so long if he could not depend on himself then black doctor hugo tanner would have been right all along if he could not do this job that was before him on his own strength standing on his own two legs without crutches to lean on how could he claim to be a competent physician what right did he have to the goal he sought if he had to earn it on the strength of the help of others it was he who wanted to be a star surgeon not fuzzy not tiger nor anyone else he felt his heart beating in his chest and he saw the operation before him as if he were standing in an amphitheater peering down over some other surgeon's shoulder suddenly everything else was gone from his mind but the immediate task at hand his fingers began to move more swiftly with the confidence he had never felt before the decisions to be made arose and he made them without hesitation and he knew as he made them and for the first time the procedure began to move he murmured instructions to Jack from time to time and placed tiger's clumsy hands in the places he wanted them for retraction not there back a little he said that's right now hold this clamp and release it slowly while I tie then re-clamp it slowly now that's the way Jack check that pressure again it seemed as though someone else were doing the surgery directing his hands step by step in the critical work that had to be done Dow placed the connections to the heart lung machine perfectly and moved with new swiftness and confidence as the great blood vessels were clamped off and the damaged heart removed a quick check of vital signs chemistries, oxygenation a sharp instruction to Jack a caution to Tiger and the new prosthetic heart was in place he worked now with painstaking care manipulating the micro sutures that would secure the new vessels to the old so firmly that they were almost indistinguishable from a healed wound and he knew that it was going right now that whether the patient ultimately survived or not he had made the right decision and had carried it through with all the skill at his command and then the heart lung machine fell silent again and the carefully applied nodal stimulator flicked on and off and slowly, at first hesitantly then firmly and vigorously the new heart began its endless pumping chore the black doctor's blood pressure moved up to a healthy level and stabilized the gray flesh of his face slowly became suffused with healthy pink it was over and Dow was walking out of the surgery, his hands trembling so violently that he could hardly get his gown off he wanted to laugh and cry at the same time and he could see the silent pride in the others faces as they joined him in the dressing room to change clothes he knew then that no matter what happened he had vindicated himself half an hour later, back in the sick bay the black doctor was awake breathing slowly and easily without need of supplemental oxygen only the fine sweat standing out on his forehead gave indication of the ordeal he had been through swiftly and clinically Dow checked the vital signs as the old man watched him he was about to turn the pressure cuff over to Jack and leave when the black doctor said wait Dow turned to him yes sir you did it the black doctor said softly yes sir it's finished the transplant is done yes, Dow said it went well and you can rest now you were a good patient first time Dow saw a smile cross the old man's face a foolish patient perhaps he said so softly that no one but Dow could hear but not so foolish now not so foolish that I cannot recognize a good doctor when I see one and with a smile he closed his eyes and went to sleep end of chapter 13 chapter 14 of Star Surgeon this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Star Surgeon by Alan E. Norse read by Scott D. Farquhar chapter 14 Star Surgeon it was amazing to Dow Timgar he looked how good it seemed to be back on Hospital Earth again in the time he had been away as crewmen of the Lancet the seasons had changed and the port of Philadelphia lay under the steaming summer sun as Dow stepped off the shuttle ship to join the hurrying crowds in the great space port it seemed almost as though he were coming home he thought for a moment of the night not so long before he was here for the shuttle to Hospital Seattle to attend the meeting of the medical training council he had worn no uniform then not even the collar and cuff of the probationary physician and he remembered his despair that night when he had thought that his career as a physician from Hospital Earth was at an end now he was returning by shuttle from Hospital Seattle to the port of Philadelphia again and it seemed almost as though he was coming home to the hospital that had been started many months before but things were different now the scarlet cape of the red service of surgery hung from his slender shoulders now and the light of the station room caught the polished silver emblem on his collar it was a tiny bit of metal but its significance was enormous but more it symbolized the far reaching distances he had already traveled and would travel again in the service of Hospital Earth it was the silver star of the star surgeon the week just past had been both exciting and confusing the hospital ship had arrived five hours after black doctor Hugo Tanner had recovered from his anesthesia moving in on the lancet in frantic haste and starting the shipment of special surgical supplies anesthetics and maintenance equipment across in