t that. If I'd had the wit to think beyond the end
of my nose, there wouldn't have been any problem."

"I see," the Black Doctor said. He pointed to Dal. "So it was this one
who really came up with the answers and directed the whole program on
this problem, is that right?"

"That's right," Jack said firmly. "He should get all the credit."

Something stirred in Dal's mind and he felt Fuzzy snuggling in tightly
to his side. He could feel the cold hostility in the Black Doctor's
mind, and he started to say something, but the Black Doctor cut him off.
"Do you agree to that also, Dr. Martin?" he asked Tiger.

"I certainly do," Tiger said. "I'll back up the Blue Doctor right down
the line."

The Black Doctor smiled unpleasantly and nodded. "Well, I'm certainly
happy to hear you say that, gentlemen. I might say that it is a very
great relief to me to hear it from your own testimony. Because this time
there shouldn't be any argument from either of you as to just where the
responsibility lies, and I'm relieved to know that I can completely
exonerate you two, at any rate."

Jack Alvarez's jaw went slack and he stared at the Black Doctor as
though he hadn't heard him properly. "Exonerate us?" he said. "Exonerate
us from what?"

"From the charges of incompetence, malpractice and conduct unbecoming to
a physician which I am lodging against your colleague in the Red Service
here," the Black Doctor said angrily. "Of course, I was confident that
neither of you two could have contributed very much to this bungling
mess, but it is reassuring to have your own statements of that fact on
the record. They should carry more weight in a Council hearing than any
plea I might make in your behalf."

"But--but what do you mean by a Council hearing?" Tiger stammered. "I
don't understand you! This--this problem is _solved_. We solved it as a
patrol team, all of us. We sent in a brand new medical service contract
from those people...."

"Oh, yes. _That!_" The Black Doctor drew a long pink dispatch sheet from
an inner pocket and opened it out. The doctors could see the photo
reproductions of their signatures at the bottom. "Fortunately--for you
two--this bit of nonsense was brought to my attention at the first relay
station that received it. I personally accepted it and withdrew it from
the circuit before it could reach Hospital Earth for filing."

Slowly, as they watched him, he ripped the pink dispatch sheet into a
dozen pieces and tosse