He felt Murgatroyd's pulse. The role of Murgatroyd in the Med Ship _Esclipus Twenty_ was not only that of charming companion in the long, isolated runs in overdrive. Murgatroyd was a part of the Med Service. His tribe had been discovered on a planet in the Deneb sector, and men had made pets of them, to the high satisfaction of the _tormals_. Presently it was discovered that veterinarians never had _tormals_ for patients. They were invariably in robustuous good health. They contracted no infections from other animals; they shared no infections with anybody else. The Med Service discovered that _tormals_ possessed a dynamic immunity to germ and bacteria-caused diseases. Even viruses injected into their bloodstreams only provoked an immediate, overwhelming development of antibodies, so that _tormals_ couldn't be given any known disease. Which was of infinite value to the Med Service. Now every Med Ship that could be supplied with a _tormal_ carried a small, affectionate, whiskered member of the tribe. Men liked them, and they adored men. And when, as sometimes happened, by mutation or the simple enmity of nature, a new kind of infection appeared in human society--why--_tormals_ defeated it. They produced specific antibodies to destroy it. Men analyzed the antibodies and synthesized them, and they were available to all the humans who needed them. So a great many millions of humans stayed alive, because _tormals_ were pleasant little animals with a precious genetic gift of good health. * * * * * Calhoun looked at his sweep-second watch, timing the muscular spasms that Murgatroyd displayed. They coincided with irregularities in Murgatroyd's heartbeat, coming at approximately two-second intervals. The tautening of the muscles lasted just about half a second. "But I don't feel it!" said Calhoun. Murgatroyd whimpered again and said, "_Chee-chee!_" "What's going on?" demanded Allison with the impatience of a very important man indeed. "If the beast's sick, he's sick! I've got to find--" Calhoun opened his med kit and went carefully through it until he found what he needed. He put a pill into Murgatroyd's mouth. "Swallow it!" he commanded. Murgatroyd resisted, but the pill went down. Calhoun watched him sharply. Murgatroyd's digestive system was delicate, but it was dependable. Anything that might be poisonous, Murgatroyd's stomach rejected instantly and emphatically. The pill stayed down. "Look!" said Allison indignantly. "I've got business to do! In this attache case I have millions of interstellar credits, in cash, to pay down on purchases of land and factories. I ought to make some damned good deals! And I figure that that's as important as anything else you can think of! It's a damned sight more important than a beast with a belly-ache!" Calhoun looked at him coldly. "Do you own land on Texia?" he asked.