<h2><SPAN name="chapter12" id="chapter12"></SPAN>CHAPTER 12</h2>
<h3>THE SHOWDOWN</h3>
<p>It was hours later when their ship reached the contact
point co-ordinates. There had been little talk during the
transit; each of them knew already what the other was
thinking, and there wasn't much to be said. The message had
said it for them.</p>
<p>Dal's worst fears were realized when the inspection ship
appeared, converting from Koenig drive within a few miles
of the <i>Lancet</i>. He had seen the ship before—a sleek, handsomely
outfitted patrol class ship with the insignia of the
Black Service of Pathology emblazoned on its hull, the
private ship of a Four-star Black Doctor.</p>
<p>But none of them anticipated the action taken by the
inspection ship as it drew within lifeboat range of the <i>Lancet</i>.</p>
<p>A scooter shot away from its storage rack on the black
ship, and a crew of black-garbed technicians piled into the
<i>Lancet</i>'s entrance lock, dressed in the special decontamination
suits worn when a ship was returning from a plague
spot into uninfected territory.<SPAN name="page152" id="page152"></SPAN></p>
<p>"What is this?" Tiger demanded as the technicians started
unloading decontamination gear into the lock. "What are
you doing with that stuff?"</p>
<p>The squad leader looked at him sourly. "You're in quarantine,
Doc," he said. "Class I, all precautions, contact with
unidentified pestilence. If you don't like it, argue with the
Black Doctor, I've just got a job to do."</p>
<p>He started shouting orders to his men, and they scattered
throughout the ship, with blowers and disinfectants, driving
antiseptic sprays into every crack and cranny of the ship's
interior, scouring the hull outside in the rigid pattern prescribed
for plague ships. They herded the doctors into the decontamination
lock, stripped them of their clothes, scrubbed
them down and tossed them special sterilized fatigues to
wear with masks and gloves.</p>
<p>"This is idiotic," Jack protested. "We aren't carrying
any dangerous organisms!"</p>
<p>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's officially released, and from what I hear,
it's not going to be released for quite some time."</p>
<p>At last the job was done, and the scooter departed back
to the inspection ship. A few moments later they saw it
returning, this time carrying 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.</p>
<p>The scooter grappled the <i>Lancet</i>'s side, and Black Doctor
Hugo Tanner climbed wheezing into the entrance lock,
followed by the technician. He stopped halfway into the
lock to get his breath, and paused again as the lock swung
closed behind him. Dal was shocked at the physical change
in the man in the few short weeks since he had seen him<SPAN name="page153" id="page153"></SPAN>
last. The Black Doctor's face was gray; every effort of
movement brought on paroxysms of coughing. He looked
sick, and he looked tired, yet his jaw was still set in angry
determination.</p>
<p>The doctors stood at attention as he stepped into the
control room, hardly able to conceal their surprise at seeing
him. "Well?" the Black Doctor snapped at them. "What's
the trouble with you? You act like you've seen a ghost or
something."</p>
<p>"We—we'd heard that you were in the hospital, sir."</p>
<p>"Did you, now!" the Black Doctor snorted. "Hospital!
Bah! I had to tell the press something to get the hounds off
me for a while. These young puppies seem to think that
a Black Doctor can just walk away from his duties 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!"</p>
<p>The Black Doctor glared at Dal Timgar. "Well, I dare
say the Red Doctors will have their chance at me, all in
good time. But first there are certain things which must be
taken care of." He looked up at the attendant. "You're quite
certain that the ship has been decontaminated?"</p>
<p>The attendant nodded. "Yes, sir."</p>
<p>"And the crewmen?"</p>
<p>"It's safe to talk to them, sir, as long as you avoid physical
contact."</p>
<p>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 story of this affair in the Brucker
system, right from the start."</p>
<p>"But we sent in a full report," Tiger said.</p>
<p>"I'm aware of that, you idiot. I have waded through your
report, all thirty-five pages of it, and I only wish you hadn't<SPAN name="page154" id="page154"></SPAN>
been so long-winded. Now I want to hear what happened
directly from you. Well?"</p>
<p>The three doctors looked at each other. Then Jack began
the story, starting with the first hesitant "greeting" that had
come through to them. He told everything that had happened
without embellishments: their first analysis of the
nature of the problem, the biochemical and medical survey
that they ran on the afflicted people, his own failure to make
the diagnosis, the incident of Fuzzy's sudden affliction, and
the strange solution that had finally come from it. As he
talked the Black Doctor sat back with his eyes half closed,
his face blank, listening and nodding from time to time as
the story proceeded.</p>
<p>And Jack was carefully honest and fair in his account.
