White, James - Sector General 08 - The Genocidal Healer

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The Genocidal Healer

By James White

Published by Ballantine Books:

AMBULANCE SHIP

ALL JUDGMENT FLED

CODE BLUE—EMERGENCY!

THE DREAM MILLENNIUM

FEDERATION WORLD

FUTURES PAST

THE GENOCIDAL HEALER

HOSPITAL STATION

MAJOR OPERATION

SECTOR GENERAL

THE SILENT STARS GO BY

STAR HEALER

STAR SURGEON

A Del Rey Book BALLANTINE BOOKS • NEW YORK

Published by Ballantine Books

Published in the United States of America by Ballantine Books, a division of

Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of

Canada Limited, Toronto.

To Jeff aka Jeffrey Mcllwain, MD, FRCS who is also great with sick refrigerators

In Appreciation

Manufactured in the United States of America

Scanned with FineReader 6

DimJim

Chapter 1

THEY had assembled in a temporarily unused compartment on the hospital's eighty-

seventh level. The room had seen service at various times as an observation ward

for the birdlike Nallajims of physiological classification LSVO, as a Melfan

ELNT operating theater, and, most recently, as an overflow ward for the

chlorine-breathing Illensan PVSJs, whose noxious atmosphere still lingered in

trace quantities. For the first and only time it was the venue of a military

court and, Lioren thought hopefully, it would be used to terminate rather than

extend life.

Three high-ranking Monitor Corps officers had taken their seats facing a

multispecies audience that might be sympathetic, antagonistic, or simply

curious. The most senior was an Earth-human DBDG, who opened the proceedings.

"I am Fleet Commander Dermod, the president of this specially convened court-

martial," it said in the direction of the recorder. Then, inclining its head to

one side and then the other, it went on. "Advising me are the Earth-human

Colonel Skemp-ton of this hospital, and the Nidian, Lieutenant-Colonel Dragh-

Nin, of the Corps's other-species legal department. We are here at the behest of

Surgeon-Captain Lioren, a Tarlan BRLH, who is dissatisfied with the verdict of a

previous Federation civil-court hearing of its case. The Surgeon-Captain is

insisting on its right as a serving officer to be tried by a Monitor Corps

military tribunal.

"The charge is gross professional negligence leading to the deaths of a large

but unspecified number of patients while under its care."

Without taking its attention from the body of the court, and seeming

deliberately to avoid looking at the accused, the fleet commander paused

briefly. The rows of chairs, cradles, and other support structures suited to the

physiological requirements of the audience held many beings who were familiar to

Lioren: Thornnastor, the Tralthan Diagnostician-in-Charge of Pathology; the

Nidian Senior Tutor, Cresk-Sar; and the recently appointed Earth-human

Diagnostician-in-Charge of Surgery, Conway. Some of them would be willing and

anxious to speak in Lioren's defense, but how many would be as willing to

accuse, condemn, and punish?

"As is customary in these cases," Fleet Commander Der-mod resumed gravely, "the

counsel for the defense will open and the prosecution will have the last word,

followed by the consultation and the agreed verdict and sentence of the officers

of this court. Appearing for the defense is the Monitor Corps Earth-human, Major

O'Mara, who has been Chief of the Department of Other-Species Psychology at this

hospital since it first became operational, assisted by the Sommaradvan, Cha

Thrat, a member of the same department. The accused, Surgeon-Captain Lioren, is

acting for and is prosecuting itself.

"Major O'Mara, you may begin."

While Dermod had been speaking, O'Mara, whose two eyes were recessed and

partially hidden by thin flaps of skin and shadowed by the gray hair which grew

in two thick crescents above them, had looked steadily at Lioren. When it rose

onto its two feet, the prompt screen remained unlit. Plainly the Chief

Psychologist intended speaking without notes.

