<h2><SPAN name="chapter6" id="chapter6"></SPAN>CHAPTER 6</h2>
<h3>TIGER MAKES A PROMISE</h3>
<p>"I think," Black Doctor Hugo Tanner said ominously,
"that an explanation is in order. I would now like to hear
it. And believe me, gentlemen, it had better be a very sensible
explanation, too."</p>
<p>The pathologist was sitting in the control room of the
<i>Lancet</i>, his glasses slightly askew on his florid face. He had
climbed through the entrance lock ten minutes before,
shaking snow off his cloak and wheezing like a boiler about
to explode; now he faced the patrol ship's crew like a small
but ominous black thundercloud. Across the room, Jack
Alvarez was staring through the viewscreen at the blizzard
howling across the landing field below, a small satisfied
smile on his face, while Tiger sulked with his hands jammed
into his trousers. Dal sat by himself feeling very much alone,
with Fuzzy peering discreetly out of his jacket pocket.</p>
<p>He knew the Black Doctor was speaking to him, but he
didn't try to reply. He had known from the moment the
surgeon came out of the operating room that he was in<SPAN name="page67" id="page67"></SPAN>
trouble. It was just a matter of time before he would have
to answer for his decision here, and it was even something
of a relief that the moment came sooner rather than later.</p>
<p>And the more Dal considered his position, the more indefensible
it appeared. Time after time he had thought of
Dr. Arnquist's words about judgment and skill. Without one
the other was of little value to a doctor, and whatever his
skill as a surgeon might have been in the Moruan operating
room, he now realized that his judgment had been poor.
He had allowed himself to panic at a critical moment, and
had failed to see how far the surgery had really progressed.
By deciding to wait for help to arrive instead of taking over
at once, he had placed the patient in even greater jeopardy
than before. In looking back, Dal could see clearly that it
would have been far better judgment to proceed on his own.</p>
<p>But that was how it looked <i>now</i>, not <i>then</i>, and there was
an old saying that the "retrospectoscope" was the only infallible
instrument in all medicine.</p>
<p>In any event, the thing was done, and couldn't be changed,
and Dal knew that he could only stand on what he had done,
right or wrong.</p>
<p>"Well, I'm waiting," Black Doctor Tanner said, scowling
at Dal through his thick-rimmed glasses. "I want to know
who was responsible for this fiasco, and why it occurred
in the first place."</p>
<p>Dal spread his hands hopelessly. "What do you want me
to say?" he asked. "I took a careful history of the situation
as soon as we arrived here, and then I examined the patient
in the operating room. I thought the surgery might be over
my head, and couldn't see attempting it if a hospital ship
could be reached in time. I thought the patient could be
maintained safely long enough for us to call for help."<SPAN name="page68" id="page68"></SPAN></p>
<p>"I see," the Black Doctor said. "You've done micro-surgery
before?"</p>
<p>"Yes, sir."</p>
<p>"And organ transplant work?"</p>
<p>"Yes, sir."</p>
<p>The Black Doctor opened a folder and peered at it over
his glasses. "As a matter of fact, you spent two solid years
in micro-surgical training in Hospital Philadelphia, with all
sorts of glowing reports from your preceptors about what
a flair you had for the work."</p>
<p>Dal shook his head. "I—I did some work in the field, yes,
but not on critical cases under field conditions."</p>
<p>"You mean that this case required some different kind of
technique than the cases you've worked on before?"</p>
<p>"No, not really, but—"</p>
<p>"But you just couldn't quite shoulder the responsibility
the job involved when you got into a pinch without any
help around," the Black Doctor growled.</p>
<p>"I just thought it would be safer to wait," Dal said helplessly.</p>
<p>"A good conservative approach," Dr. Tanner sneered.
"Of course, you realized that prolonged anaesthesia in itself
could threaten that patient's life?"</p>
<p>"Yes, sir."</p>
<p>"And you saw the patient's condition steadily deteriorating
while you waited, did you not?"</p>
<p>"It was too late to change my mind then," Dal said desperately.
