at the first relay station that received it. I personally accepted it and withdrew it from the circuit before it could reach Hospital Earth for filing.”
Slowly, as they watched him, he ripped the pink dispatch sheet into a dozen pieces and tossed it into the disposal vent. “So much for that,” he said slowly. “I can choose to overlook your foolishness in trying to cloud the important issues with a so-called ‘contract’ to divert attention, but I’m afraid I can’t pay much attention to it, nor allow it to appear in the general report. And of course I am forced to classify the Lancet as a plague ship until a bacteriological and virological examination has been completed on both ship and crew. The planet itself will be considered a galactic plague spot until proper measures have been taken to insure its decontamination.”
The Black Doctor drew some papers from another pocket and turned to Dal Timgar. “As for you, the charges are clear enough. You have broken the most fundamental rules of good judgment and good medicine in handling the 31 Brucker affair. You have permitted a General Practice Patrol ship to approach a potentially dangerous plague spot without any notification of higher authorities. You have undertaken a biochemical and medical survey for which you had neither the proper equipment nor the training qualifications, and you exposed your ship and your crewmates to an incredible risk in landing on such a planet. You are responsible for untold—possibly fatal—damage to over two hundred individuals of the race that called on you for help. You have even subjected the creature that depends upon your own race for its life and support to virtual slavery and possible destruction; and finally, you had the audacity to try to cover up your bungling with claims of arranging a medical service contract with an uninvestigated race.”
The Black Doctor broke off as an attendant came in the door and whispered something in his ear. Doctor Tanner shook his head angrily, “I can’t be bothered now!”
“They say it’s urgent, sir.”
“Yes, it’s always urgent.” The Black Doctor heaved to his feet. “If it weren’t for this miserable incompetent here, I wouldn’t have to be taking precious time away from my more important duties.” He scowled at the Lancet crewmen. “You will excuse me for a moment,” he said, and disappeared into the communications room.
The moment he was gone from the room, Jack and Tiger were talking at once. “He couldn’t really be serious,” Tiger said. “It’s impossible! Not one 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 I don’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 understand what happened.”
Dal shook his head. “He understands, all right, and he’s the one who’s determined to get me out of medicine. This is a flimsy excuse, but he has to use it, because it’s now or never. He knows that if we bring in a contract with a new planet, and it’s formally ratified, we’ll all get our Stars and he’d never be able to block me again. And Black Doctor Tanner is going to be certain that I don’t get that Star, or die trying.”
“But this is completely unfair,” Jack protested. “He’s turning our own words against you! You can bet that he’ll have a survey crew down on that planet in no time, bringing home a contract just the same as the one 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’ll get the credit in the long run. When all the dust settles, he’ll be sure that you two are named as agents for the contract. He doesn’t want to hurt 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’s not too late to retract our stories. If he thinks he can get rid of you with something that wasn’t your fault, he’s going to find out that he has to get rid of a lot more than just you.”
But Dal was shaking his head. “Not this time, Tiger. This time you keep out of it.”
“What do you mean, keep out of it?” Tiger cried. “Do you think I’m going to stand by quietly and watch him cut you down?”
“That’s exactly what you’re going to do,” Dal said sharply. “I meant what I said. I want you to keep your mouth shut. Don’t say anything more at all, just let it be.”
“But I can’t stand by and do nothing! When a friend of mine needs help—”
“Can’t you get it through your thick skull that this time I don’t want your help?” Dal said. “Do me a favor this time. Leave me alone. Don’t stick your thumb in the pie.”
Tiger just stared at the little Garvian. “Look, Dal, all I’m trying to do—”
“I know what you’re trying to do,” Dal snapped, “and I don’t want any part of it. I don’t need your help, I don’t want it. Why do you have to 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 from Dal, his big shoulders slumping. “I’ve only been trying to make up for some of the dirty breaks you’ve been handed since you came to Hospital Earth.”
“I know that,” Dal said, “and I’ve appreciated it. Sometimes it’s been the only thing that’s kept me going. But that doesn’t mean that you own me. Friendship is one thing; proprietorship is something else. I’m not your private property.”
He saw the look on Tiger’s face, as though he had suddenly turned and slapped 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 to change things with us, but I’m a person just like you are. I can’t go on leaning on you any longer. Everybody has to stand on his own somewhere 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 Black Doctor was back in the room. “Well?” he said. “Am I interrupting something?” He glanced sharply at the tight-lipped doctors. “The call was from the survey section,” he went on blandly. “A survey crew is on its way to 31 Brucker to start gathering some useful information on the situation. But that is neither here nor there. You have heard the charges against the Red Doctor here. Is there anything any of you want to say?”
Tiger and Jack looked at each other. The silence in the room was profound.
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 he shrugged and nodded to his attendant. “Step outside, please. We have a private matter to discuss.”
The Black Doctor turned his attention to the papers on the desk as Dal stood before him with Fuzzy sitting in the crook of his arm. From the moment 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 the purpose of the detainment was, and who the inspector would be, yet he had not really been worried. In the back of his mind,
