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Star Surgeon by Alan E. Nourse
page 47 of 196 (23%)
other things." But obviously he wasn't satisfied, and when Jack
disappeared toward the storeroom, Tiger turned to Dal. "You shouldn't
have given in," he said. "If you give that guy as much as an inch,
you're just asking for trouble."

"It isn't a matter of giving in," Dal insisted. "I think he was right,
that's all. Don't let's start a fight where we don't have to."

Tiger yielded the point, but when Jack returned, Tiger avoided him,
keeping to himself the rest of the evening. And later, as he tried to
get to sleep, Dal wondered for a moment. Maybe Tiger was right. Maybe he
was just dodging a head-on clash with the Blue Doctor now and setting
the stage for a real collision later.

Next day the argument was forgotten in the air of rising excitement as
embarkation orders for the _Lancet_ came through. Preparations were
completed, and only last-minute double-checks were required before
blast-off.

But an hour before count-down began, a jitney buzzed across the field,
and a Two-star Pathologist climbed aboard with his three black-cloaked
orderlies. "Shakedown inspection," he said curtly. "Just a matter of
routine." And with that he stalked slowly through the ship, checking the
storage holds, the inventories, the lab, the computer with its
information banks, and the control room. As he went along he kept firing
medical questions at Dal and Tiger, hardly pausing long enough for the
answers, and ignoring Jack Alvarez completely. "What's the normal range
of serum cholesterol in a vegetarian race with Terran environment? How
would you run a Wenberg electrophoresis? How do you determine individual
radiation tolerance? How would you prepare a heart culture for cardiac
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