"We'd sent for you. We knew that it would be
only a matter of hours before you arrived."</p>
<p>"Indeed," the Black Doctor said. "Unfortunately, it takes
only seconds for a patient to cross the line between life and
death, not hours. And I suppose you would have stood there<SPAN name="page69" id="page69"></SPAN>
quietly and allowed him to expire if we had not arrived at
the time we did?"</p>
<p>Dal shook his head miserably. There was nothing he could
answer to that, and he realized it. What could he say? That
the situation seemed quite different now than it had under
pressure in the Moruan operating room? That he would
have been blamed just as much if he had gone ahead, and
then lost the case? His fingers stole down to Fuzzy's soft
warm body for comfort, and he felt the little creature cling
closer to his side.</p>
<p>The Black Doctor looked up at the others. "Well? What
do the rest of you have to say?"</p>
<p>Jack Alvarez shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not a surgeon,"
he said, "but even I could see that <i>something</i> should be done
without delay."</p>
<p>"And what does the Green Doctor think?"</p>
<p>Tiger shrugged. "We misjudged the situation, that's all.
It came out fortunately for the patient, why make all this
fuss about it?"</p>
<p>"Because there are other things at stake than just medical
considerations," the Black Doctor shot back. "This planet
has a grade I contract with Hospital Earth. We guarantee
them full medical coverage of all situations and promise them
immediate response to any call for medical help that they
may send us. It is the most favorable kind of contract we
have; when Morua VIII calls for help they expect their call
to be answered by expert medical attention, not by inept
bungling."</p>
<p>The Black Doctor leafed through the folder in his hands.
"We have built our reputation in the Galactic Confederation
on this kind of contract, and our admission to full
membership in the Confederation will ultimately depend
upon how we fulfill our promises. Poor medical judgment<SPAN name="page70" id="page70"></SPAN>
cannot be condoned under any circumstances—but above
all, we cannot afford to jeopardize a contract."</p>
<p>Dal stared at him. "I—I had no intention of jeopardizing
a contract," he faltered.</p>
<p>"Perhaps not," the Black Doctor said. "But you were the
doctor on the spot, and you were so obviously incompetent
to handle the situation that even these clumsy Moruan surgeons
could see it. Their faith in the doctors from Hospital
Earth has been severely shaken. They are even talking of
letting their contract lapse at the end of this term."</p>
<p>Tiger Martin jumped to his feet. "Doctor Tanner, even
Four-star Surgeons lose patients sometimes. These people
should be glad that the doctor they call has sense enough to
call for help if he needs it."</p>
<p>"But no help was needed," the Black Doctor said angrily.
"Any half-decent surgeon would have handled the case.
If the Moruans see a patrol ship bring in one incompetent
doctor, what are they going to expect the next time they
have need for help? How can they feel sure that their medical
needs are well taken care of?" He shook his head grimly.
"This is the sort of responsibility that doctors on the patrol
ships are expected to assume. If you call for help where there
is need for help, no one will ever complain; but when you
turn and run the moment things get tough, you are not fit
for patrol ship service."</p>
<p>The Black Doctor turned to Dal Timgar. "You had ample
warning," he said. "It was clearly understood that your
assignment on this ship depended upon the fulfillment of the
duties of Red Doctor here, and now at the first real test you
turn and run instead of doing your job. All right. You had
your opportunity. You can't complain that we haven't given
you a chance. According to the conduct code of the General
Practice Patrol, section XIV, paragraph 2, any physician<SPAN name="page71" id="page71"></SPAN>
in the patrol on probationary status who is found delinquent
in executing his duties may be relieved of his assignment at
the order of any Black Doctor, or any other physician of
four-star rank." Doctor Tanner closed the folder with a snap
of finality. "It seems to me that the case is clear. Dal Timgar,
on the authority of the Code, I am now relieving you of
duty—"</p>
<p>"Just a minute," Tiger Martin burst out.</p>
<p>The Black Doctor looked up at him. "Well?"</p>
<p>"This is ridiculous," Tiger said. "Why are you picking on
<i>him</i>? Or do you mean that you're relieving all three of us?"</p>
<p>"Of course I'm not relieving all three of you," the Black
Doctor snapped. "You and Dr. Alvarez will remain on duty
and conduct the ship's program without a Red Doctor until
a man is sent to replace this bungler. That also is provided
for in the code."</p>
<p>"But I understood that we were operating as a diagnostic
and therapeutic team," Tiger protested. "And I seem to
remember something in the code about fixing responsibility
before a man can be relieved."</p>
<p>"There's no question where the responsibility lies," the
Black Doctor said, his face darkening. "This was a surgical
problem, and Dal Timgar made the decisions. I don't see
anything to argue."</p>
<p>"There's plenty to argue," Tiger said. "Dal, don't you
see what he's trying to do?"</p>
<p>Across the room Dal shook his head wearily. "You'd better
keep out of it, Tiger," he said.</p>
<p>"Why should I keep out of it and let you be drummed
out of the patrol for something that wasn't even your fault?"