In the angry and impatient manner of an entity unused to the necessity for being

polite, it said, "May it please the court, Surgeon-Captain Lioren stands

accused, or more accurately stands self-accused, of a crime of which it has

already been exonerated by its own civil judiciary. With respect, sir, the

accused should not be here, we should not be here, and this trial should not be

taking place."

"That civil court," Lioren said harshly, "was influenced by a very able defender

to show me sympathy and sentiment when what I needed was justice. Here it is my

hope that—"

"I will not be as able a defender?" O'Mara asked.

"I know you will be an able defender!" Lioren said loudly, knowing that the

process of translation was removing much of the emotional content from the

words. "That is my greatest concern. But why are you defending me? With your

reputation and experience in other-species psychology, and the high stan- dards

of professional behavior you demand, I expected you to understand and side with

me instead of—"

"But I am on your side, dammit—" O'Mara began. He was silenced by the

distinctively Earth-human and disgusting sound of the fleet commander clearing

its main breathing passage.

"Let it be clearly understood," Dermod said in a quieter voice, "that all

entities having business before this court will address their remarks to the

presiding officer and not to each other. Surgeon-Captain Lioren, you will have

the opportunity to argue your case without interruption when your present

defender, be he able or inept, has completed his submission. Continue, Major."

Lioren directed one eye toward the officers of the court, another he kept on the

silent crowd behind him, and a third he fixed unwaveringly upon the Earth-human

O'Mara, who, still without benefit of notes, was describing in detail the

accused's training, career, and major professional accomplishments during his

stay at Sector Twelve General Hospital. Major O'Mara had never used such words

of praise to or about Lioren in the past, but now the things it was saying would

not have been out of place in a eulogy spoken over the mortal remains of the

respected dead. Regrettably, Lioren was neither dead nor respected.

As the hospital's Chief Psychologist, O'Mara's principal concern was and always

had been the smooth and efficient operation of the ten-thousand-odd members of

the medical and maintenance staff. For administrative reasons, the entity O'Mara

carried the rank of major in the Monitor Corps, the Federation's executive and

law-enforcement arm, which was also charged with the responsibility for the

supply and maintenance of Sector General. But keeping so many different and

potentially antagonistic life-forms working together in harmony was a large job

whose limits, like those of O'Mara's authority, were difficult to define.

Given even the highest qualities of tolerance and mutual respect among all

levels of its personnel, and in spite of the careful psychological screening

they underwent before being accepted for training in the Galactic Federation's

most renowned mul-tienvironment hospital, there were still occasions when

serious interpersonal friction threatened to occur because of ignorance or

misunderstanding of other-species cultural mores, social behavior, or

evolutionary imperatives. Or, more dangerously, a being might develop a

xenophobic neurosis which, if left untreated, would ultimately affect its

professional competence, mental stability, or both.

A Tralthan medic with a subconscious fear of the abhorrent little predators

which had for so long infested its home planet might find itself unable to bring

to bear on one of the physiologically similar, but highly civilized, Kreglinni

the proper degree of clinical detachment necessary for its treatment. Neither

would it feel comfortable working with or, in the event of personal accident or

illness, being treated by a Kreglinni medical colleague. It was the

responsibility of Chief Psychologist O'Mara to detect and eradicate such

problems before they could become life- or sanity-threatening or, if all else

failed, to remove the potentially troublesome individuals from the hospital.

There had been times, Lioren remembered, when this constant watch for signs of

wrong, unhealthy, or intolerant thinking which the Chief Psychologist performed

with such dedication made it the most feared, distrusted, and disliked entity in

Sector General.

But now O'Mara seemed to be displaying the type of uncharacteristic behavior

that it had always considered as a warning symptom in others. By defending this

great and terrible crime of negligence against an entire planetary population, a

piece of wrong thinking without precedent in Federation history, it was ignoring

and reversing the professional habits and practices of a lifetime.

Lioren stared for a moment at the entity's head fur, which was a much lighter

shade of gray than he remembered, and wondered whether the confusions of

advancing age had caused it to succumb to one of the psychological ills from

which it had tried so hard to protect everyone else. Its words, however, were

reasoned and coherent.

