Star Surgeon Read online

  CHAPTER 12

  THE SHOWDOWN

  It was hours later when their ship reached the contact pointco-ordinates. There had been little talk during the transit; each ofthem knew already what the other was thinking, and there wasn't much tobe said. The message had said it for them.

  Dal's worst fears were realized when the inspection ship appeared,converting from Koenig drive within a few miles of the _Lancet_. He hadseen the ship before--a sleek, handsomely outfitted patrol class shipwith the insignia of the Black Service of Pathology emblazoned on itshull, the private ship of a Four-star Black Doctor.

  But none of them anticipated the action taken by the inspection ship asit drew within lifeboat range of the _Lancet_.

  A scooter shot away from its storage rack on the black ship, and a crewof black-garbed technicians piled into the _Lancet_'s entrance lock,dressed in the special decontamination suits worn when a ship wasreturning from a plague spot into uninfected territory.

  "What is this?" Tiger demanded as the technicians started unloadingdecontamination gear into the lock. "What are you doing with thatstuff?"

  The squad leader looked at him sourly. "You're in quarantine, Doc," hesaid. "Class I, all precautions, contact with unidentified pestilence.If you don't like it, argue with the Black Doctor, I've just got a jobto do."

  He started shouting orders to his men, and they scattered throughout theship, with blowers and disinfectants, driving antiseptic sprays intoevery crack and cranny of the ship's interior, scouring the hull outsidein the rigid pattern prescribed for plague ships. They herded thedoctors into the decontamination lock, stripped them of their clothes,scrubbed them down and tossed them special sterilized fatigues to wearwith masks and gloves.

  "This is idiotic," Jack protested. "We aren't carrying any dangerousorganisms!"

  The squad leader shrugged indifferently. "Tell it to the Black Doctor,not me. All I know is that this ship is under quarantine until it'sofficially released, and from what I hear, it's not going to be releasedfor quite some time."

  At last the job was done, and the scooter departed back to theinspection ship. A few moments later they saw it returning, this timecarrying just three men. In addition to the pilot and one technician,there was a single passenger: a portly figure dressed in a black robe,horn-rimmed glasses and cowl.

  The scooter grappled the _Lancet_'s side, and Black Doctor Hugo Tannerclimbed wheezing into the entrance lock, followed by the technician. Hestopped halfway into the lock to get his breath, and paused again as thelock swung closed behind him. Dal was shocked at the physical change inthe man in the few short weeks since he had seen him last. The BlackDoctor's face was gray; every effort of movement brought on paroxysms ofcoughing. He looked sick, and he looked tired, yet his jaw was still setin 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 BlackDoctor snapped at them. "What's the trouble with you? You act likeyou've seen a ghost or something."

  "We--we'd heard that you were in the hospital, sir."

  "Did you, now!" the Black Doctor snorted. "Hospital! Bah! I had to tellthe press something to get the hounds off me for a while. These youngpuppies seem to think that a Black Doctor can just walk away from hisduties 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 Doctorswill have their chance at me, all in good time. But first there arecertain things which must be taken care of." He looked up at theattendant. "You're quite certain that the ship has been decontaminated?"

  The attendant nodded. "Yes, sir."

  "And the crewmen?"

  "It's safe to talk to them, sir, as long as you avoid physical contact."

  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 storyof this affair in the Brucker 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 report, allthirty-five pages of it, and I only wish you hadn't been solong-winded. 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 tothem. He told everything that had happened without embellishments: theirfirst analysis of the nature of the problem, the biochemical and medicalsurvey that they ran on the afflicted people, his own failure to makethe diagnosis, the incident of Fuzzy's sudden affliction, and thestrange solution that had finally come from it. As he talked the BlackDoctor sat back with his eyes half closed, his face blank, listening andnodding from time to time as the story proceeded.

  And Jack was carefully honest and fair in his account. "We were all ofus lost, until Dal Timgar saw the significance of what had happened toFuzzy," he said. "His idea of putting the creature through the filtergave us our first specimen of the isolated virus, and showed us how toobtain the antibody. Then after we saw what happened with our initialseries of injections, we were really at sea, and by then we couldn'treach a hospital ship for help of any kind." He went on to relate Dal'sidea that the virus itself might be the intelligent creature, andrecounted the things that happened after Dal went down to talk to thespokesman again with Fuzzy on his shoulder.

