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

Conway studied the area bared by the removal of the two specimens. Beneath the first was a small, deep hollow which followed the contours of the reversed shell. The underlying tissues showed a high degree of compression, and the few rootlets in evidence were much too weak and fine to have held the barnacle so tightly against the patient. Something or somebody had pressed the barnacle into position with considerable force.
The second, and different, specimen had been held only by the coating, apparently-it did not possess rootlets. But it did possess wings folded into long slits in its carapace and so, on closer inspection, did the first type.
Prilicla alighted beside them, trembling slightly and erratically in the fashion which denoted excitement. It said, УYou will have noticed that these are two entirely different species, friend Conway. Both are large, winged insects of the type which require a lowgravity planet with a thick air envelope-not unlike Cinruss. It is possible that the first type is a predator parasite and that the second is a natural enemy, introduced by a third party in an attempt to cure the patient.Ф
Conway nodded. УIt would explain why type one turned on to its back when approached by type two...
УI hope,Ф said Murchison apologetically, Уthat your theory is flexible enough to accept another datum.Ф She had been scraping persistently at a piece of coating which was still adhering to a smaller slit in the barnacle. УThe coating material was not applied by a third party, it is a body secretion of type one.
УIf you donТt mind,Ф she added, УIТll take both of these beasties to Pathology for a long, close look.Ф
For several minutes after she left nobody spoke. Prilicla began to tremble again and, judging by the expression of BrennerТs face, it was at something the officer was feeling. It was the Lieutenant who broke the silence.
УIf the parasites are responsible for the coating,Ф he said sickly, Уthen there was no earlier attempt to cure the patient. Our heavygravity patient was probably attacked on the light-gravity planet of the flying barnacles, they sank in their rootlets or tendrils, paralyzed its muscles and nervous system and encased it in a . . . a shell of slowly feeding maggots when it wasnТt even dead-Ф
УA little more clinical detachment, Lieutenant,Ф said Conway sharply. УYouТre bothering Prilicla. And while something like that may have happened, there are still a few awkward facts which donТt fit. That depression under the inverted barnacle still bothers me.Ф
УMaybe it sat on one of them,Ф said Brenner angrily, his feeling of revulsion temporarily overcoming his manners. УAnd I can understand why its friends dumped the patient into space-there was nothing else they could do.Ф
He hesitated, then said, УIТm sorry, Doctor. But is there anything else that you can do?Ф
УThere is something,Ф said Conway grimly, Уthat we can try. .