". . . At no time was it suggested that Lioren was promoted beyond its level of

competence," O'Mara was saying. "It is a Wearer of the Blue Cloak, the highest

professional distinction that Tarla can bestow. Should the court wish it I can

go into greater detail regarding its total dedication and ability as an other-

species physician and surgeon, based on observations made during its time in

this hospital. Documentation and personal affidavits provided by senior and

junior Monitor Corps officers regarding its deservedly rapid promotion after it

left us are also available. But that material would be repetitious and would

simply reinforce the point that I have been making, that Lioren's professional

behavior up to and, I submit, while committing the offense of which it is

charged, was exemplary.

"I believe that the only fault that the court will find in the accused," O'Mara

went on, "is that the professional standards it has set itself, and until the

Cromsag Incident achieved, were unreasonably high and its subsequent feelings of

guilt disproportionately great. Its only crime was that it demanded too much of

itself when—"

' 'But there is no crime!'' O'Mara's assistant, Cha Thrat, broke in loudly. It

rose suddenly to its full height. "On Sommaradva the rules governing medical

practice for a warrior-surgeon are strict, stricter by far than those accepted

on other worlds, so I fully understand and sympathize with the feelings of the

accused. But it is nonsense to suggest that strict self-discipline and high

standards of professional conduct are in any sense bad, or a crime, or even a

venial offense."

"The majority of the Federation's planetary histories," O'Mara replied in an

even louder voice, the deepening facial color showing its anger at this

interruption from a subordinate, "contain many instances of fanatically good

political leaders or religious zealots which suggest otherwise. Psychologically

it is healthier to be strict in moderation and allow a little room for-"

' 'But surely,'' Cha Thrat broke in again,' 'that does not apply to the truly

good. You seem to be arguing that good is ... is bad\"

Cha Thrat was the first entity that Lioren had seen of the Sommaradvan DCNF

classification. Standing, it was half again as tall as O'Mara, and its

arrangement of four ambulatory limbs, four waist-level heavy manipulators, and a

further set for food provision and fine work encircling the neck gave it a shape

that was pleasingly symmetrical and stable—unlike that of the Earth-humans, who

always seemed to be on the point of falling on their faces. Of all the beings in

the room, Lioren wondered if this entity would be the one who best understood

his feelings. Then he concentrated his mind on the images coming from the eye

that was watching the officers of the court.

Colonel Skempton was showing its teeth in the silent snarl w

Earth-humans gave when displaying amusement or friendship, the Nidian officer's

features were unreadable behind their covering of facial fur, and the fleet

commander's expression did not change at all when it spoke.

"Are the counsels for the defense arguing among themselves regarding the guilt

or otherwise of the accused," it asked quietly, "or simply interrupting each

other in their eagerness to expedite the case? In either event, please desist

and address the court one at a time."

"My respected colleague," O'Mara said in a voice which, in spite of the emotion-

filtering process of translation, sounded anything but respectful, "was speaking

in support of the accused but was a trifle overeager. Our argument will be

resolved, in private, at another time."

"Then proceed," the fleet commander said. Cha Thrat resumed its seat, and the

Chief Psychologist, its face pigmentation still showing a deeper shade of pink,

went on, "The point I am trying to make is that the accused, in spite of what it

believes, is not totally responsible for what happened on Cromsag. To do so I

shall have to reveal information normally restricted to my department. This

material is—"

Fleet Commander Dermod was holding up one forelimb and hand, palm outward. It

said, "If this material is privileged, Major, you cannot use it without

permission from the entity concerned. If the accused forbids its use—" "I forbid

its use," Lioren said firmly. "The court has no choice but to do the same,"

Dermod went on as if the Surgeon-Captain had not spoken. "Surely you are aware

of this?''

"I am also aware, as, I believe, are you, sir," said O'Mara, "that if given the

chance the accused would forbid me to say or do anything at all in its defense."

