"White, James - Sector General 04 - Ambulance Ship.PDB" - читать интересную книгу автора (White James)

Conway ignored the rhetoric and tried to answer the questions. He said. УThe patient is alive, just barely, and the indications are that it is both diseased-the exact nature of the disease is not yet known-and suffering from gross physical injury, specifically a punctured wound made by a large, high-velocity projectile or a tightly focused heat beam which passed through the base of the neck and the upper chestal area. The wound entrance and exit is sealed by the black covering or growth-we still donТt know which-encasing the body. Regarding the possibility of intelligence, the cranial capacity is large enough not to rule this out, but again, the head is too deeply unconscious to radiate detectable emotion. The manipulatory appendages, whose degree of specialization or otherwise can give a strong indication of the presence or absence of intelligence, have been removed.
УNot by us,Ф Conway added.
OТMara was silent for a moment, then he said, УI see. Another one of your deceptively simple cases. No doubt you will have deceptively simple special requirements. Accommodation? Physiology tapes? Information on planet of origin?Ф
Conway shook his head. УI donТt believe that you have a physlology tape that will cover this patientТs type-all the winged species we know are light-gravity beings, and this one has muscles for about four Gs. The present accommodation is fine, although weТll have to be careful in case of contamination of or from the chlorine level above us-the seals to storage compartments like this are not designed for constant traffic, unlike the ward airlocks-Ф
УI didnТt know that, of course.Ф
УSorry, sir,Ф said Conway. УI was thinking aloud, and partly for the benefit of Surgeon-Lieutenant Brenner, who is visiting this madhouse for the first time. Regarding information on its planet of origin, I would like you to approach Colonel Skempton to ask him if it would be possible for Torrance to return to that area to investigate the two nearer star systems, to look for beings with a similar physiological classification.Ф
УIn other words,Ф said OТMara dryly, Уyou have a difficult medical problem and think that the best solution is to find the patientТs own doctor.Ф
Conway smiled and said, УWe donТt need full cultural contact- just a quick look, atmosphere samples and specimens of local plant and animal life, if Torrance wouldnТt mind soft-landing a probe-Ф
OТMara broke the connection at that point with a sound which was untranslatable and Conway, now that they had gone as far as they could with the patient without the path reports, suddenly realized how hungry he was.


