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in before the Captain's observations could develop into a lecture on ship
design philosophy. "We have matched hyperdrive generators on our wingtips and
per-haps these people had a similar idea."
"No, Doctor," Fletcher said in the cool, formal tone he used when he thought
someone was trying to tell him his business. "I examined those external spars,
which have been broken off too short to give any indication of the type of
structure they supported, but the wiring still attached to them is much too
thin to carry power to a hyperspace generator. In fact, I seri-ously doubt if
these people had either hyperdrive or artificial gravity, and the general
level of technology displayed is pretty elementary for a star-traveling race.
Then there is the apparent absence of an entry port. An airlock for this
beastie would have to be almost as long as the vessel itself."
"There are a few star-traveling species who do not use them," Conway said.
"For purely physiological reasons they do not indulge in extravehicular
activity, entering and leaving their ships only at time of departure and
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arrival."
"Suppose," Murchison said, "this vehicle is the being's spacesuit."
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"A nice idea, ma'am, but no," Fletcher said apologetically. "Apart from the
four viewports, whose angles of vision are severely limited because of their
small size and the space be-tween the outer and inner hulls, there is no
sensory input of any kind known to me and, more important, no external
ma-nipulators. But there must be some easy way of getting that beastie into
and out of that thing, whether it is a ship, a survival pod, or something
else."
There was a long silence, then Conway said, "I'm sorry, Captain. A few minutes
ago you were about to mention a third possibility when I interrupted you."
"I was," Fletcher said in the tone of one graciously receiving an apology.
"But you will understand, Doctor, that the theory is based on my initial
visual observation only and not, as yet, supported by accurate measurements.
Nevertheless, as I have already stated, this vessel is not a true cylinder but
appears to be curved slightly along its longitudinal axis.
"Now, an explosion or collision sufficiently violent to warp the cylinder out
of true," he went on, slipping into his lecturing manner, "would buckle and
open up seams in the hull plating, and leave evidence of heat discoloration
and indentations from flying debris. There are no such indications. So if the
longi-tudinal axis of the vessel is, in fact, a very flat curve rather than a
straight line, then the curvature was deliberate, built in. This would explain
the lack of power and control linkages and an artificial gravity system
because they used "
"Of course!" Conway broke in. "The hull beneath the flat deck was outward
facing and free of structural projections, which means that they got their
gravity the old-fashioned way by-"
"Will one of you," Murchison said crossly, "kindly tell me what you are
talking about?"
"Certainly," Conway said. "The Captain has convinced me that this structure is
not a ship or a lifeboat, but a section of a space station, an early Wheeltype
of very large diameter, which suffered a collision."
"A space station away out here?" Murchison sounded in-credulous. Then she
began to realize the implications and added feelingly, "In that case we could
have an awful lot of work ahead of us."
"Maybe not, ma'am," Fletcher said. "Admittedly there is a strong possibility
of finding many more space station segments, but the survivors may be very
few."
His tone became suddenly forceful. "Transferring that creature to our Casualty
Deck is out of the question. Instead I suggest we attach it to our hull,
extend
Rhabwar's hyperspace envelope accordingly, and whisk it back to Sector General
where their airlocks can easily handle a patient extraction problem of this
size. I am not the e-t medical specialist, of course, but I think we should do
this at once, leaving Tyrell to search for other survivors, and then return as
soon as possible for the others." "No," Conway said firmly.
"I don't understand you, Doctor." Behind his helmet visor Fletcher's face had
gone red.
Conway ignored him for a moment while he addressed Mur-chison and Prilicla,
who had drifted closer in spite of the strong emotional radiation being
generated in the area. He said, "The survivor, so far as we are able to see,
is linked to what appears to be some kind of life-support system by three
separate sets of tubing. It is deeply unconscious but not physically
distressed. There is also the fact that its vessel contains a reservoir of
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power which is not presently being used. Now, would either of you agree that
the observed emotional radiation and apparent lack of physical injury could be
the result of it being in a hibernation anesthesia condition?"
Before either of them could reply, Conway added, "Since there is no evidence
of the presence of the power-hungry, complex refrigeration systems which we
associate with sus-pended animation techniques, just three sets of tubing
entering its body, would you also agree that the life-form is a natural
hibernator?"
There was a short silence, then Murchison said, "We are familiar with the idea
of long-term suspended animation being associated with star travel that used
to be the only way to do it, after all, and the cold-sleeping travelers would
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Sector%20General.txt require neither air nor food during their trips. In the
case of a life-form with the ability to go periodically into a state of
hibernation for planetary environmental reasons, a minimal supply of food and
air would be required. It is quite possible that the natural process of
hibernation could be artificially initiated, extended, and counteracted by
specific medication and the food supplied intravenously, as seems to be the
case with our friend here."
"Friend Conway," Prilicla said, "the survivor's emotional radiation pattern
agrees in every particular with the hypothesis of hibernation anesthesia." "
Captain Fletcher was not slow on the uptake. He said, "Very well, Doctor. The
survivor has been in this condition for a very long time, so there is no great
urgency about moving it or the other survivors we might find to the hospital.
But what are your immediate intentions?"
Conway was aware of a multiple, purely subjective silence as the party on the
alien's hull and the communications officers who were listening in on Rhabwar
and Tyrell held their col-lective breath. He cleared his throat and said, "We
will examine this section of space station, if that is what it is, as closely
as possible without entering it, and simultaneously make as de-tailed a visual
examination of the survivor as we can using the Eye, and then we will all try
to think."
He had the feeling, very strong and not at all pleasant to judge by the
trembling of Prilicla's spidery limbs, that this was not going to be an easy
rescue.
For a little over three hours, the duration remaining to their lightweight
suits, they did nothing but think as they examined the exterior of the wreck
and what little they could see of its occupant, slowly adding data which might
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