Star Surgeon

"It started coming in just now," Tiger said. "And they've been beaming the signal in a spherical pattern, ap

T REPLY AT ONCE. This was followed by the code letters that designated t

nd several screening cards came down the slot from the information bank. "Yes. The eighth planet of a large Sol-type star, the only inhab

s?" Tig

t. And they e

the contract

ge any time they think they need it. We'd better get an acknowledgment back to them. Jack, get the ship ready to star-jump while Dal starts

ow, and no dissension. The procedure to be followed was a well-established routine: acknowledge the call, estimate arrival time, relay the call and response to the programmers on Hospital Earth, prepar

ould put the ship in the vicinity of the planet, with another hour required for landing procedures. He passed the word

medical, biochemical, social and psychological survey had been made on the people of that world. Since the original survey, muc

ture of Morua VIII and its

atmosphere. With its vast snow-fields and great mountain ranges, the planet was a popular resort area for oxygen-breathing creatures; most of the natives were engaged in some work relate

o the race, and special problems that had been met by previous patrol ships. The deeper he dug into the mass of data, the more worried he bec

word on the nature of

ve started some kind of organ-transplant surgery and their native surgeon got cold feet halfway through and wants

tempted their own major surgery. If a Moruan surgeon had walked into a tight spot in the operating room, it could be a real test of skill to get him-and his patient-out of it, even on a relat

the "typical" oxygen-breathing mammals Dal had studied in medical school. But then something struck a familiar note, and he remembered studying the peculiar Moruan renal system, in which the creature's chemical waste products were filtered from the bloodstream

ttempting organ-transplantation, anyway? That was the kind of surgery that even experienced Star Surgeons preferred to take ab

Koenig drive took over. Dal tossed the tape spools back int

reen. Far below, the tiny eighth planet glistened like a snowball in the reflection of the sun, with only occasional rents in the cloud blanket revealin

them. Great snow-covered mountain ranges rose up on either side. A forty-mile

ouched down. Jack slipped into the furs that he had pulled from stores, and went out through the entrance lock and down the ladder to

there right away," he said, "and take your micro-surgical instruments. Tiger, give me a hand with the anaesthesia tanks. They

h edition of the Kodiak bears Dal had seen displayed at the natural history museum in Hospital Philadelphia. Like all creatures with oxygen-and-water based metabolisms, the Moruans could trace their evolutionary line to minute one-celled salt-water creatures; but with the bitter co

an's voice was a hoarse growl which nearly deafened the Earthmen in the confined quarters

le grasp of physiology and biochemistry, and constantly sought to learn more. They had already found ways to grow replacement organs from embryonic grafts, the Moruan said, and by copying the

ctor. "What organ were you rep

gment," the Moruan said. "The tumor

a segment of lung?" D

hat's where t

So you just decided t

g has gone wrong,

an death ... but the technique of grafting a culture-grown lung segment to a portion of natural lung required enormous surgical skill, and the finest microscopic instruments that could be made

d proudly. "We made them our

ever attempted thi

time. We don't know

ught about trying it," Dal m

nd alcoho

por was more effective and less toxic than other an

able, on lease fr

d the hospital he had an idea of the task that was facing him. He knew now that it was

siological support for the creature on the table. Dal had to climb up on a platform just to see the operating field; the faithful wheeze of the heart-lung machine that was susta

esthetized?" he asked the

teen hours

h blood has

zen l

ore on

ps six

get it into him. He'

field. The situation was bad; the anaesthesia had already gone on t

rm, trying to clear his head an

ttempting it chilled him. At best, he was on unfamiliar ground, with a dozen factors that could go wrong. By now the patient w

room where Tiger was waiti

hip for the rest of

now what to do. I think we sho

n you can handl

it all right-but I

Dal, it would take six hours fo

delicate, painstaking microscopic work that remained to be done to bring the new section of lung into position to function, and he shook his head. "Loo

ow anything about surgery. If you think we s

hem notify Jack to signal for a hospita

be Three-star Surgeons on a Hospital Ship to handle this; it seemed an enormous relief to have the task out of his hands. Yet something was wriggling uncomf

uge hulk down to hibernation temperatures. "We're going to send for help," Dal told the Moruan surgeon who had met

e sending for a

right,"

rmously. They began growling among themse

ve him?" the opera

can be saved

ht you could

s that we don't need to take. We can main

signs of the patient as his body temperature slowly dropped. Tiger had taken over the

them?" he ask

look like fools all over the Confederation if the word gets out. But that'

tled bac

ging, and at one time Tiger sat up sharply, staring at his anaesthesia dials and frowning in alarm as the nervous-system reactions flagged. The Moruan physicians hovered about, increasingly uneasy

. He cursed himself inwardly for not taking the bit in his teeth at the beginning and going ahead the best he could; it had been a mistake

in that another ship had been sighted making landing maneuvers. Dal clenched his

image of a small ship hardly larger than a patrol ship, with just two passengers stepping down the lad

ning silver insignia. Dal did not recognize the man, but the four stars

hood around him as he faced the blistering wind o

gave Dal an icy stare, then turned to the Moruan operating surgeon, whom he seemed to know very well. After a short barra

atched on a connecting screen. Then, without hesitation, he began manipulating the micro-instruments. Once or twice he murmured something

wn, then another and another. The Four-star Surgeon stripped off his gown and gloves with a flourish. "It will be all right," he said to the Mor

even bother to examine the operating field, Doctor? Where did you study surgery? Couldn't you tell that the fools had practically finished the job themselves?

gust and stalked away, leaving Dal and