The fleet commander lowered its hand and said, "Nevertheless, where privileged

information is concerned, the accused has that right."

"I dispute its right to commit judicial suicide," said O'Mara, "otherwise I

would not have offered to defend an entity who is so highly intelligent,

professionally competent, and completely stupid. The material in question is

confidential and restricted but not, however, privileged since it was and is

available to any accredited authority wishing for complete psychological data on

a candidate before offering to employ it in a position of importance, or

advancement to a level of greater responsibility. Without false modesty I would

say that my department's psych profile on Surgeon-Captain Lioren was what gained

its original commission in the Monitor Corps and probably its last three

promotions. Even if we had been able to monitor closely the accused's psych

profile following its departure from the hospital there is no certainty that the

Cromsag tragedy could have been averted. The personality and motivations of the

entity who caused it were already fully formed, stable, and well integrated. To

my later regret I saw no reason to alter them in any way.''

The Chief Psychologist paused for a moment to look at the beings crowding the

room before returning its attention to the officers of the court. Its desk

screen came to life, but O'Mara barely glanced at the upward march of symbols as

it continued speaking.

"This is the psych record of a being with a complete and quite remarkable degree

of dedication to its profession," the major said. "In spite of the presence of

fellow Tarlans of the female sex at that time, there are no social or sexual

activities listed or, indeed, any indication that it wished to indulge in

either. Self-imposed celibacy is undertaken by members of several intelligent

species for various personal, philosophical, or religious reasons. Such behavior

is rare, even unusual, but not unsane.

"Lioren's file contains no incidents, behavior, or thinking with which I could

find fault," O'Mara went on. "It ate, slept, and worked. While its colleagues

were off duty, relaxing or having fun, it spent its free time studying or

acquiring extra experience in areas which it considered of special interest.

When promotion came, it was intensely disliked by the subordinate medical and

environmental maintenance staff on its ward because it demanded of them the same

quality of work that it required of itself, but fortunate indeed were the

patients who came under its care. Its intense dedication and inflexibility of

mind, however, suggested that it might not be suitable for the ultimate

promotion to Diagnostician.

"This was not the reason for it leaving Sector General," O'Mara said quickly.

"Lioren considered many of the hospital staff to be lax in their personal

behavior, irresponsible when off duty, and, by its standards, nonserious to a

fault, and it wished to continue its work in an environment of stricter

discipline. It fully deserved its Corps promotions, including the command of the

rescue operation on Cromsag that ended in disaster."

The Chief Psychologist looked down at its desktop, but it was not seeing the

prompt screen, because for some reason it had closed its eyes. Suddenly it

looked up again.

"This is the psych profile of an entity who had no choice but to act as it did,"

O'Mara resumed, "so that its actions in the circumstances were proper. There was

no carelessness on its part, no negligence, and therefore, I submit, no guilt.

For it was only after the few survivors had been under observation here for two

months that we were able to unravel the secondary endo-crinological effects of

the disease Lioren had been treating. If any offense was committed, it was the

minor one of impatience allied to Lioren's firm belief that its ship's medical

facilities were equal to the task demanded of them.

"I have little more to say," the major continued, "except to suggest to the

court that its punishment should be in proportion to the crime and not, as the

accused believes and the prosecution will argue, the results of that crime.

Catastrophic and horrifying though the results of the Surgeon-Captain's actions

have been, the offense itself was a minor one and should be treated as such.''

While O'Mara had been speaking, Lioren's anger had risen to a level where it

might no longer be controllable. Brown blotches were appearing all over his

pale, yellow-green tegument, and both sets of outer lungs were tightly distended

to shout a protest that would have been too loud for proper articulation and

would probably have damaged the sound sensors of many of those present.

"The accused is becoming emotionally distressed," O'Mara said quickly, "so I

shall be brief. I urge that the case against Surgeon-Captain Lioren be dismissed

or, failing that, that the sentence be noncustodial. Ideally the accused should

be confined to the limits of this hospital, where psychiatric assistance is

available when required, and where its considerable professional talents will be

available to our patients while it is—"

"No!" Lioren said, in a voice which made those closest to him wince and the

translator squawk with sound overload. "I have sworn, solemnly and by Sedith and

Wrethrin the Healers, to forgo the practice of my art for the rest of my

worthless life.''

"Now that," O'Mara replied, not quite as loudly as Lioren, "would indeed be a

crime. It would be a shameful and unforgivable waste of ability of which you

would be inarguably guilty."

"Were I to live a hundred lifetimes," Lioren said harshly, "I could never save a

fraction of the number of beings I caused to die."

"But you could try—" O'Mara began, and broke off as once again the fleet

commander raised his hand for silence.

"Address your arguments to the court, not each other," Der-mod said, looking at

them in turn. "I shall not warn you again. Major O'Mara, some time ago you

stated that you had little more to say. May the court now assume that you have

said it?"

The Chief Psychologist remained standing fora moment; then it said, "Yes, sir"

and sat down.

"Very well," the fleet commander said. "The court will now hear the case for the

prosecution. Surgeon-Captain Lioren, are you ready to proceed?''

Lioren's skin showed an increasing and irregular discoloration caused by the

deep emotional distress that even the earliest and innocent memories evoked, but

his surface air sacs had deflated so that he was able to speak quietly.

"I am ready."

Chapter 2

THE Cromsag system had been investigated by the Monitor Corps scout ship

Tenelphi while engaged on a survey mission in Sector Nine, one of the

embarrassing three-dimensional blanks which still appeared in the Federation's

charts. The discovery of a system containing habitable planets was a pleasant

break in the boring routine of counting and measuring the positions of a myriad

of stars, and when they found one displaying all the indications of harboring

intelligent indigenous life, their pleasure and excitement were intense.

The pleasure, however, was short-lived.

Because a scout ship with a complement of only four entities did not have the

facilities to handle a first-contact situation, the regulations forbade a

landing, so the crew had to content themselves with conducting a visual

examination from close orbit while trying to establish the natives' level of

technology by analyzing their communications frequencies and any other

electromagnetic radiation emanating from the planet. As a result of their

findings, Tenelphi remained in orbit while it recklessly squandered its power

reserves on the ship's energy-hungry sub-space communicator on increasingly

urgent distress messages to base.

The Monitor Corps's specialized other-species contact vessel, Descartes, which

normally made the initial approach to newly discovered cultures, was already

deeply involved on the planet of the Blind Ones, where communications had

reached the stage where it was inadvisable to break off. But the situation on

the new planet was not a problem of First Contact but of insuring that enough of

the natives would survive to make any kind of contact possible.

The Emperor-class battleship Vespasian, which was more than capable of waging a

major war although in this instance it was expected to end one, was hastily

converted to disaster-relief mode and dispatched to the region. It was under the

command of the Earth-human Colonel Williamson, but in all matters pertaining to

relief operations on the surface it was the Tarlan subordinate, Surgeon-Captain

Lioren, who had the rank and the sole responsibility.

Within an hour of the two vessels matching orbits, Tenelphi had docked with

Vespasian and the scout ship's captain, the Earth-human Major Nelson, and its

Nidian medical officer, Surgeon-Lieutenant Dracht-Yur, were in the operations

room giving the latest situation report.

"We have recorded samples of their radio signals," Major Nelson reported

briskly, "even though the volume of traffic is unusually small. But we were

unable to make any sense of it because our computer is programmed for survey

work with just enough reserve capacity to handle the translation requirements of

my crew. As things stand, we don't even know if they know we are here—"

"Vespasian's tactical computer will translate the surface traf- fie from now

on," Colonel Williamson broke in impatiently, "and the information will be

passed to you. We are less interested in what you did not hear than in what you

saw. Please go on, Major."

