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between crises. Conway was beginning to miss Sector General. He was glad that in a few days he would be going back, despite his feeling of dissatisfaction over all the loose ends he was leaving untied. He began to think about Murchison. That was something he had not done very often on Etla, either. Twice he had sent messages to her with the Elan specimens. He knew that Thornnastor in Pathology would see that she got them, even though Thornnastor was an FGLI with only the barest of passing interests in the emotional involvements of Earth- human DBDGs. But Murchison was the undemonstrative type. She might consider that going to the trouble of smuggling back a reply would be giving him too much encouragement, or maybe that kiss and run episode at the airlock had soured her on him completely. She was a peculiar girl. Very serious-minded, extremely dedicated, absolutely no time for men. The first time she agreed to date him it had been because Conway had just pulled off a slick op and wanted to celebrate, and that previously he had Page 51 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html worked with her on a case without once making a pass. Since then he had dated Murchison regularly and had been the envy of all the male DBDGs in the hospital. The only trouble was that they had nothing to be envious about... His lugubrious train of thought was interrupted by the arrival of a Corpsman who dropped a folder onto his desk and said, "The material on Teltrenn, Doctor. The other report was confidential to Colonel Williamson and has to be copied by his Writer. We'll have it for you in fifteen minutes. ~ "Thank you," said Conway. The Corpsman left and he began to read. Being a colony world which had not had the chance to grow naturally, Etla did not have national boundaries or the armed forces which went with them, but the police force enforcing the law on the planet were technically soldiers of the Emperor and under the command of Teltrenn. It had been a force of these policemen-soldiers who had attacked, and were still attacking, Lonvellin's ship. At first appraisal, the report stated, the evidence pointed to Teltrenn having a personality which was proud and power-hungry, but the cruelty usually found in such personalities was absent. In his relations with the native population-the Imperial Representative had not been born on Etla-Teltrenn showed fairness and consideration. It was plain that he looked down on the natives-way down, almost as if they were members of a lower species. But he did not, openly, despise them, and he was never cruel to them. Conway threw down the report; this was another stupid piece of an already senseless puzzle, and all at once he was sick of the whole silly business. He rose and stamped into the outer office, sending the door crashing against the wall. Stillman twitched slightly and looked up. "Dump that paperwork until morning!" Conway snapped. "Tonight we are going to indulge shamelessly in pleasures of the flesh. We're going to sleep in our own cabins. . "Sleep?" said Stillman, grinning suddenly. "What's that?" "I don't know," said Conway, "I thought you might. I hear it's a new sensation, unutterable bliss and very habit-forming. Shall we live dangerously . . . "After you," said Stillman. Outside the office block the night was pleasantly cool. There was broken cloud on the horizon but above them the stars seemed to crowd down, bright and thick and cold. This was a dense region of space, a fact further proved by the meteorites which made white scratches across the sky every few minutes. Altogether it was an inspiring and calming sight, but Conway could not stop worrying. He was convinced that he was missing something, and his anxiety was much worse out here under the sky than it had been at any time in the office. Suddenly he wanted to read that report on the Empire as quickly as possible. To Stillman, he said, "Do you ever think of something, then feel horribly ashamed for having the kind of dirty mind which thinks thoughts like that?" Stillman grunted, treating it as a rhetorical question, and they continued [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |