still
waiting for a response.

When it finally came, there was no message of congratulations, nor even
any acknowledgment of the new contract. Instead, there was only a terse
message:

PROCEED TO REFERENCE POINT 43621 SECTION XIX AND STAND BY
FOR INSPECTION PARTY

Tiger took the message and read it in silence, then handed it to Dal.

"What do they say?" Jack said.

"Read it," Dal said. "They don't mention the contract, just an
inspection party."

"Inspection party! Is that the best they can do for us?"

"They don't sound too enthusiastic," Tiger said. "At least you'd think
they could acknowledge receipt of our report."

"It's probably just part of the routine," Dal said. "Maybe they want to
confirm our reports from our own records before they commit themselves."

But he knew that he was only whistling in the dark. The moment he saw
the terse message, he knew something had gone wrong with the contract.
There would be no notes of congratulation, no returning in triumph and
honor to Hospital Earth.

Whatever the reason for the inspection party, Dal felt certain who the
inspector was going to be.

It had been exciting to dream, but the scarlet cape and the silver star
were still a long way out of reach.

CHAPTER 12

THE SHOWDOWN

It was hours later when their ship reached the contact point
co-ordinates. There had been little talk during the transit; each of
them knew already what the other was thinking, and there wasn't much to
be said. The message had said it for them.

Dal's worst fears were realized when the inspection ship appeared,
converting from Koenig drive within a few miles of the _Lancet_. He had
seen the ship before--a sleek, handsomely outfitted patrol class ship
with the insignia of the Black Service of Pathology emblazoned on its
hull, the private ship of a Four-star Black Doctor.

But none of them anticipated the action taken by the inspection ship as
it drew within lifeboat range of the _Lancet_.

A scooter shot away from its storage rack on the black ship, and a crew
of black-garbed technicians piled into the _Lancet_'s entrance lock,
dressed in the special decontamination suits worn when a ship was
returning from a plague spot into uninfected territory.

"What is this?" Tiger demanded as the technicians started unloading
decontamination gear into the lock. "What are you doing with that
stuff?"

The squad leader looked at him sourly. "You're in quarantine, Doc,