Tiger said. He turned angrily to the Black Doctor. "Dal
wasn't the one that wanted the hospital ship called," he said.<SPAN name="page72" id="page72"></SPAN>
"I was. If you're going to relieve somebody, you'd better
make it me."</p>
<p>The Black Doctor pulled off his glasses and glared at
Tiger. "Whatever are you talking about?" he said.</p>
<p>"Just what I said. We had a conference after he'd examined
the patient in the operating room, and I insisted that
we call the hospital ship. Why, Dal—Dal wanted to go ahead
and try to finish the case right then, and I wouldn't let him,"
Tiger blundered on. "I didn't think the patient could take it.
I thought that it would be too great a risk with the facilities
we had here."</p>
<p>Dal was staring at Tiger, and he felt Fuzzy suddenly
shivering violently in his pocket. "Tiger, don't be foolish—"</p>
<p>The Black Doctor slammed the file down on the table
again. "Is this true, what he's saying?" he asked Dal.</p>
<p>"No, not a word of it," Dal said. "I wanted to call the
hospital ship."</p>
<p>"Of course he won't admit it," Tiger said angrily. "He's
afraid you'll kick me out too, but it's true just the same in
spite of what he says."</p>
<p>"And what do <i>you</i> say?" the Black Doctor said, turning
to Jack Alvarez.</p>
<p>"I say it's carrying this big brother act too far," Jack said.
"I didn't notice any conferences going on."</p>
<p>"You were back at the ship getting the surgical pack,"
Tiger said. "You didn't know anything about it. You didn't
hear us talking, and we didn't see any reason to consult you
about it."</p>
<p>The Black Doctor stared from Dal to Tiger, his face
growing angrier by the minute. He jerked to his feet, and
stalked back and forth across the control room, glaring at
them. Then he took a capsule from his pocket, gulped it
down with some water, and sat back down. "I ought to<SPAN name="page73" id="page73"></SPAN>
throw you both out on your ears," he snarled. "But I am
forced to control myself. I mustn't allow myself to get
angry—" He crashed his fist down on the control panel.
"I suppose that you would swear to this statement of yours
if it came to that?" he asked Tiger.</p>
<p>Tiger nodded and swallowed hard. "Yes, sir, I certainly
would."</p>
<p>"All right," the Black Doctor said tightly. "Then you win
this one. The code says that two opinions can properly
decide any course of action. If you insist that two of you
agreed on this decision, then I am forced to support you
officially. I will make a report of the incident to patrol
headquarters, and it will go on the permanent records of all
three of this ship's crew—including my personal opinion of
the decision." He looked up at Dal. "But be very careful,
my young friend. Next time you may not have a technicality
to back you up, and I'll be watching for the first plausible
excuse to break you, and your Green Doctor friend as well.
One misstep, and you're through. And I assure you that is
not just an idle threat. I mean every word of it."</p>
<p>And trembling with rage, the Black Doctor picked up the
folder, wrapped his cape around him, and marched out of
the control room.</p>
<hr class="shorter" />
<p>"Well, you put on a great show," Jack Alvarez said later
as they prepared the ship for launching from the snow-swept
landing field on Morua VIII. An hour before the ground
had trembled as the Black Doctor's ship took off with Dr.
Tanner and the Four-star Surgeon aboard; now Jack broke
the dark silence in the <i>Lancet</i>'s control room for the first
time. "A really great show. You missed your calling, Tiger.
You should have been on the stage. If you think you fooled
Dr. Tanner with that story for half a second, you're crazy,<SPAN name="page74" id="page74"></SPAN>
but I guess you got what you wanted. You kept your pal's
cuff and collar for him, and you put a black mark on all of
our records, including mine. I hope you're satisfied."</p>
<p>Tiger Martin took off his earphones and set them carefully
on the control panel. "You know," he said to Jack,
"you're lucky."</p>
<p>"Really?"</p>
<p>"You're lucky I don't wipe that sneer off your face and
scrub the walls with it. And you'd better not crowd your
luck, because all I need right now is an invitation." He
stood up, towering over the dark-haired Blue Doctor. "You
bet I'm satisfied. And if you got a black mark along with
the rest of us, you earned it all the way."</p>
<p>"That still doesn't make it right," Dal said from across
the room.</p>
<p>"You just keep out of this for a minute," Tiger said.