IV

According to Prilicla their patient was, just barely, alive, and now that the barnacles were known to be the attacking organisms and not just surface eruptions, they and their coating must be removed as quickly as possible. Removal of the tendrils would require more delicate and time-consuming work, but the surface condition would respond to heat and, with the barnacles removed, the patient just might recover enough to be able to help Conway to help it. Pathology had already suggested methods for restarting its paralyzed life processes.
He would need at least fifty cutting torches operating simultaneously with high-pressure air hoses to blow the ash away. They would begin burning on the head, neck, breast and wing-muscle areas, freeing the patient of barnacle control of the brain, lungs and heart. If the heart was in a terminal condition emergency surgery would be necessary to bypass it-Murchison had already mapped out the arterial and venous processes in the area. And in case the patient twitched or began flapping its wings, they would need the protection of heavy-duty suits.
But no-Prilicla, who would be monitoring the emotional radiation during the op, would need maximum protection. The others would have to dodge until it could be immobilized with pressors. If emergency surgery was necessary, heavy-duty suits were too cumbersome anyway. As well, the communicator would have to be moved to a side compartment in case it was damaged, because the adjoining levels would have to be alerted and various specialist staff would have to be standing by.
While he gave the necessary orders Conway moved briskly but unhurriedly and his tone was quiet and confident. But all the time he had a vague but persistent feeling that he was saying and doing and, most of all, thinking all the wrong things.
OТMara did not approve of his proposed line of treatment but, apart from asking whether Conway intended curing or barbecuing the patient, he did not interfere. He added that there was still no report from Torrance.
Finally they were ready to go. The maintenance technicians with cutting torches and air lines hissing-but directed away from the patient-were positioned around the head, neck and leading edges of the wings. Behind them waited the specialist and medical technicians with stimulants, a general purpose heart-lung machine and the bright, sterile tools of their trade. The doors to the side compartments were dogged open in case the patient revived too suddenly and they had to take cover. There was no logical reason for waiting any longer.
Conway gave the signal to begin only seconds before his communicator chimed and Murchison, looking disheveled and very cross, filled the screen.
УThere has been a slight accident, an explosion,Ф she said. УOur type two flew across the lab, damaged some test equipment and scared hell out of-Ф
УBut it was dead,Ф protested Conway. УThey were both dead- Prilicla said so.Ф
УIt still is,Ф said Murchison, Уand it didnТt fly exactly-it shot away from us. IТm not yet sure of the mechanics of the process, but apparently the thing produces gases in its intestinal tract which react explosively together, propelling it forward. Used in conjunction with its wings this would help it to escape fast-moving natural enemies like the barnacle. The gases must still have been present when I began work.
УThere is a similar species, much smaller,Ф she went on, Уwhich is native to Earth. We studied the more exotic types of Earth fauna in preparation for the e-t courses. It was called a bombardier beetle and it-Ф
УDoctor Conway!Ф
He swung away from the screen and ran into the main compartment. He did not need to be an empath to know that something was seriously wrong.
The team leader of the maintenancemen was waving frantically and Prilicla, encased in its protective globe and supported by gravity nullifiers, was drifting above the manТs head and trembling.
УIncreasing awareness, friend Conway,Ф reported the empath. УSuggesting rapidly returning consciousness. Feelings of fear and confusion.Ф
Some of the confusion, thought Conway, belongs to me...
The maintenanceman simply pointed.
Instead of the hard coating he had expected to see there was a black, oily, semi-liquid which flowed and rippled and dripped slowly on to the floor plating. As he watched the area where the flame was being applied, the stuff rolled away from one of the barnacles, which twitched and unfolded its wings. The wings flapped, slowly at first, and it began pulling free of the patient, drawing its long tendrils out of the bird until it was completely detached and it went blundering into the air.
УKill the torches,Ф said Conway urgently, Уbut cool it with the air hose. Try to harden that black stuff.Ф
But the thick, black liquid would not harden. Once initiated by the heat the softening process was self-sustaining. The patientТs neck, no longer supported by solid material, slumped heavily on to the deck followed a few seconds later by the massive wings. The black pool around the patient widened and more and more of the barnacles struggled free to blunder about the compartment on wide, membranous wings, trailing their tendrils behind them like long, fine plumes.
УBack everybody! Take cover, quickly!Ф
Their patient lay motionless and almost certainly dead, but there was nothing that Conway could do. Neither the maintenancemen nor the medical technicians were protected against those fine, harmless-looking tendrils of the barnacles-only Prilicla in its transparent globe was safe there, and now there seemed to be hundreds of the things filling the air. He knew that he should feel badly about the patient, but somehow he did not. Was it simply delayed reaction or was there another reason?
УFriend Conway,Ф said Prilicla, bumping him gently with its globe, УI suggest that you take your own advice.Ф
The thought of fine, barnacle tendrils probing through his clothing, skin and underlying tissues, paralyzing his muscles and scrambling his brain made him run for the side compartment, closely followed by Brenner and Prilicla. The Lieutenant closed the door as soon as the Cinrusskin was inside.
There was a barnacle already there.
For a split second ConwayТs mind was like a camera, registering everything as it was in the small room: the face of OТMara on the communicator screen, as expressionless as a slab of rock with only the eyes showing his concern; Prilicla trembling within its protective globe; the barnacle hovering near the ceiling, its tendrils blowing in a self-generated breeze, and Brenner with one eye closed in a diabolical wink as he pointed his gun-a type which threw explosive pellets-at the hovering barnacle.
There was something wrong.
УDonТt shoot,Ф said Conway, quietly but firmly, then asked, УAre you afraid, Lieutenant?Ф
УI donТt normally use this thing,Ф said Brenner, looking puzzled, Уbut I can. No, IТm not afraid.Ф
УAnd IТm not afraid because you have that gun,Ф said Conway. УPrilicla is protected and has nothing to fear. So who He indicated the empathТs trembling feelers. У. . . is afraid?Ф
УIt is, friend Conway,Ф said Prilicla, indicating the barnacle. УIt is afraid and confused and intensely curious.
Conway nodded. He could see Prilicla beginning to react to his intense relief. He said, УNudge it outside, Prilicla, when the Lieutenant opens the door-just in case of accidents. But gently.Ф
As soon as it was outside, OТMaraТs voice roared from the communicator.
УWhat the blazes have you done?Ф
Conway tried to find a simple answer to an apparently simple question. He said, УI suppose you could say that I have prematurely initiated a planetary re-entry sequence.