"Went back to the ship for the rest of the surgical pack."

Dal shook his head. "I don't know what to do. I think we should get him
to a hospital ship."

"Is it more than you can handle?" Tiger said.

"I could probably do it all right--but I could lose him, too."

A frown creased Tiger's face. "Dal, it would take six hours for a
hospital ship to get here."

"I know that. But on the other hand...." Dal spread his hands. He felt
Fuzzy crouching in a tight frightened lump in his pocket. He thought
again of the delicate, painstaking microscopic work that remained to be
done to bring the new section of lung into position to function, and he
shook his head. "Look, these creatures hibernate," he said. "If we could
get him cooled down enough, we could lighten the anaesthesia and
maintain him as is, indefinitely."

"This is up to you," Tiger said. "I don't know anything about surgery.
If you think we should just hold tight, that's what we'll do."

"All right. I think we'd better. Have them notify Jack to signal for a
hospital ship. We'll just try to stick it out."

Tiger left to pass the word, and Dal went back into the operating room.
Suddenly he felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his
shoulders. There would be Three-star Surgeons on a Hospital Ship to
handle this; it seemed an enormous relief to have the task out of his