lifeboats almost before contact had been stabilized a large passenger boat hurtled away from the hospital ship's side carrying a pair of four star surgeons half a dozen three star surgeons two radiologists two internists a dozen nurses and when they arrived at the patrol ship's entrance lock they discovered that their haste had been in vain it was like grand rounds in the general wards of hospital Philadelphia with the four star surgeons in the lead as they trampled aboard the patrol ship they found black doctor Tanner sitting quietly at his bedside reading a journal of pathology and taking notes he glared up at them when they burst in the door knocking but are you feeling well, sir the chief surgeon asked him for the third time of course I'm feeling well do you think I'd be sitting here if I weren't the black doctor growled Dr. Timgar is my surgeon and the physician in charge of this case talk to him he can give you all the details of the matter you mean you permitted a probationary physician to perform this kind of surgery the four star surgeon cried incredulously I did not the black doctor snapped he had to drag me kicking and screaming into the operating room but fortunately for me this particular probationary physician had the courage of his convictions as well as wit enough to realize that I would not survive if he waited for you to gather your army together but I think you will find the surgery was handled with excellent skill again I must refer you to Dr. Timgar for the details I was not paying attention to the technique of the surgery I assure you but sir the chief surgeon broke in how could there have been surgery of any sort here the dispatch that came to us listed the Lancet as a plague ship plague ship the black doctor exploded oh I I imagine that the dispatcher must have gotten his signals mixed somehow well I suppose you want to examine me let's have it over with the doctors examined him within an inch of his life they exhausted every means of physical laboratory and radiological examination short of reopening his chest and looking in and at last the chief surgeon was forced reluctantly to admit that there was nothing left for him to do but provide post operative follow-up care for the irascible old man and by the time the examination was over and the black doctor was moved aboard the hospital ship word had come through official channels to the Lancet announcing that the quarantine order had been a dispatcher's unfortunate error and directing the ship to return at once to hospital earth with the new contract that had been signed on 31 Brucker 7 the crewmen of the Lancet had special orders to report immediately to the medical training council at hospital Seattle upon arrival in order to give their formal general practice patrol reports and to receive their appointments respectively as star physician star diagnostician and star surgeon the orders were signed with the personal mark of Hugo Tanner physician of the black service of pathology now the ceremony and celebration in hospital and Dal had another appointment to keep he lifted fuzzy from his elbow and tucked him safely into an inner jacket pocket to protect him from the crowd in the station and moved swiftly through to the subway tubes he had expected to see black doctor Arnquist at the investment ceremonies but there had been neither sign nor word from him dal tried to reach him after the ceremonies were over all he could learn was that the black doctor was unavailable and then a message had come through to dal under the official hospital earth headquarters priority requesting him to present himself at once at the grand council building at hospital Philadelphia for an interview of the utmost importance he followed the directions on the dispatch now and reached the grand council building well ahead of the appointed time he followed corridors and road elevators until he reached the 22nd story office suite where he had been directed to report the whole building seemed alive with bustle as though something of enormous importance was going on high ranking physicians of all the services were hurrying about gathering in little groups at the elevators and talking among themselves in hushed voices even more strange dal saw delegation after delegation of alien creatures moving through the building some in the special atmosphere maintaining devices necessary for their survival on earth some characteristically alone and unaccompanied others in the company of great ret news of underlings dal paused in the main concourse of the building as he saw two such delegations arrive by special car from the port of philadelphia odd he said quietly reaching into stroke fuzzy's head quite a gathering of the clans a what do you think last time I saw a gathering like this was back at home during one of the centennial conclaves of the galactic confederation on the 22nd floor a secretary ushered him into an inner office there he found black doctor thorevold ornquist in busy conference with a blue doctor a green doctor and a surgeon the black doctor looked up and beamed that will be all right now gentlemen he said I'll be in touch with you directly he waited until the others had departed then he crossed the room and practically hugged dal in delight it's good to see you boy he said and above all it's good to see that silver star at last you and your little pink friend have done a good job a far better job than I thought you would do