of the table stood up, shaking with rage.
"Listen to him!" he cried to the others. "Once again he is defending
this creature and turning his back on common sense. All I ask is that we
keep our skills among our own people and avoid the contamination that
will surely result--"

Doctor Tanner broke off, his face suddenly white. He coughed, clutching
at his chest, and sank down groping for his medicine box and the water
glass. After a moment he caught his breath and shook his head. "There's
nothing more I can say," he said weakly. "I have done what I could, and
the decision is up to the rest of you." He coughed again, and slowly the
color came back into his face. The Blue Doctor had risen to help him,
but Tanner waved him aside. "No, no, it's nothing. I allowed myself to
become angry."

Black Doctor Arnquist spread his hands. "Under the circumstances, I
won't belabor the point," he said, "although I think it would be good if
Doctor Tanner would pause in his activities long enough for the surgery
that would make his anger less dangerous to his own life. But he
represents a view, and his right to state it is beyond reproach." Doctor
Arnquist looked from face to face along the council table. "The decision
is yours, gentlemen, I would ask only that you consider what our highest
calling as physicians really is--a duty that overrides fear and
selfishness. I believe Dal Timgar would be a good physician, and that
this is more important than the planet of his origin. I think he would
uphold the honor of Hospital Earth wherever he went, and give us his
loyalty as well as his service. I will vote to accept his application,
and thus cancel out my colleague's negative vote. The deciding votes
will be cast by the rest of you."

He sat down, and the White Doctor looked at Dal Timgar. "It would be
good if you would wait outside," he said. "We will call you as soon as a
decision is reached."

* * * * *

Dal waited in an anteroom, feeding Fuzzy and trying to put out of his
mind for a moment the heated argument still raging in the council
chamber. Fuzzy was quivering with fright; unable to speak, the tiny
creature nevertheless clearly experienced emotions, even though Dal
himself did not know how he received impressions, nor why.

But Dal knew that there was a connection between the tiny pink
creature's emotions and the peculiar talent that Black Doctor Arnquist
had spoken of the night before. It was not