There was a signal buzzer, the two-minute warning before the Koenig
drive took over. Dal tossed the tape spools back into the bin for
refiling, and went forward to the control room.

Just short of two hours later, the _Lancet_ shifted back to normal
space drive, and the cold yellow sun of the Moruan system swam into
sight in the viewscreen. Far below, the tiny eighth planet glistened
like a snowball in the reflection of the sun, with only occasional rents
in the cloud blanket revealing the ragged surface below. The doctors
watched as the ship went into descending orbit, skimming the outer
atmosphere and settling into a landing pattern.

Beneath the cloud blanket, the frigid surface of the planet spread out
before them. Great snow-covered mountain ranges rose up on either side.
A forty-mile gale howled across the landing field, sweeping clouds of
powdery snow before it.

A huge gawky vehicle seemed to be waiting for the ship to land; it shot
out from the huddle of gray buildings almost the moment they touched
down. Jack slipped into the furs that he had pulled from stores, and
went out through the entrance lock and down the ladder to meet the dark
furry creatures that were bundling out of the vehicle below. The
electronic language translator was strapped to his chest.

Five minutes later he reappeared, frost forming on his blue collar, his
face white as he looked at Dal. "You'd better get down there right
away," he said, "and take your micro-surgical instruments. Tiger, give
me a hand with the anaesthesia tanks. They're keeping a patient alive
with a heart-lung machine right now, and they can't finish the job. It
looks like it might be bad."