第19节

mess deck to a small four-berth hospital ward, bade him good night and

announced he would collect him in the morning.

The ward was one of six set behind translucent partitions on either

side of a wide corridor. Two white-coated orderlies sat at a lamp-lit

table inside the door to the unit. The rest of the lights were turned

down to twilight level. Steve took the only bed that was made up and

slept soundly.

Over the next two days, Steve underwent an exhaustive medical

examination covering virtually every part of his body - both inside and

out. He was given a complete body scan, skin tissue, bone marrow,

blood, saliva and urine samples were taken and he had the unappetising

task of spooning a sample of his faeces into a small jar. His mental

and physical reflexes were tested by a wide variety of devices ranging

from electronic displays to a rubber hammer, and electrodes taped to

his ribs and his newly shorn skull monitored his heart and brain.

Steve assumed he was being checked for radiation damage but, as at

Pueblo, none of the medical staff explained the purpose of the tests,

or communicated any of the results. His body was manipulated and

examined as impersonally as one might examine a black box filled with

transistors. Chisum, who he glimpsed occasionally, was his only

contact with reality.

At the end of the second day, when he found himself alone with Chisum,

Steve asked the medic if he knew how he was doing.

Chisum went to the doorway to check that no one was coming then opened

up the taps of a nearby sink unit.

He beckoned Steve to come closer. 'I haven't seen anything official,

you understand, but the word is you're clean." His face split into a

broad grin. 'You don't look surprised."

Steve frowned. 'I'm not surprised because, persdnally, I never felt

better in my life. But . . . are you saying they've found absolutely

nothing wrong with me at all?"

'Yeah,' replied Chisum.

Steve stared at him. 'But ... you and I know it's impossible to

survive that long without some -' Chisum didn't let him finish.

'Yeah.

Maybe that's why they're keeping you under wraps. I'll tell you

something else, soldier-' He glanced again at the doorway and brought

his face in close so that Steve could make out what he was saying above

the noise of the running water.

'You ain't the first."

The news was so surprising, it left Steve temporarily speechless. But,

for some unexplained reason, it also had a deeper, more unsettling

effect. His legs felt wobbly - as if the ground was crumbling away

beneath him. Part of him seemed to be coming loose. There was the

same roaring in his ears he had heard when Roz had told him about their

mental contact during his first overground flight. Shaking

uncontrollably, he made an uncoordinated grab for Chisum's arm.

Chisum evaded his grasp and backed off.

Steve found his voice but the questions came out in a hopeless

jumble.

'What d'you mean I'm not - who are these - how can ?!" 'Shut up! Sit

down!" hissed Chisum. 'Someone's coming! Forget what I told you,

okay?!" He turned away abruptly and walked to the far end of the room

as a medic who'd been involved in the two-day examination entered and

came over to where Steve, dressed in a white hospital gown, sat limply

with his hands in his lap.

The medic laid his hand on Steve's shoulder. 'Okay, you can get

dressed now." Steve didn't respond. 'Hey, soldier-what's the

matter?

You're trembling."

'Just cold,' said Steve weakly. He rose sluggishly to his feet forcing

his head up and his shoulders back. The roaring in his ears began to

fade. 'Nothing's wrong. I feel fine, sir. Just fine..."

'Good,' replied the medic. 'Tomorrow morning you go before the Board

of Assessors for your first debriefing session."

Later that night, while Steve slept restlessly in the empty hospital

ward, Chisum used his ID-card to gain entry to a small conference room

where a large, wall-mounted tv screen faced the open end of a U-shaped

table with nine seats around it. As Chisum sat down in the centre seat

at the base of the U, a camera mounted above the tv unit recorded his

arrival and confirmed his identity by subjecting his electronic image

to computer analysis. At the appointed time, the red, whit