I must admit dal perched fuzzy on his shoulder what is this about an interview why did you want to see me and what are all these people doing here doctor ornquist laughed don't worry he said you won't have to stay for the council meeting it will be a long boring session I fear doubtless every single one of these delegates at some time in the next few days will be standing up to give us a three hour oration and it is my ill fortune to have a four star black doctor to have to sit and listen and smile through it all but in the end it will be worth it and I thought that you should at least know that your name will be mentioned many times during these sessions my name you didn't know that you were a guinea pig did you the black doctor said I'm afraid I didn't an unwitting tool the black doctor chuckled you know of course that the galactic confederation has been delaying installing any action on hospital earths application for full status as one of the confederation powers and for a seat on the council we had fulfilled two criteria for admission without difficulty we had resolved our problems at home so that we were free from war on our own planet and we had a talent that is much needed and badly in demand in the galaxy a job to do that would fit into the confederation's organization but the confederation has always had a third criterion for its membership a criterion that hospital earth could not so easily prove or demonstrate the black doctor smiled after all there could be no place in a true confederation of worlds for any one race of people that considered itself superior to all the rest no race can be admitted to the confederation until its members have demonstrated that they are capable of tolerance willing to accept the members of other races on unequal footing and it has always been the nature of earthmen to be intolerant to assume that one who looks strange and behaves differently somehow be inferior the black doctor crossed the room and opened a folder on the desk you can read the details some other time if you like you were selected by the galactic confederation from a thousand possible applicants to serve as a test case to see if a place could be made for you on hospital earth no one here was told of your position not even you although certain of us suspected the truth the confederation wanted to see if a well qualified, likable and intelligent creature from another world would be accepted and elevated to equal rank as a physician with earthmen thou stared at him and I was the one you were the one it was a struggle alright but hospital earth has finally satisfied the confederation at the end of this conclave we will be admitted to full membership and given a permanent seat and vote in the galactic council our probationary period will be over but enough of that what about you what are your plans what do you propose to do now that you have that star on your collar they talked then about the future tiger martin had been appointed to the survey crew returning to 31 brocker 7 at his own request while jack was accepting a temporary teaching post in the great diagnostic clinic at hospital philadelphia there were a dozen things that dal had considered but for the moment he wanted only to travel from medical center to medical center observing and studying in order to decide how he would best like to use his abilities and his position as a physician from hospital earth it will be in surgery of course he said just wear in surgery or what kind I don't know just yet but there will be time enough to decide that then go along doctor arnquist said with my congratulations and you have taught us a great deal and perhaps you have learned some things at the same time dal hesitated for a moment then he nodded I've learned some things he said but there's still one thing that I want to do before I go he lifted his little pink friend gently down from his shoulder and rested him in the crook of his arm fuzzy looked up at him blinking his shoe button eyes happily you asked me once to leave fuzzy with you and I refused I couldn't see then how I could possibly do without him even the thought was frightening but now I think I've changed my mind he reached out and placed fuzzy gently in the black doctor's hand I want you to keep him he said I don't think I'll need him anymore I'll miss him I wonder if I don't have him now be good to him and let me visit him once in a while the black doctor looked at dal and then lifted fuzzy up to his own shoulder for a moment the little creature shivered as if afraid then he blinked twice at dal trustingly and snuggled in comfortably against the black doctor's neck without a word dal turned and walked out of the office as he stepped down the corridor he waited fearfully for the wave of desolation and loneliness he had felt before when fuzzy was away from him but there was no hint of those desolate feelings in his mind now and after all he thought why should there be he was not a garvian any longer he was a star surgeon from hospital earth he smiled as he stepped from the elevator into the main lobby through the crowd to the street doors he pulled his scarlet cape tightly around his throat drawing himself up to the full height of which he was capable he walked out of the building and strode down onto the street end of chapter 14 the end of star surgeon by Alan E. Norse this has been a LibriVox recording for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org