  Through it all the Black Doctor listened sourly, glancing occasionallyat Dal and saying nothing. "So is that all?" he said when Jack hadfinished.

  "Not quite," Jack said. "I want it to be on the record that it was myfailure in diagnosis that got us into trouble. I don't want anymisunderstanding about that. If I'd had the wit to think beyond the endof my nose, there wouldn't have been any problem."

  "I see," the Black Doctor said. He pointed to Dal. "So it was this onewho really came up with the answers and directed the whole program onthis 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 tightlyto his side. He could feel the cold hostility in the Black Doctor'smind, and he started to say something, but the Black Doctor cut him off."Do you agree to that also, Dr. Martin?" he asked Tiger.

  "I certainly do," Tiger said. "I'll back up the Blue Doctor right downthe line."

  The Black Doctor smiled unpleasantly and nodded. "Well, I'm certainlyhappy to hear you say that, gentlemen. I might say that it is a verygreat relief to me to hear it from your own testimony. Because this timethere shouldn't be any argument from either of you as to just where theresponsibility lies, and I'm relieved to know that I can completelyexonerate you two, at any rate."

  Jack Alvarez's jaw went slack and he stared at the Black Doctor asthough he hadn't heard him properly. "Exonerate us?" he said. "Exonerateus from what?"

  "From the charges of incompetence, malpractice and conduct unbecoming toa physician which I am lodging against your colleague in the Red Servicehere," the Black Doctor said angrily. "Of course, I was confident thatneither of you two could have contributed very much to this bunglingmess, but it is reassuring to have your own statements of that fact onthe record. They should carry more weight in a Council hearing than anyplea I might make in your behalf."

  "But--but what do you mean by a Council hearing?" Tiger stammered. "Idon't understand you! This--this problem is _solved_. We solved it as apatrol team, all of us. We sent in a brand new medical service contractfrom those people...."

  "Oh, yes. _That!_" The Black Doctor drew a long pink dispatch sheet froman inner pocket and opened it out. The doctors could see the photoreproductions of their signatures at the bottom. "Fortunately--for youtwo--this bit of nonsense was brought to my attention at the first relaystation that received it. I personally accepted it and withdrew it fromthe circuit before it could reach Hospital Earth for fil
ing."

  Slowly, as they watched him, he ripped the pink dispatch sheet into adozen pieces and tossed it into the disposal vent. "So much for that,"he said slowly. "I can choose to overlook your foolishness in trying tocloud the important issues with a so-called 'contract' to divertattention, but I'm afraid I can't pay much attention to it, nor allow itto appear in the general report. And of course I am forced to classifythe _Lancet_ as a plague ship until a bacteriological and virologicalexamination has been completed on both ship and crew. The planet itselfwill be considered a galactic plague spot until proper measures havebeen taken to insure its decontamination."

  The Black Doctor drew some papers from another pocket and turned to DalTimgar. "As for you, the charges are clear enough. You have broken themost fundamental rules of good judgment and good medicine in handlingthe 31 Brucker affair. You have permitted a General Practice Patrol shipto approach a potentially dangerous plague spot without any notificationof higher authorities. You have undertaken a biochemical and medicalsurvey for which you had neither the proper equipment nor the trainingqualifications, and you exposed your ship and your crewmates to anincredible risk in landing on such a planet. You are responsible foruntold--possibly fatal--damage to over two hundred individuals of therace that called on you for help. You have even subjected the creaturethat depends upon your own race for its life and support to virtualslavery and possible destruction; and finally, you had the audacity totry to cover up your bungling with claims of arranging a medical servicecontract with an uninvestigated race."

  The Black Doctor broke off as an attendant came in the door andwhispered something in his ear. Doctor Tanner shook his head angrily, "Ican't be bothered now!"

  "They say it's urgent, sir."

  "Yes, it's always urgent." The Black Doctor heaved to his feet. "If itweren't for this miserable incompetent here, I wouldn't have to betaking precious time away from my more important duties." He scowled atthe _Lancet_ crewmen. "You will excuse me for a moment," he said, anddisappeared into the communications room.

  The moment he was gone from the room, Jack and Tiger were talking atonce. "He couldn't really be serious," Tiger said. "It's impossible! Notone 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 Idon'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 understandwhat happened."

