he muttered. "Let's hope one or the other knows something about
surgery."

"I think we'll do all right," Dal said slowly.

"I think you'd better," Jack Alvarez replied.

Dal and Tiger looked at each other, and Tiger shrugged. "It's all
right," he said. "We know our jobs, and we'll manage."

Dal nodded, and started back for the bunk room. No doubt, he thought,
they would manage.

But if he had thought before that the assignment on the _Lancet_ was
going to be easy, he knew now that he was wrong.

Tiger Martin may have been Doctor Arnquist's selection as a crewmate for
him, but there was no question in his mind that the Blue Doctor on the
_Lancet_'s crew was Black Doctor Hugo Tanner's choice.

* * * * *

The first meeting with Jack Alvarez hardly seemed promising to either
Dal or Tiger, but if there was trouble coming, it was postponed for the
moment by common consent. In the few days before blast-off there was no
time for conflict, or even for much talk. Each of the three crewmen had
two full weeks of work to accomplish in two days; each knew his job and
buried himself in it with a will.

The ship's medical and surgical supplies had to be inventoried, and