III

To reach the dining hall reserved for warm-bodied oxygen breathers they had to travel through two levels, none of which required protective suits, and a network of corridors crowded with entities which flapped, crawled, undulated and occasionally walked past them. They were met at the entrance by Prilicla who was carrying a folder of green path reports.
As they entered the last Earth-human table was being taken by a bunch of crab-like Melfans and a Tralthan-Melfans could adapt themselves to the low stools and the Tralthans did everything including sleep on their six elephantine feet. Prilicla spotted an empty table in the Kelgian area and flew across to claim it before the party of Corps maintenancemen could get there. Luckily it was beyond the range of their emotional radiation.
Conway began eagerly leafing through the reports once he saw that the Lieutenant was being shown by Murchison how to balance on the edge of a Kelgian chair within reach of the food he had ordered. But for once BrennerТs attention was not on the shapely pathologist. He was staring at Prilicla, his eyebrows almost lost in his hairline.
УCinrusskins prefer to eat while hovering-they say it aids the digestion,Ф explained Murchison, and added, УThe slipstream helps cool the soup, too.Ф
Prilicla maintained a stable hover while they concentrated on refuelling, breaking off only to pass around the reports. Finally Conway, feeling pleasantly distended, turned to the Cinrusskin.
УI donТt know how you managed it,Ф he said warmly. УWhen I want a fast report from Thornnastor the most he will let me do is just two places in the queue.Ф
Prilicla trembled at the compliment as it replied УI insisted, quite truthfully, that our patient was at the point of death.Ф
УBut not,Ф said Murchison dryly, Уthat it has been in that condition for a very long time.Ф
УYouТre sure of that?Ф asked Conway.
УI am now,Ф she answered seriously, tapping one of the reports as she spoke. УThe indications are that the large punctured wound was inflicted by a meteorite collision some time after the disease, that is the barnacles and coating material were in position. The coating which flowed into and across the wound, effectively sealed it.
УAs well,Ф she continued, Уthese tests show that a very complex chemical form of suspended animation-not just hypothermia was used and that it was applied organ by organ, almost cell by cell, by micro-injections of the required specifics. In a way you could think of it as if the creature had been embalmed before it was quite dead in an effort to prolong its life.Ф
УWhat about the missing legs or claws?Ф said Conway, Уand the evidence of charring under the coating in the areas behind the wings? And the pieces of what seems to be a different kind of barnacle in those areas?Ф
УIt is possible,Ф Murchison replied, Уthat the disease initially affected the beingТs legs or claws, perhaps during its equivalent of nesting. The removal of the limbs and the evidence of charring you mention might have been early and unsuccessful attempts at curing the patientТs condition. Remember that virtually all of the creatureТs body wastes were eliminated before the coating was applied. That is standard procedure before hibernation, anesthesia or major surgery.
The silence which followed was broken by the Lieutenant, who said, УExcuse me, IТm getting lost. This disease or growth, what exactly do we know about it?Ф
They knew that the outward symptoms of the disease were the barnacle-like growths, Murchison told him, which covered the patientТs tegument so completely that it could have been a suit of chain mail. It was still open to argument whether the barnacles were skin conditions which had sprouted rootlets or a subcutaneous condition with a barnacle-like eruption on the surface, but in either event they were held by a thick pencil of fine rootlets extending and subdividing to an unknown depth within the patient. They penetrated not only the subcutaneous tissue and underlying musculature, but practically all of the vital organs and central nervous systems. And the rootlets were hungry. There could be no doubt from the condition of the tissue underlying the barnacles that this was a severely wasting disease which was far advanced.
УIt seems to me that you should have been called in earlier,Ф said Brenner, Уand that the patient was sealed up just before it was due to die.Ф
Conway nodded and said, УBut it isnТt hopeless. Some of our e-ts practice micro-surgery techniques which would enable them to excise the rootlets, even the ones which are tangled up in the nerve bundles. It is a very slow procedure, however, and there is the danger that when we revive the patient the disease will also be revived and that it might progress faster than the micro-surgeon. I think the answer is to learn as much as we possibly can about the disease before we do anything else.Ф
When they returned to the patient there was a message waiting from OТMara to say that Torrance had left with the promise of preliminary reports on the two solar systems nearest to the find within three days. During those three days Conway expected to devise procedures which would remove the coating and barnacles from the patient, arrest the disease and initiate curative surgery so that the scoutshipТs reports would be needed only to prepare proper accommodation for the patientТs convalescence.
During those three days, however, they got precisely nowhere.
The material which encased barnacles and patient alike could be drilled and chipped away with great difficulty and an enormous waste of time-the process resembled that of chipping out a fossil without inflicting damage, and this particular fossil was fifty feet long and over eighty from tip to tip of its partially folded wings. When Conway insisted that Pathology produce a faster method of stripping the patient he was told that the coating was a complex organic, that the specifics they had devised for dissolving it would produce large quantities of toxic gases-toxic to the patient as well as the attending physicians-and that the shell material of the barnacles would be instantly dissolved by this solvent and that it would not be good for the patientТs skin and underlying tissue, either. They went back to drilling and chipping.
Murchison, who was continually withdrawing micro-specimens from the areas affected by the rootlets, was informative but unhelpful.
УIТm not suggesting that you should abandon this one,Ф she said sympathetically, Уbut you should start thinking about it. In addition to the widespread tissue wastage, there is evidence of structural damage to the wing muscles-damage which may well have been selfinflicted-and I think the heart has ruptured. This will mean major surgical repairs as well as-Ф
УThis muscle and heart damage,Ф said Conway sharply. УCould it have been caused by the patient trying to get out of its casing?Ф УIt is possible but not likely,Ф she replied in a voice which reminded him that he was not talking to a junior intern and that past and present relationships could change with very little notice. УThat coating is hard, but it is relatively very thin and the leverage of the patientТs wings is considerable. I would say that the heart and muscle damage occurred before the patient was encased.Ф
УIТm sorry if began Conway.
УThere is also the fact,Ф she went on coldly, Уthat the barnacles are clustered thickly about the patientТs head and along the spine. Even with our tissue and nerve regeneration techniques, the patient may never be able to think or move itself even if we are successful in returning it to a technically living state.Ф
УI hadnТt realized,Ф said Conway dully, Уthat it was as serious as that. But there must be something we can do He tried to pull his face muscles into a smile. У. . . if only to preserve BrennerТs illusions about the miracle-workers of Sector General.Ф
Brenner had been looking from one to the other, obviously wondering whether this was a spirited professional discussion or the beginning of some kind of family fight. But the Lieutenant was tactful as well as observant. He said, УI would have given up a long time ago.
Before either of them could reply the communicator chimed and Chief of Pathology Thornnastor was framed in the screen.
УMy department,Ф said the Tralthan, Уhas worked long and diligently to discover a method of removing the coating material by chemical means, but in vain. The material is, however, affected by intense heat. At high temperatures the surface crumbles, the ashy deposit can be scraped or blown away and heat again applied. The process can be continued safely until the coating is very thin, after which it could be removed in large sections without harm to the patient.Ф
Conway obtained the temperature and thickness figures, thanked Thornnastor and then used the communicator to call the maintenance section for cutting torches and operators. He had not forgotten MurchisonТs doubts regarding the advisability of attempting a cure, but he had to go on trying. He did not know that the great, diseased bird would end as a winged vegetable, and he would not know until they knew everything possible about the disease which was affecting it.
Because the heat treatment was untried they began near the tail, where the vital organs were deeply buried and where the area had already been disturbed, presumably by the efforts of their medical predecessors.
After only half an hourТs continuous burning they had their first stroke of luck in three days. They discovered a barnacle which was embedded upside down in the patient-its bundle of rootlets fanned out to link up with the other barnacles, but a few of them curved down and past the rim of its shell to enter the patient. The surface rootlet network was clearly visible as the flame of the torch burned the rootlet material into a fine, incandescent web. One of the briefly incandescent rootlets pointed towards a barnacle which was larger and differently shaped.
Patiently they painted both objects and their immediate surroundings with the cutting torches, brushing away the crumbling layers of coating until it was wafer thin. They cracked it, carefully peeled back the remains of the coating and lifted away two perfect specimens.
УThey are dead,Ф asked Conway, Уnot just dormant?Ф
УThey are dead,Ф said Prilicla.
УAnd the patient?Ф
УLife is still present, friend Conway, but the radiation is extremely weak, and diffuse.Ф