"James White - SG 03 - Major Operation" - читать интересную книгу автора (White James)

near-accidents with scalpels and the other mistakes, it is my opinion that some people are lucky,
others a little bit stupid at times, while others are fond of pulling other peoples' legs. Well,
Doctor?"
Conway took a firmer grip on the arms of his chair and said doggedly, "The dropped scalpel
was an FROB Type Six, a very heavy, unbalanced instrument. Even if it had struck handle first it
would have spun into Naydrad's side a few inches below the point of impact and caused a deep and
serious wound-if the blade had any actual physical existence at all! This is something I'm
beginning to doubt. That is why I think we should widen the scope of this investigation. May I
have permission to see Colonel Skempton and if necessary contact the Corps survey people, to check
on the origins of recent arrivals?"
The expected explosion did not come. Instead O'Mara's voice sounded almost sympathetic as
he said, "I cannot decide whether you are honestly convinced that you're onto something or simply
that you've gone too far to back down without looking ridiculous. So far as I'm concerned you
couldn't look anymore ridiculous at the moment. You should not be afraid to admit you were wrong,
Doctor, and begin repairing some of the damage to discipline your irresponsibility has caused."
O'Mara waited precisely ten seconds for Conway's reply, then he said, "Very well, Doctor.
See the Colonel. And tell Prilicla I'm rearranging its schedule-it may be helpful to have your
emotional echo-detector available at all times. Since you insist on making a fool of yourself you
might as well do it properly. Afterward-well, we will be very sorry to see Mannon go, and in all
honesty I suppose I must say the same about you. Both of you are likely to be on the same ship
out. .
A few seconds later he was dismissed very quietly.


Mannon himself had accused Conway of misguided loyalty and now O'Mara had suggested that his
present stand was the result of not wanting to admit to a mistake. He had been given an out, which
he had refused to take, and now the thought of service in the smaller multienvironment hospital,


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or even a planet-side establishment where the arrival of an e-t patient would be considered a
major event, was beginning to come home to him. It gave him an unpleasantly gone feeling in the
abdominal area. Maybe he was basing his theory on too little evidence and refusing to admit it.
Maybe the odd errors were part of an entirely different puzzle, with no connection whatever with
Mannon's trouble. As he strode along the corridors, taking evading action or being evaded every
few yards, the impulse grew in him to rush back to O'Mara, say yes to everything, apologize
abjectly and promise to be a good boy. But by the time he was ready to give into it he was outside
Colonel Skempton's door.
Sector General was supplied and to a large extent maintained by the Monitor Corps, which
was the Federation's executive and law enforcement arm. As the senior Corps officer in the
hospital, Colonel Skempton handled traffic to and from the hospital in addition to a horde of
other administrative details. It was said that the top of his desk had never been visible since
the day it arrived. When Conway was shown in he looked up, said "Good morning," looked down at his
desk and said, "Ten minutes . .
It took much longer than ten minutes. Conway was interested in traffic from odd points of
origin, or ships which had called at such places. He wanted data on the level of technology,
medical science and physiological classification of their inhabitants-especially if the
psychological sciences or psionics were well-developed or if the incidence of mental illness was