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whole ward full of uncovered Illen-san bodies. He was not surprised to find
that none of them had harbored the virus, because he could not imagine any
creature, no matter how desperate it was for a host, wanting to occupy a body
like that
Ward followed ward, as did the bewildering succession of patients and medical
staff, many of them belonging to species he was meeting for the first time.
There was no time to ask questions or wait for answers. None of the beings
were as visually unpleasant as the Illensans and neither had any of them been
former virus hosts. The speed of their visits aroused comment, as did the odor
of chlorine emanating from their unnecessary protective suits, but the
presence of the Padre insured that the remarks were polite. In the intervening
corridors all of the people they met gave similar negative results
"I'm beginning to wonder," said Hewlitt, "if we aren't deluding ourselves with
our host-recognition capability. We have an indescribable well, I suppose you
could call it a fellow feeling for each other. But the feeling might be for
each other and nobody else. And there is something wrong with this whole
situation. I don't know what it is exactly, but I think you know and could
tell me.
Lioren stopped so suddenly that Hewlitt had to take three paces backward. They
seemed to have left the medical levels, because the people who passed them
were wearing Maintenance coveralls and the doors and side corridors bore the
interspecies symbols for power-transmission stations, heat-exchanger systems,
and, above the opening just ahead of them, a radiation warning. He wondered
what kind of ward he would find up here
"Are you tired?" asked Lioren
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"No," said Hewlitt. "Are you trying to change the subject?
"As you may already have heard," said the Padre, "I trained here as a medic
before. . .. What I'm trying to say is that I know my Earth-human physiology
well enough to be aware of your physical limitations. By now you should be
very tired as well as hungry. My next and final patient contact is
classification VXTM. That is a radiation-eater and therefore completely
unsuitable as a host entity for the virus. It is also a terminal case and is
being visited for no other reason than that I
visited it once and it requested as many subsequent visits as were possible.
You may as well take this opportunity to eat or rest.
"I'm not tired," said Hewlitt. "Have you forgotten that the legacy left us by
the virus is one of optimum health which presumably includes a body that
operates at peak efficiency and is less subject to fatigue? Am I right in
thinking that, following our recent high level of physical activity, you also
are feeling less tired than you would normally have been?
"I dislike arguing with you," said the Padre, "especially when, as now, you
are right. I have much on my mind and this is not an important matter. But
very well, we are not as tired as we should be.
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It was clear that Lioren was irritated with him, probably for good and perhaps
religious reasons so far as a padre making a sick call was concerned. He tried
to apologize
"I seem to have spent my whole life arguing," he said, "usually with medics
who were sure they were right and I was wrong. I'm sorry, it has become a bad
habit that I should curb. If you have strong personal or religious reasons for
not wanting my company on this visit, just say so. But I also feel that if we
have checked all of your possible virus contacts together up to now, in the
interests of consistency we should finish the job that way even though we may
be wasting our time.
When the Padre did not respond, he laughed and went on, "As well, if you
consider the Telfi radiation-eaters as unsuitable hosts, what about that
ultra-low-
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absolute £ero, and if it is an intelligent virus, why would it want to?
Lioren ignored his attempt at humor. It said, "I do not know enough about the
virus creature's motivations to be able to speculate about why it would do
anything. And if you remember your home world's natural history, there are
many instances of simple forms of life surviving for extended periods under
your polar ice layers, sometimes for millions of years.
"And do you remember," said Hewlitt, trying hard to control his own
irritation, "my telling O'Mara that our virus creature passed through the
fringes of a nuclear detonation? And that it survived the experience for more
than twenty years before it infected me?
They had to move aside quickly to avoid two Orligians in Monitor Corps
uniforms who were driving their equipment litters like racing vehicles, but it
was a few minutes before Lioren spoke
"I do not remember that," it said, "because I did not overhear that part of
the meeting so that information is new to me. But there is a vast difference
between the short burst of radiation sustained by the virus and the intense,
lifelong exposure required by the Telfi. You are arguing with me again, but
again you may be right. Very well, you may accompany me into the Telfi
section.
"Thank you," said Hewlitt. "After I see the patient the two of you will be
left alone to speak in private.
"That will not be necessary this time," said the Padre. "The patient is close
to death. Beyond its self-knowledge of that fact, it has not said that there
is anything troubling its mind. As you would expect, all of the Telfi
religions are based on various forms of sun worship, but it has not said
whether or not it believes in any of them. All that it needs or wants at this
time is contact with another intelligent creature, or creatures, who will
listen to it and speak in the Language of Strangers until it is no longer
capable of forming thoughts or words. While it is suffering all we can do is
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