Extraterrestrial beings -- Fiction; Medical students -- Fiction; Science fiction
The _Teegar_ was near now, a great gleaming ship with the sign of the
house of SinSin on her hull. A lifeboat sprang from a launching rack and
speared across to the _Lancet_. Moments later the three doctors were
climbing into the sleek little vessel and moving across the void of
space to the huge Garvian ship.
It was like stepping from a jungle outpost village into a magnificent,
glittering city. The Garvian ship was enormous; she carried a crew of
several hundred, and the wealth and luxury of the ship took the
Earthmen's breath away. The cabins and lounges were paneled with
expensive fabrics and rare woods, the furniture inlaid with precious
metals. Down the long corridors goods of the traders were laid out in
resplendent display, surpassing the richest show cases in the shops on
Hospital Earth.
They received a royal welcome from the commander of the _Teegar_, an
aged, smiling little Garvian with a pink fuzz-ball on his shoulder that
could have been Fuzzy's twin. He bowed low to Tiger and Jack, leading
them into the reception lounge where a great table was spread with foods
and pastries of all varieties. Then he turned to Dal and embraced him
like a long-lost brother. "Your father Jai Timgar has long been an
honored friend of the house of SinSin, and anyone of the house of Timgar
is the same as my own son and my son's son! But this collar! This cuff!
Is it really possible that a man of Garv has become a physician of
Hospital Earth?"
Dal touched Fuzzy to the commander's fuzz-ball in the ancient Garvian
greeting. "It's possible, and true," he said. "I studied there. I am the
Red Doctor on this patrol ship."
"Ah, but this is good," the commander said. "What better way to draw our
worlds together, eh? But come, you must look and see what we have in our
storerooms, feast your eyes on the splendors we carry. For all of you, a
thousand wonders are to be found here."
Jack hesitated as the commander led them back toward the display
corridors. "We'd be glad to see the ship, but you should know that
patrol ship physicians have little money to spend."
"Who speaks of money?" the commander cried. "Did I speak of it? Come and
look! Money is nothing. The Garvian traders are not mere money-changers.
Look and enjoy; if there is something that strikes your eye, something
that would fulfill the desires of your heart, it will be yours." He gave
Dal a smile and a sly wink. "Surely our brother here has told you many
times of the wonders to be seen in a space trader, and terms can be
arranged that will make any small purchase a painless pleasure."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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