"We were all of us lost, until Dal Timgar saw the significance
of what had happened to Fuzzy," he said. "His idea of putting
the creature through the filter gave us our first specimen
of the isolated virus, and showed us how to obtain the antibody.
Then after we saw what happened with our initial
series of injections, we were really at sea, and by then we
couldn't reach a hospital ship for help of any kind." He went
on to relate Dal's idea that the virus itself might be the
intelligent creature, and recounted the things that happened
after Dal went down to talk to the spokesman again with
Fuzzy on his shoulder.</p>
<p>Through it all the Black Doctor listened sourly, glancing
occasionally at Dal and saying nothing. "So is that all?" he
said when Jack had finished.</p>
<p>"Not quite," Jack said. "I want it to be on the record
that it was my failure in diagnosis that got us into trouble.
I don't want any misunderstanding about that. If I'd had the
wit to think beyond the end of my nose, there wouldn't
have been any problem."<SPAN name="page155" id="page155"></SPAN></p>
<p>"I see," the Black Doctor said. He pointed to Dal. "So
it was this one who really came up with the answers and
directed the whole program on this problem, is that right?"</p>
<p>"That's right," Jack said firmly. "He should get all the
credit."</p>
<p>Something stirred in Dal's mind and he felt Fuzzy snuggling
in tightly to his side. He could feel the cold hostility
in the Black Doctor's mind, and he started to say something,
but the Black Doctor cut him off. "Do you agree to that
also, Dr. Martin?" he asked Tiger.</p>
<p>"I certainly do," Tiger said. "I'll back up the Blue Doctor
right down the line."</p>
<p>The Black Doctor smiled unpleasantly and nodded. "Well,
I'm certainly happy to hear you say that, gentlemen. I might
say that it is a very great relief to me to hear it from your
own testimony. Because this time there shouldn't be any
argument from either of you as to just where the responsibility
lies, and I'm relieved to know that I can completely
exonerate you two, at any rate."</p>
<p>Jack Alvarez's jaw went slack and he stared at the Black
Doctor as though he hadn't heard him properly. "Exonerate
us?" he said. "Exonerate us from what?"</p>
<p>"From the charges of incompetence, malpractice and conduct
unbecoming to a physician which I am lodging against
your colleague in the Red Service here," the Black Doctor
said angrily. "Of course, I was confident that neither of you
two could have contributed very much to this bungling mess,
but it is reassuring to have your own statements of that fact
on the record. They should carry more weight in a Council
hearing than any plea I might make in your behalf."</p>
<p>"But—but what do you mean by a Council hearing?" Tiger
stammered. "I don't understand you! This—this problem is
<i>solved</i>. We solved it as a patrol team, all of us. We sent in a<SPAN name="page156" id="page156"></SPAN>
brand new medical service contract from those people...."</p>
<p>"Oh, yes. <i>That!</i>" The Black Doctor drew a long pink
dispatch sheet from an inner pocket and opened it out. The
doctors could see the photo reproductions of their signatures
at the bottom. "Fortunately—for you two—this bit of nonsense
was brought to my attention 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."</p>
<p>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 <i>Lancet</i> 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."</p>
<p>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<SPAN name="page157" id="page157"></SPAN>
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."</p>
<p>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!"</p>
<p>"They say it's urgent, sir."</p>
<p>"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 <i>Lancet</i> crewmen.
