There was no argument now, and no
dissension. The procedure to be followed was a well-established routine:
acknowledge the call, estimate arrival time, relay the call and response
to the programmers on Hospital Earth, prepare for star-drive, and start
gathering data fast. With no hint of the nature of the trouble, their
job was to get there, equipped with as much information about the planet
and its people as time allowed.
The Moruan system was not distant from the _Lancet_'s present location.
Tiger calculated that two hours in Koenig drive would put the ship in
the vicinity of the planet, with another hour required for landing
procedures. He passed the word on to the others, and Dal began digging
through the mass of information in the tape library on Morua VIII and
its people.
There was a wealth of data. Morua VIII had signed one of the first
medical service contracts with Hospital Earth, and a thorough medical,
biochemical, social and psychological survey had been made on the people
of that world. Since the original survey, much additional information
had been amassed, based on patrol ship reports and dozens of specialty
studies that had been done there.
And out of this data, a picture of Morua VIII and its inhabitants began
to emerge.
The Moruans were moderately intelligent creatures, warm-blooded air
breathers with an oxygen-based metabolism.
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