  Dal shook his head. "He understands, all right, and he's the one who'sdetermined to get me out of medicine. This is a flimsy excuse, but hehas to use it, because it's now or never. He knows that if we bring in acontract with a new planet, and it's formally ratified, we'll all getour Stars and he'd never be able to block me again. And Black DoctorTanner is going to be certain that I don't get that Star, or dietrying."

  "But this is completely unfair," Jack protested. "He's turning our ownwords against you! You can bet that he'll have a survey crew down onthat planet in no time, bringing home a contract just the same as theone we wrote, and there won't be any questions asked about it."

  "Except that I'll be out of the service," Dal said. "Don't worry. You'llget the credit in the long run. When all the dust settles, he'll be surethat you two are named as agents for the contract. He doesn't want tohurt 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'snot too late to retract our stories. If he thinks he can get rid of youwith something that wasn't your fault, he's going to find out that hehas to get rid of a lot more than just you."

  But Dal was shaking his head. "Not this time, Tiger. This time you keepout of it."

  "What do you mean, keep out of it?" Tiger cried. "Do you think I'm goingto stand by quietly and watch him cut you down?"

  "That's exactly what you're going to do," Dal said sharply. "I meantwhat I said. I want you to keep your mouth shut. Don't say anything moreat all, just let it be."

  "But I can't stand by and do nothing! When a friend of mine needshelp--"

  "Can't you get it through your thick skull that this time I don't wantyour help?" Dal said. "Do me a favor this time. _Leave me alone._ Don'tstick your thumb in the pie."

  Tiger just stared at the little Garvian. "Look, Dal, all I'm trying todo--"

  "I know what you're trying to do," Dal snapped, "and I don't want anypart of it. I don't need your help, I don't _want_ it. Why do you haveto 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 fromDal, his big shoulders slumping. "I've only been trying to make up forsome of the dirty breaks you've been handed since you came to HospitalEarth."

  "I know that," Dal said, "and I've appreciated it. Sometimes it's beenthe only thing that's kept me going. But that doesn't mean that you ownme. Friendship is one thing; proprietorship is something else. I'm notyour private property."

  He saw the look on Tiger's face, as though he had suddenly turned andslapped 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 tochange things with us, but _I'm a person just like you are_. I can't goon leaning on you any longer. Everybody has to stand on his ownsomewhere 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 BlackDoctor was back in the room. "Well?" he said. "Am I interruptingsomething?" He glanced sharply at the tight-lipped doctors. "The callwas from the survey section," he went on blandly. "A survey crew is onits way to 31 Brucker to start gathering some useful information on thesituation. But that is neither here nor there. You have heard thecharges against the Red Doctor here. Is there anything any of you wantto say?"

  Tiger and Jack looked at each other. The silence in the room wasprofound.

  The Black Doctor turned to Dal. "And what about you?"

  "I have something to say, but I'd like to talk to you alone."

  "As you wish. You two will return to your quarters and stay there."

  "The attendant, too," Dal said.

  The Black Doctor's eyes glinted and met Dal's for a moment. Then heshrugged and nodded to his attendant. "Step outside, please. We have aprivate matter to discuss."

  The Black Doctor turned his attention to the papers on the desk as Dalstood before him with Fuzzy sitting in the crook of his arm. From themoment that the notice of the inspection ship's approach had come to the_Lancet_, Dal had known what was coming. He had been certain what thepurpose of the detainment was, and who the inspector would be, yet hehad not really been worried. In the back of his mind, a small,comfortable thought had been sustaining him.

  It didn't really matter how hostile or angry Black Doctor Tanner mightbe; he knew that in a last-ditch stand there was one way the BlackDoctor could be handled.

  He remembered the dramatic shift from hostility to friendliness amongthe Bruckians when he had come down from the ship with Fuzzy on hisshoulder. Before then, he had never considered using his curious powerto protect himself and gain an end; but since then, without evenconsciously bringing it to mind, he had known that the next time wouldbe easier. If it ever came to a showdown with Black Doctor Tanner, atrap from which he couldn't free himself, there was still this way. _TheBlack Doctor would never know what happened_, he thought. _It would justseem 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. Oneperson would know what had happened: himself. On 31 Brucker, he hadconvinced himself that the end justified the means; here it wasdifferent.