"You will excuse me for a moment," he said, and disappeared
into the communications room.</p>
<p>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."</p>
<p>"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."</p>
<p>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<SPAN name="page158" id="page158"></SPAN>
Tanner is going to be certain that I don't get that Star, or
die trying."</p>
<p>"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."</p>
<p>"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."</p>
<p>"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."</p>
<p>But Dal was shaking his head. "Not this time, Tiger. This
time you keep out of it."</p>
<p>"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?"</p>
<p>"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."</p>
<p>"But I can't stand by and do nothing! When a friend of
mine needs help—"</p>
<p>"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.
<i>Leave me alone.</i> Don't stick your thumb in the pie."</p>
<p>Tiger just stared at the little Garvian. "Look, Dal, all
I'm trying to do—"</p>
<p>"I know what you're trying to do," Dal snapped, "and<SPAN name="page159" id="page159"></SPAN>
I don't want any part of it. I don't need your help, I don't
<i>want</i> it. Why do you have to force it down my throat?"</p>
<p>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."</p>
<p>"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."</p>
<p>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>I'm a person just like you are</i>. 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."</p>
<p>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?"</p>
<p>Tiger and Jack looked at each other. The silence in the
room was profound.</p>
<p>The Black Doctor turned to Dal. "And what about you?"</p>
<p>"I have something to say, but I'd like to talk to you alone."<SPAN name="page160" id="page160"></SPAN></p>
<p>"As you wish. You two will return to your quarters and
stay there."</p>
<p>"The attendant, too," Dal said.</p>
<p>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."</p>
<p>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 <i>Lancet</i>, 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, a small, comfortable thought had been sustaining him.</p>
<p>It didn't really matter how hostile or angry Black Doctor
Tanner might be; he knew that in a last-ditch stand there
was one way the Black Doctor could be handled.</p>
<p>He remembered the dramatic shift from hostility to friendliness
among the Bruckians when he had come down from
the ship with Fuzzy on his shoulder. Before then, he had
never considered using his curious power to protect himself
and gain an end; but since then, without even consciously
bringing it to mind, he had known that the next time would
be easier. If it ever came to a showdown with Black Doctor
Tanner, a trap from which he couldn't free himself, there
was still this way. <i>The Black Doctor would never know
what happened</i>, he thought. <i>It would just seem to him,
suddenly, that he had been looking at things the wrong way.
No one would ever know.</i></p>
<p>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. One person would know what had happened:<SPAN name="page161" id="page161"></SPAN>
himself. On 31 Brucker, he had convinced himself
that the end justified the means; here it was different.</p>
<p>For a moment, as Black Doctor Tanner stared up at him
through the horn-rimmed glasses, Dal wavered. Why should
he hesitate to protect himself? he thought angrily. This attack
against him was false and unfair, trumped up for the sole
purpose of destroying his hopes and driving him out of the
Service. Why shouldn't he grasp at any means, fair or
unfair, to fight it?</p>
<p>But he could hear the echo of Black Doctor Arnquist's
words in his mind: <i>I beg of you not to use it. No matter
what happens, don't use it.</i> Of course, Doctor Arnquist
would never know, for sure, that he had broken faith ...
but <i>he</i> would know....</p>
<p>"Well," Black Doctor Tanner was saying, "speak up.
I can't waste much more time dealing with you. If you have
something to say, say it."</p>
<p>Dal sighed. He lifted Fuzzy down and slipped him gently
into his jacket pocket. "These charges against me are not
true," he said.</p>
<p>The Black Doctor shrugged. "Your own crewmates support
them with their statements."</p>
<p>"That's not the point. They're not true, and you know
it as well as I do. You've deliberately rigged them up to
build a case against me."</p>
<p>The Black Doctor's face turned dark and his hands
clenched on the papers on the desk. "Are you suggesting
that I have nothing better to do than to rig false charges
against one probationer out of seventy-five thousand traveling
the galaxy?"</p>
<p>"I'm suggesting that we are alone here," Dal said. "Nobody
else is listening. Just for once, right now, we can be honest.<SPAN name="page162" id="page162"></SPAN>
We both know what you're trying to do to me. I'd just like
to hear you admit it once."</p>
<p>The Black Doctor slammed his fist down on the table.
