
The General Practice Patrol’s newest mission begins with a frantic, top‑grade emergency ping from Morua II—a Class VI world long shunned after a deadly encounter left a crew‑man’s ears torn off. Red Doctor Sam Jenkins and his green‑undershorts partner Wally Stone are thrust into an impossible dilemma: the universal medical contract forces them to answer, yet every attempt to negotiate with Morua II has ended in violence and mystery. Their ship, the Lancet, swivels toward the jungle‑shrouded planet as the crew wrestles with the law that binds Hospital Earth to any planet that dares request aid, even when the request seems impossible.
As they close in, the doctors discover a single, ominous black‑striped card that hints at a hidden plague and a secret someone on the last doomed expedition may have leaked. Tension builds between duty and self‑preservation, while the crew’s differing philosophies—Jenkins’ stoic adherence to protocol and Stone’s rebellious instinct—clash over whether to obey the contract or defy an order that could cost them everything. The story rolls forward with a blend of hard‑boiled space‑opera and medical intrigue, inviting listeners to wonder just how far a doctor will go when the universe itself seems to be coughing.
Language
en
Duration
~27 minutes (26K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2019-10-03
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1928–1992
A doctor who turned his medical knowledge into lively science fiction, he wrote stories for both younger and adult readers and also produced clear, popular nonfiction about medicine and science.
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by Alan Edward Nourse

by Alan Edward Nourse

by Alan Edward Nourse

by Alan Edward Nourse

by Alan Edward Nourse

by Alan Edward Nourse

by Alan Edward Nourse

by Alan Edward Nourse