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lung damage. Probably it is simply a much tougher life-form than the other
two."
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"I wonder about this DCOJ life-form," Murchison said thoughtfully. "Is it
intelligent at all? The small DCLG and the DCMH almost certainly are: The limb
extremities terminate in specialized manipulators, and the former seems to
have de-veloped six hands and no feet. But the big DCOJ has four feet and two
clawed forward appendages, and is otherwise made up of teeth and a large
system of stomachs."
"Which is empty," Conway said. After a moment he added, "All of the cases I've
examined so far had empty stomachs."
"Mine as well," Murchison said. They stared at each other for a moment, then
Conway said, "Captain,"
Fletcher had been working on what seemed to be the inboard entrance to the
hold, reaching high above his head because he was standing on a wall with the
floor and ceiling on each side of him. There was a loud click and a door swung
downward and hung open. The
Captain made a self-satisfied sound and joined them.
"Yes, Doctor."
Conway cleared his throat and said, "Captain, we have a theory about your
criminal. We think that the condition of distress which caused this ship to
release its beacon was hunger. All of the casualties we've examined so far
have had empty stomachs. It is possible, therefore, that your criminal is a
crew member who turned cannibal."
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Before Fletcher could reply, the voice of Prilicla sounded in their phones.
"Friend Conway," the empath said timidly. "I have not yet examined all of the
casualties you sent up, but those I have examined display symptoms of
dehydration and tissue wastage indicative of hunger and thirst. But the
condition is not far enough advanced for death to be imminent. Your
hypothetical criminal must have attacked the other crew members before lack of
food became a serious problem. The being was hungry but not starving to death.
Are you sure that the creature is intelligent?"
"No," Conway said. "But if Murchison and I have missed it while examining the
first of the casualties, and at that time we were more concerned with charting
the injuries than in the contents, if any, of their stomachs, the beastie
could be on Rhabwar now. So if you find a well-fed casualty, get Haslam and
Chen to restrain it, quickly. The Captain has a professional interest in it."
"That I have," Fletcher said grimly. He was about to go on when Haslam, who
had relieved Dodds as lander pilot, inter-rupted to say that he would be
touching down in six minutes and would need help loading the litter.
By packing the litter and strapping casualties, sometimes |wo to a couch in
the crew's positions, Haslam was able to lift just over half of the remaining
survivors. There was no change 'n the condition of the remaining casualties.
The shadow of the outcropping had lengthened, though the air was still warm;
the sky remained clear and there was no wind. Murchison said fhat she could
usefully spend the time until the lander returned 'nvestigating, so far as she
was able with her portable equip-
ment, the large DCOJ cadaver they had left in the wreck. The medium-sized DCMH
survivor had gone up with Haslam.
It was obvious from the start that Fletcher found the dis-section distasteful,
and when Murchison told him that there was enough light for the work from the
helmet spots of Conway and herself, he left quickly and began climbing among
the containers fastened to the now-vertical deck beside them. After about
fifteen minutes he reported that his scanner showed the contents to be
identical and, judging by the amount of packing used, were almost certainly
cargo rather than ship's stores. He added that he intended moving into the
corridor outside the hold to explore, look for other casualties, and gather
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evidence.
"Do you have to do it now, Captain?" Murchison said wor-v riedly, looking up.
Conway turned to regard Fletcher, too, but somehow his eyes did not rise above
the level of the other's waist and the weapon attached to it.
"Do you know, Captain," he said quietly, "you have been wearing a sidearm ever
since Rhabwar's first mission, and I've barely noticed it? It was just a part
of your uniform, like the cap and insignia. Now it looks even more conspicuous
than your backpack."
Fletcher looked uncomfortable as he said, "We're taught that the psychological
effect of displaying a weapon is negli-gible among the law-abiding, but
increases in direct proportion to the guilt or harmful intentions of the
criminal or potential lawbreaker. However, the effect of my weapon was purely
psychological until Lieutenant Haslam brought down the charges for it a few
minutes ago." Defensively he added, "There was no need to wear a loaded weapon
on an ambulance ship, and I'd no reason to believe that this would be a police
operation."
Murchison laughed softly and returned to her work, and Conway joined her. As
the
Captain turned to go, he said, "We can't spend much time here, but I must make
as full a report as possible of the incident and all relevant circumstances.
This is a new species to the Federation, a different technology, and the
purpose of this ship might have a bearing on the case. Was our criminal a
responsible being, perhaps a captive, or an un-intelligent animal? If it was
intelligent was it deranged, and if so why? And was the distressed condition
of the ship and crew a contributory factor? I know that it is difficult to
conceive of extenuating circumstances for grievous wounding and canni-balism,
but until all the facts are known "
He broke off and placed his sensor against the deck beside him. A few seconds
later he went on, "There is nothing other than ourselves moving inside the
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file:///F|/rah/James%20White/White,%20James%20-%20Sector%20General%2005%20-%20
Sector%20General.txt wreck. I've left the outside hatch open only a few
inches. If anything tried to get in you will have plenty of warning, either
from the beastie itself forc-ing it open against the sand or from the sensors
on Rhabwar. I can get back to you in plenty of time in any case, so you have
nothing to worry about."
While they resumed the dissection they could follow every step of the
Captain's progress stern ward, because he insisted on verbally describing and
amplifying the pictures he was send-ing up to Dodds. The corridor was low and
not very roomy by Earth-human standards, he reported. He had to crawl on hands
and knees and it would be difficult to turn around to come back other than at
an intersection. Cable looms and air or hydraulic pipelines ran along the
sidewalls of the corridor, and coarse-mesh netting was. attached to the floor
and ceiling indicating that the ship did not possess an artificial gravity
system.
Aft of the compartment occupied by the medics there was another cargo deck,
and beyond that the unmistakable shapes of the hyperdrive generators. Further
aft the reactor and thrust-ers were sealed from him and heavily shielded, but
the sensor indications were that there had been a complete power
shut-down probably an automatic safety measure built into the design when the
ship had toppled. But he could detect a residue of power in some of the
corridor lines which he thought might be associated with an emergency lighting [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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