"I don't have to listen to insolence like this," he roared.</p>
<p>"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 body was trembling with anger. "You
have been determined from the very beginning that I should
never finish the medical training that I started. You've tried
to block me time after time, in every way you could think of.
You've almost succeeded, but never quite made it until this
time. But now you <i>have</i> to make it. If that contract were
to go through I'd get my Star, and you'd never again be
able to do anything about it. So it's now or never if you're
going to break me."</p>
<p>"Nonsense!" the Black Doctor stormed. "I wouldn't lower
myself to meddle with your kind. The charges speak for
themselves."</p>
<p>"Not if you look at them carefully. You claim I failed to
notify Hospital Earth that we had entered a plague area—but
our records of our contact with the planet prove that
we did only what any patrol ship would have done when
the call came in. We didn't have enough information to
know that there was a plague there, and when we finally
did know the truth we could no longer make contact with
Hospital Earth. You claim that I brought harm to two hundred
of the natives there, yet if you study our notes and
records, you will see that our errors there were unavoidable.
We couldn't have done anything else under the circumstances,
and if we hadn't done what we did, we would have
been ignoring the basic principles of diagnosis and treatment
which we've been taught. And your charges don't mention
that by possibly harming two hundred of the Bruckians, we<SPAN name="page163" id="page163"></SPAN>
found a way to save two million of them from absolute
destruction."</p>
<p>The Black Doctor glared at him. "The charges will stand
up, I'll see to that."</p>
<p>"Oh, I'm sure you will! You can ram them through and
make them stick before anybody ever has a chance to examine
them carefully. You have the power to do it. And by
the time an impartial judge could review all the records,
your survey ship will have been there and gathered so much
more data and muddied up the field so thoroughly that no
one will ever be certain that the charges aren't true. But
you and I know that they wouldn't really hold up under
inspection. We know that they're false right down the line
and that you're the one who is responsible for them."</p>
<p>The Black Doctor grew darker, and he trembled with
rage as he drew himself to his feet. Dal could feel his hatred
almost like a physical blow and his voice was almost a shriek.</p>
<p>"All right," he said, "if you insist, then the charges are
lies, made up specifically to break you, and I'm going to
push them through if I have to jeopardize my reputation to
do it. You could have bowed out gracefully at any time
along the way and saved yourself dishonor and disgrace,
but you wouldn't do it. Now, I'm going to force you to.
I've worked my lifetime long to build the reputation of
Hospital Earth and of the Earthmen that go out to all the
planets as representatives. I've worked to make the Confederation
respect Hospital Earth and the Earthmen who are
her doctors. You don't belong here with us. You forced
yourself in, you aren't an Earthman and you don't have the
means or resources to be a doctor from Hospital Earth. If
you succeed, a thousand others will follow in your footsteps,
chipping away at the reputation that we have worked
to build, and I'm not going to allow one incompetent alien<SPAN name="page164" id="page164"></SPAN>
bungler pretending to be a surgeon to walk in and destroy
the thing I've fought to build—"</p>
<p>The Black Doctor's voice had grown shrill, almost out of
control. But now suddenly he broke off, his mouth still
working, and his face went deathly white. The finger he
was pointing at Dal wavered and fell. He clutched at his
chest, his breath coming in great gasps and staggered back
into the chair. "Something's happened," his voice croaked.
"I can't breathe."</p>
<p>Dal stared at him in horror for a moment, then leaped
across the room and jammed his thumb against the alarm
bell.</p>
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