"Jack has got to get a couple of things straight, and this is
the time for it right now."</p>
<p>Dal shook his head. "I can't keep out of it," he said. "You
got me off the hook by shifting the blame, but you put
yourself in trouble doing it. Dr. Tanner could just as well
have thrown us both out of the service as not."</p>
<p>Tiger snorted. "On what grounds? For a petty little error
like this? He wouldn't dare! You ought to read the log books
of some of the other GPP ships some time and see the kind
of bloopers they pull without even a reprimand. Don't
worry, he was mad enough to throw us both out if he
thought he could make it stick, but he knew he couldn't.
He knew the council would just review the case and reverse
his decision."</p>
<p>"It was still my error, not yours," Dal protested. "I should
have gone ahead and finished the case on the spot. I knew it
at the time, and I just didn't quite dare."<SPAN name="page75" id="page75"></SPAN></p>
<p>"So you made a mistake," Tiger said. "You'll make a
dozen more before you get your Star, and if none of them
amount to any more than this one, you can be very happy."
He scowled at Jack. "It's only thanks to our friend here
that the Black Doctor heard about this at all. A hospital ship
would have come to take the patient aboard, and the local
doctors would have been quieted down and that would have
been all there was to it. This business about losing a contract
is a lot of nonsense."</p>
<p>"Then you think this thing was just used as an excuse
to get at me?"</p>
<p>"Ask him," Tiger said, looking at Jack again. "Ask him
why a Black Doctor and a Four-star Surgeon turned up
when we just called for a hospital ship."</p>
<p>"I called the hospital ship," Jack said sullenly.</p>
<p>"But you called Dr. Tanner too," said Tiger. "Your nose
has been out of joint ever since Dal came aboard this ship.
You've made things as miserable for him as you could, and
you just couldn't wait for a chance to come along to try
to scuttle him."</p>
<p>"All right," Jack said, "but he was making a mistake. Anybody
could see that. What if the patient had died while he
was standing around waiting? Isn't that important?"</p>
<p>Tiger started to answer, and then threw up his hands in
disgust. "It's important—but something else is more important.
We've got a job to do on this ship, and we can't do it
fighting each other. Dal misjudged a case and got in trouble.
Fine, he won't make that mistake again. It could just as well
have been you, or me. We'll all make mistakes, but if we
can't work as a team, we're sunk. We'll all be drummed out
of the patrol before a year is out." Tiger stopped to catch
his breath, his face flushed with anger. "Well, I'm fed up
with this back-stabbing business. I don't want a fight any<SPAN name="page76" id="page76"></SPAN>
more than Dal does, but if I have to fight, I'll fight to get it
over with, and you'd better be careful. If you pull any more
sly ones, you'd better include me in the deal, because if Dal
goes, I go too. And that's a promise."</p>
<p>There was silence for a moment as Jack stared up at Tiger's
angry face. He shook his head and blinked, as though he
couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. He looked
across at Dal, and then back at Tiger again. "You mean
you'd turn in your collar and cuff?" he said.</p>
<p>"If it came to that."</p>
<p>"I see." Jack sat down at the control panel, still shaking
his head. "I think you really mean it," he said soberly. "This
isn't just a big brother act. You really like the guy, don't
you?"</p>
<p>"Maybe I do," Tiger said, "but I don't like to watch anybody
get kicked around just because somebody else doesn't
happen to like him."</p>
<p>The control room was very quiet. Then somewhere below
a motor clicked on, and the ventilation fan made a quiet
whirring sound. The teletype clicked sporadically down the
corridor in the communications room. Dal sat silently, rubbing
Fuzzy between the eyes and watching the two Earthmen.
It seemed suddenly as if they were talking about somebody
a million miles away, as if he were not even in the
room.</p>
<p>Then the Blue Doctor shrugged and rose to his feet. "All
right," he said to Tiger. "I guess I just didn't understand
where you stood, and I suppose it wasn't my job to let the
Black Doctor know about the situation here. I don't plan
to be making all the mistakes you think we're going to make,
and I won't take the blame for anybody else's, but I guess
we've got to work together in the tight spots." He gave Dal
a lop-sided grin. "Welcome aboard," he said. "We'd better<SPAN name="page77" id="page77"></SPAN>
get this crate airborne before the people here come and cart
it away."</p>
<p>They moved then, and the subject was dropped. Half an
hour later the <i>Lancet</i> lifted through the atmospheric pull of
the Moruan planet and moved on toward the next contact
point, leaving the recovering patient in the hands of the native
physicians. It was not until hours later that Dal noticed
that Fuzzy had stopped quivering, and was resting happily
and securely on his shoulder even when the Blue Doctor
was near.</p>
<hr class="longer" />
<p><SPAN name="page78" id="page78"></SPAN></p>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />