at hand. He had never before in his life experienced the dreadful feeling of emptiness and desertion, the almost paralyzing fear and helplessness that he had felt when Fuzzy had lost contact with him. It had seemed as though a vital part of him had suddenly been torn away, and the memory of the panic that followed sent chills down his back and woke him up trembling from his sleep. He was ashamed of his unwarranted attack on Jack, yet even this seemed insignificant in comparison to the powerful fear that had been driving him.
Happily, the Blue Doctor chose to let the matter rest where it was, and if anything, seemed more willing than before to be friendly. For the first time he seemed to take an active interest in Fuzzy, “chatting” with him when he thought no one was around, and bringing him occasional tid-bits of food after meals were over.
Once more life on the Lancet settled back to routine, only to have it shattered by an incident of quite a different nature. It was just after they had left a small planet in the Procyon system, one of the routine check-in points, that they made contact with the Garvian trading ship.
Dal recognized the ship’s design and insignia even before the signals came in, and could hardly contain his excitement. He had not seen a fellow countryman for years except for an occasional dull luncheon with the Garvian ambassador to Hospital Earth during medical school days. The thought of walking the corridors of a Garvian trading ship again brought an overwhelming wave of homesickness. He was so excited he could hardly wait for Jack to complete the radio-sighting formalities. “What ship is she?” he wanted to know. “What house?”
Jack handed him the message transcript. “The ship is the Teegar,” he said. “Flagship of the SinSin trading fleet. They want permission to approach us.”
Dal let out a whoop. “Then it’s a space trader, and a big one. You’ve never seen ships like these before.”
Tiger joined them, staring at the message transcript. “A SinSin ship! Send them the word, Jack, and be quick, before they get disgusted and move on.”
Jack sent out the approach authorization, and they watched with growing excitement as the great trading vessel began its close-approach maneuvers.
The name of the house of SinSin was famous throughout the galaxy. It was one of the oldest and largest of the great trading firms that had built Garv II into its position of leadership in the Confederation, and the SinSin ships had penetrated to every corner of the galaxy, to every known planet harboring an intelligent life-form.
Tiger and Jack had seen the multitudes of exotic products in the Hospital Earth stores that came from the great Garvian ships on their frequent visits. But this was more than a planetary trader loaded with a few items for a single planet. The space traders roamed from star system to star system, their holds filled with treasures beyond number. Such ships as these might be out from Garv II for decades at a time, tempting any ship they met with the magnificent variety of wares they carried.
Slowly the trader approached, and Dal took the speaker, addressing the commander of the Teegar in Garvian. “This is the General Practice Patrol Ship Lancet,” he said, “out from Hospital Earth with three physicians aboard, including a countryman of yours.”
“Is that Dal Timgar?” the reply came back. “By the Seven Moons! We’d heard that there was now a Garvian physician, and couldn’t believe our ears. Come aboard, all of you, you’ll be welcome. We’ll send over a lifeboat!”
The Teegar was near now, a great gleaming ship with the sign of the house of SinSin on her hull. A lifeboat sprang from a launching rack and speared across to the Lancet. Moments later the three doctors were climbing into the sleek little vessel and moving across the void of space to the huge Garvian ship.
It was like stepping from a jungle outpost village into a magnificent, glittering city. The Garvian ship was enormous; she carried a crew of several hundred, and the wealth and luxury of the ship took the Earthmen’s breath away. The cabins and lounges were paneled with expensive fabrics and rare woods, the furniture inlaid with precious metals. Down the long corridors goods of the traders were laid out in resplendent display, surpassing the richest show cases in the shops on Hospital Earth.
They received a royal welcome from the commander of the Teegar, an aged, smiling little Garvian with a pink fuzz-ball on his shoulder that could have been Fuzzy’s twin. He bowed low to Tiger and Jack, leading them into the reception lounge where a great table was spread with foods and pastries of all varieties. Then he turned to Dal and embraced him like a long-lost brother. “Your father Jai Timgar has long been an honored friend of the house of SinSin, and anyone of the house of Timgar is the same as my own son and my son’s son! But this collar! This cuff! Is it really possible that a man of Garv has become a physician of Hospital Earth?”
Dal touched Fuzzy to the commander’s fuzz-ball in the ancient Garvian greeting. “It’s possible, and true,” he said. “I studied there. I am the Red Doctor on this patrol ship.”
“Ah, but this is good,” the commander said. “What better way to draw our worlds together, eh? But come, you must look and see what we have in our storerooms, feast your eyes on the splendors we carry. For all of you, a thousand wonders are to be found here.”
Jack hesitated as the commander led them back toward the display corridors. “We’d be glad to see the ship, but you should know that patrol ship physicians have little money to spend.”
“Who speaks of money?” the commander cried. “Did I speak of it? Come and look! Money is nothing. The Garvian traders are not mere money-changers. Look and enjoy; if there is something that strikes your eye, something that would fulfill the desires of your heart, it will be yours.” He gave Dal a smile and a sly wink. “Surely our brother here has told you many times of the wonders to be seen in a space trader, and terms can be arranged that will make any small purchase a painless pleasure.”
He led them off, like a head of state conducting visiting dignitaries on a tour, with a retinue of Garvian underlings trailing behind them. For two delirious hours they wandered the corridors of the great ship, staring hungrily at the dazzling displays. They had been away from Hospital Earth and its shops and stores for months; now it seemed they were walking through an incredible treasure-trove stocked with everything that they could possibly have wanted.
For Jack there was a dress uniform, specially tailored for a physician in the Blue Service of Diagnosis, the insignia woven into the cloth with gold and platinum thread. Reluctantly he turned away from it, a luxury he could never dream of affording. For Tiger, who had been muttering for weeks about getting out of condition in the sedentary life of the ship, there was a set of bar bells and gymnasium equipment ingeniously designed to collapse into a unit no larger than one foot square, yet opening out into a completely equipped gym. Dal’s eyes glittered at the new sets of surgical instruments, designed to the most rigid Hospital Earth specifications, which appeared almost without his asking to see them. There were clothes and games, precious stones and exotic rings, watches set with Arcturian dream-stones, and boots inlaid with silver.
They made their way through the corridors, reluctant to leave one display for the next. Whenever something caught their eyes, the commander snapped his fingers excitedly, and the item was unobtrusively noted down by one of the underlings. Finally, exhausted and glutted just from looking, they turned back toward the reception room.
“The things are beautiful,” Tiger said wistfully, “but impossible. Still, you were very kind to take your time—”
“Time? I have nothing but time.” The commander smiled again at Dal. “And there is an old Garvian proverb that to the wise man ‘impossible’ has no meaning. Wait, you will see!”
They