It was unnecessary to mention a fact known to everyone present, that while

Williamson's tremendous capital ship had the bigger brain, Nelson's tiny and

highly specialized survey vessel had eyes that were second to none.

"As you can see," Nelson went on, tapping the keys that threw the visuals onto

the room's enormous tactical display screen, "we surveyed the planet from a

distance of five diameters before moving in to map in more detail the areas that

showed signs of habitation. It is the third planet, and so far as we know the

only life-bearing one, of a system of eight planets. Its day is just over

nineteen hours long, surface gravity one and one-quarter Earth-normal, the

atmospheric pressure in proportion, and its composition would not seriously

inconvenience the majority of our warm-blooded oxygen-breathers.

"The land surface is divided into seventeen large island continents. All but the

two at the poles are habitable, but only the largest equatorial continent is

presently inhabited. The others show signs of habitation in the past, together

with a fairly high level of technology that included powered surface and air

transport, with radiation traces suggesting that they had fission-assisted

electricity generation. Their towns and cities now appear to be abandoned and

derelict. The buildings are undamaged, but there are no indications of

industrial or domestic wastes either in atmosphere or on the ground, no evidence

of food cultivation, and the road surfaces, street paving, and a few of the

smaller buildings have been broken up and damaged due to the unchecked growth of

plant life. Even in the inhabited areas of the equatorial continent there is

similar evidence of structural and agrarian neglect with the associated

indications of—"

"Obviously a plague," Lioren said suddenly, "an epidemic for which they have

little natural immunity. It has reduced the planetary population to the extent

that they can no longer fully maintain all their cities and services, and the

survivors have collected in the warmer and less power-hungry cities of the

equator to—"

"To fight a bloody war!" the scout ship's medic, Dracht-Yur, broke in, its

snarling Nidian speech making an angry accom- paniment to the emotionless

translated words. "But it is a strange, archaic form of warfare. Either they

love war, or hate each other, very much. Yet they seem to have an inordinate

respect for property. They don't use mass-destruction weapons on each other;

there is no evidence of aerial bombing or artillery, even though they still have

large numbers of ground and atmosphere vehicles. They just use them to transport

the combatants to the battleground, where they fight at close quarters, hand to

hand and apparently without weapons. It is savage. Look!"

Vespasian's, tactical screen was displaying a series of aerial photographs of

tropical forest clearings and city streets, sharp and clear despite massive

enlargement and the fact that they had been taken from a vertical distance of

fifty miles. Normally it was difficult to obtain much information on the body

mass and physiological details of a native life-form from orbit—although a study

of the shadow it cast could be helpful—but, Lioren thought grimly, far too many

of these creatures had been obliging enough to lie flat on the ground dead.

The pictures shocked but did not sicken the Surgeon-Captain as they did Dracht-

Yur, because the Nidian medic belonged to one of those strange cultures who

reverenced the decomposing remains of their dead. Even so, the number of

recently and not so recently dead lying about in the streets and forest

clearings was bound to pose a health risk.

Lioren wondered suddenly whether the surviving combatants were unwilling or

simply unable to bury them. A less sharp moving picture showed two of the

creatures fighting together on the ground, and so gentle were the blows and

bites they inflicted on each other that they might have been indulging publicly

in a sexual coupling.

The Nidian seemed to be reading Lioren's mind, because it went on. "Those two

look as if they are incapable of seriously damaging each other, and at first I

assumed this to be a species lacking in physical endurance. Then other entities

were seen who fought strongly and continuously for an entire day. But you will

also observe that the bodies of these two show widespread patches of

discoloration, while a few of the others have skins without blemish. There is a

definite correlation between the degree of physical weakness and the area of

discoloration on the body. I think it is safe to assume that these two are

seriously ill rather than tired.

"But that," Dracht-Yur ended in an angry growl, "doesn't stop them from trying

to kill each other."