  For a moment, as Black Doctor Tanner stared up at him through thehorn-rimmed glasses, Dal wavered. Why should he hesitate to protecthimself? he thought angrily. This attack against him was false andunfair, tr
umped up for the sole purpose of destroying his hopes anddriving 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._ Ofcourse, Doctor Arnquist would never know, for sure, that he had brokenfaith ... but _he_ would know....

  "Well," Black Doctor Tanner was saying, "speak up. I can't waste muchmore time dealing with you. If you have something to say, say it."

  Dal sighed. He lifted Fuzzy down and slipped him gently into his jacketpocket. "These charges against me are not true," he said.

  The Black Doctor shrugged. "Your own crewmates support them with theirstatements."

  "That's not the point. They're not true, and you know it as well as Ido. 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 paperson the desk. "Are you suggesting that I have nothing better to do thanto rig false charges against one probationer out of seventy-fivethousand traveling the galaxy?"

  "I'm suggesting that we are alone here," Dal said. "Nobody else islistening. Just for once, right now, we can be honest. We both knowwhat you're trying to do to me. I'd just like to hear you admit itonce."

  The Black Doctor slammed his fist down on the table. "I don't have tolisten to insolence like this," he roared.

  "Yes, you do," Dal said. "Just this once. Then I'll be through."Suddenly Dal's words were tumbling out of control, and his whole bodywas trembling with anger. "You have been determined from the verybeginning that I should never finish the medical training that Istarted. You've tried to block me time after time, in every way youcould think of. You've almost succeeded, but never quite made it untilthis time. But now you _have_ to make it. If that contract were to gothrough I'd get my Star, and you'd never again be able to do anythingabout it. So it's now or never if you're going to break me."

  "Nonsense!" the Black Doctor stormed. "I wouldn't lower myself to meddlewith your kind. The charges speak for themselves."

  "Not if you look at them carefully. You claim I failed to notifyHospital Earth that we had entered a plague area--but our records of ourcontact with the planet prove that we did only what any patrol shipwould have done when the call came in. We didn't have enough informationto know that there was a plague there, and when we finally did know thetruth we could no longer make contact with Hospital Earth. You claimthat I brought harm to two hundred of the natives there, yet if youstudy our notes and records, you will see that our errors there wereunavoidable. We couldn't have done anything else under thecircumstances, and if we hadn't done what we did, we would have beenignoring the basic principles of diagnosis and treatment which we'vebeen taught. And your charges don't mention that by possibly harming twohundred of the Bruckians, we found a way to save two million of themfrom absolute destruction."

  The Black Doctor glared at him. "The charges will stand up, I'll see tothat."

  "Oh, I'm sure you will! You can ram them through and make them stickbefore anybody ever has a chance to examine them carefully. You have thepower to do it. And by the time an impartial judge could review all therecords, your survey ship will have been there and gathered so much moredata and muddied up the field so thoroughly that no one will ever becertain that the charges aren't true. But you and I know that theywouldn't really hold up under inspection. We know that they're falseright down the line and that you're the one who is responsible forthem."

  The Black Doctor grew darker, and he trembled with rage as he drewhimself to his feet. Dal could feel his hatred almost like a physicalblow and his voice was almost a shriek.

  "All right," he said, "if you insist, then the charges are lies, made upspecifically to break you, and I'm going to push them through if I haveto jeopardize my reputation to do it. You could have bowed outgracefully at any time along the way and saved yourself dishonor anddisgrace, but you wouldn't do it. Now, I'm going to force you to. I'veworked my lifetime long to build the reputation of Hospital Earth and ofthe Earthmen that go out to all the planets as representatives. I'veworked to make the Confederation respect Hospital Earth and the Earthmenwho are her doctors. You don't belong here with us. You forced yourselfin, you aren't an Earthman and you don't have the means or resources tobe a doctor from Hospital Earth. If you succeed, a thousand others willfollow in your footsteps, chipping away at the reputation that we haveworked to build, and I'm not going to allow one incompetent alienbungler pretending to be a surgeon to walk in and destroy the thing I'vefought to build--"

  The Black Doctor's voice had grown shrill, almost out of control. Butnow suddenly he broke off, his mouth still working, and his face wentdeathly white. The finger he was pointing at Dal wavered and fell. Heclutched at his chest, his breath coming in great gasps and staggeredback into the chair. "Something's happened," his voice croaked. "I can'tbreathe."

  Dal stared at him in horror for a moment, then leaped across the roomand jammed his thumb against the alarm bell.