Star Surgeon

he story from the emissary from

that they wanted to help, and that a contract was not necessary in an emergency. Even at that the spokesman was reluctant to giv

ip eight hundred years before and no sign of intelligent life had been found. The little creature before them seemed ready to tu

ions revealed that they had control of atomic power, a working understanding of the nature and properties of contra-terrene matter, and a workable star drive operating on the same basic principle as Earth's Koenig drive but which the Bruckians had never really used because of their shy

they pressed him about the physical make-up of his people, as though their questions were somehow scraping a raw nerve. He insisted that

e had certa

our, then five. The course of the disease, once started, was invariably the same: first illness, weakness, loss of energy and interest, then gradually a fading away of intelligent responses, leaving thou

ot to be an organism of some sort that's doing it," Dal said. "There couldn't be

ple except what we can see. We're going to have to do a complete

ped for a real surve

t. Or at least a way to immunize the ones that aren't infected yet. If this is a virus infection, we might only need to find an antibody for inoculation to stop it in

eing the initial landings would be made in the patrol ship's lifeboats, with the Lancet in orbit a thousand miles above the surface. Unquestionably the first job was diagnosis, discovering the exact natur

l stayed on the ship and set up the reagents and examining techniques that would be n

oubt in his mind, some instinctive voice of caution that seemed to say watch out, be car

and easy to thrust aside as the

realize that there was something very odd indeed about

ddness was the rule among the various members of the galactic civilization. All sorts and varieties of life-forms had been discovered, descr

mically and in other ways. His fine gray fur and his four-fingered hands set him apart from them-he would never be mistaken for an Earthman, even in the de

k understand just how his attachment to the little pink cre

would you ca

her each one is better off than either one would be alone. We all of us live in symbiosis with the bacteria in our digestive tracts, don't we? We provide

lly grudgingly agreed that he supposed he would hav

le limits of oddness-so far beyond it that the doctors could not belie

e visibly shaken. Geographically, they had found it just as it had been described in the exploratory

very one of them is like every other one, and they're all crammed together in tight little bunches, with nothing for miles in between.

iger said. "They don't s

et they had to go dig an old rusty jet scooter out of storage and get the motor rebuilt just specially to take us from one place

ss?" Dal asked. "Is it

y the thousands, and I hope we got those suits of ours deco

nd towns the dead were piled in gutters, and in all of the cities a deathly stillness hung over the streets. Those who had not yet succumbed to the illness were nursing and feeding th

ank and their jaws slack as though they were living in a silent world of their own, cut off from contact with the

knowledge of antisepsis

at's causing this sickness. They think that it's some kind of cu

iger tried to explain ways to prevent the spread of a bacteria or virus-borne disease. The people had stared at him as if he were talking gibberish; finally he gave up trying to explain, and just laid down rules

tions for autopsy examination, to reveal both the normal anatomical characteristics of this strange race of people and the damage the disease was doing. Down on the surface Tiger had already inoculated a dozen of the healthy ones with various ra

al surveys that were done on new contract planets. Under normal conditions, a survey crew with specialists in physiology, biochemistry, anatomy, radiology, pharmacology and pathology might spend months or even years o

ed to have forgotten his previous antagonism completely. There was a crisis here, and more work than three men could possibly do in the time available. "You handle anatomy and pathology," Jack told Dal at the

dies he was running on the planet's surface. Bit by bit the data was collected, and Earthman and Garv

es, looking as though he had been trampled in a crowd. "No sleep, that's all," he said breathlessly as he crawled out of his decont

up sounded plenty strange," Ja

looking for a biological pattern here, we

een ridiculous. I can't even find a normal level for blood sugar, and as for the enzyme systems...." He tossed a sheaf of notes down on the coun

ogy did you find?" T

ssue I could find. The anatomy is perfectly clear cut, no objections there. These people are very similar to Earth-type monkeys in stru

s. At first I thought I had something going, but if I did,

easure out the same in any intelligent creature no matter where he comes from. That's the whole basis of galacti

t," Dal said. "Take a

he data, just as a survey team would do, trying to match it with the pattern of a thousand other living creatu

ividuals showed the same reactions. In every test the results were ei

ir steps, trying to pinpoin

error," Dal said wearily. "We

those culture tubes again. And put on a pot o

and nothing was happening. Reports coming up from the planet were discouraging; the isolation techniques they had tried to institute did not

d restlessly from lab to control room, checking and recheck

d him. "A couple of hours will fr

already tried

can keep working on the

that, our hands are tied, and we aren't even getting close to it. We don't even know whethe

of Pathology would buy that for

wo have been doing all you can, but diagnosis is my job. I'm supposed to be

o call for hel

have time to call for help now." He stared at the piles of notes on the desk and his face was very white. "I don't know, I just don't know," he said. "The diagnosis on this thing should have been duck soup. I thought it was going to

at fact gave no pleasure to Dal or Tiger now. They were as baffled as

mpse of the truth came from th

esentment. The tiny creature seemed to realize that something important was consuming his master's energy and attention, and contented himself with an affectionate pat now and then as Dal went through the control room. Everyone assumed without mu

. "What's wrong?" he said to Dal. "You look

haven't fed him for twen

shrugged. "He coul

gets hungry, he gets hungry, and he's pretty self-centered. It wouldn't m

nd rested him on his shoulder, a move that invariably sent Fuzzy into raptures of delight. No

's length. "Fuzzy, what

Jack said, looking up suddenly. "Looks like

either," Tiger said. "

an to tremble violently. He drew himself up into a tight

d been nibbling at the back of his mind for hours. Not a clear-cut thought, merely an impression of pain and

from he didn't know, but it was crystal clear in his mind.

ilter? I just took it out of

"and the suction m

rus filter and the suction tubing attached to it. Swiftly Dal dumped the limp little creature in

im in amazement. "What a

hen our little Bruckian visitor came on board the other day. And if it's a virus that's causing thi

coalesced in the beaker as it fell until Fuzzy's whole body had been sucked through the filter and into the jar below. He was still not quite his normal pink colo

poison." He slipped on a mask and gloves, and scraped a bit of the film from the filter with