Lioren raised one hand slightly from the tabletop, middle digits extended in the

Tarlan sign of respect and approval. But the two officers gave no indication of

understanding the significance of the gesture, which meant that they had to be

complimented verbally.

"Major Nelson, Surgeon-Lieutenant Dracht-Yur," Lioren said, "you have both done

very well. But there is more that you must do. Can I assume that the other

members of your crew have also had the opportunity of observing the situation

below and have discussed it among themselves?''

"There was no way of stopping them—" Nelson began. " Yes," Dracht-Yur barked.

"Good," Lioren said. "Tenelphi is detached from its current survey duty.

Transfer its officers to Vespasian. They will join the crews of the first four

reconnaissance vehicles to go down as advisors since they know more, perhaps

only a little more, about the local situation than we do. This ship will remain

in orbit until the most effective rescue site has been chosen ..."

At times like these Lioren was reluctant to waste time on politeness, but he had

learned that, where Earth-human senior officers in particular were concerned,

time wasted now would help expedite matters later. And Colonel Williamson was,

after all, Vespasian's commander and nominally the senior officer.

"If you have any comments or objections so far, sir," Lioren said, "I would be

pleased to hear them."

Colonel Williamson looked at Nelson and Dracht-Yur briefly before returning its

attention to Lioren. The scout-ship officers were showing their teeth, and a few

of the colonel's were also visible as it said, "Tenelphi will not be able to

resume its survey mission until we have topped up its consumables, and I would

be surprised if its officers objected to any break in that deadly dull routine.

You are making friends, Surgeon-Captain. Please continue."

"The first priority is to end the fighting," Lioren said, "and only then will it

be possible to treat the sick and injured. This forced cessation of hostilities

will have to be achieved without inflicting additional casualties or causing too

much mental dis- tress among the population. To a culture at the prespaceflight

level of technology, the sudden arrival among them of a vessel of the size and

power of Vespasian, and the visually monstrous entities it contains, would not

be reassuring. The first approach will have to be made in a small ship by people

who, for psychological reasons, must be of equal or lesser body mass than they

are. And it will have to be done covertly, in an isolated area where there are

few natives or, ideally, only one whose temporary withdrawal from among its

friends will arouse minimum distress ..."

The vehicle chosen for the mission was Vespasian's short-range communications

vessel, which was equally capable of space operations or extended aerodynamic

maneuvering in atmosphere. It was small but comfortably appointed, Lioren

thought, if one happened to be an Earth-human, but at present it was overloaded

and overcrowded.

They descended steeply out of the orange light of sunrise into an uneven blanket

of dark, predawn cloud, thrusters shut down and velocity reduced so that they

would not cause unnecessary distress by dragging a sonic shock wave in their

wake, and the ship was darkened except for the radiation from its infrared

sensors, which the natives might or might not be able to see.

Lioren stared at the enhanced picture of the forest clearing with its single,

low-roofed dwelling and outbuildings rushing up at them. Without power their

ship was gliding in too steeply and much too fast and with the flight

characteristics, it seemed, of an aerodynamically clean lump of rock. Then three

small areas of vegetation were flattened suddenly and driven downward into

shallow craters as the ship's pressor beams reached out to support it on

immaterial, shock-absorbing stilts. The touchdown was silent and sudden but very

gentle.

Lioren turned a disapproving eye toward the pilot, wondering, not for the first

time, why some experts felt it necessary to display their expertise so

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TheGenocidalHealerByJamesWhitePublishedbyBallantineBooks:AMBULANCESHIPALLJUDGMENTFLEDCODEBLUE—EMERGENCY!THEDREAMMILLENNIUMFEDERATIONWORLDFUTURESPASTTHEGENOCIDALHEALERHOSPITALSTATIONMAJOROPERATIONSECTORGENERALTHESILENTSTARSGOBYSTARHEALERSTARSURGEONADelReyBookBALLANTINEBOOKS•NEWYORKPublishedbyBallanti...

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White, James - Sector General 08 - The Genocidal Healer

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