Sector General

1983

A collection of stories charting the development of Sector General.

"Accident" pre-dates the formation of Sector 12 General Hospital. Although the planets had been at peace for almost two hundred years, the peace is very brittle with the various races careful not to give offence.

On the planet of Nidia an elderly Terran and his equally ancient Orligian friend have just been ordered off the planet for aggressive peace making.

As they stand waiting for their ship off-planet a Nidian runabout crashes into an other-species transporter. Unfortunately the transport holds chlorine breathing Illensans. Both vehicles go crashing into the crowded departure lounge and spreading death with each breath taken by the trapped oxygen breathers. Not that the oxygen in the atmosphere was doing anything good to the Illensans!

In the emergency all thought of the cloying politeness that usually surrounded E.T. contacts was thrown out of the window in the necessary speed required to aid the dying.

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"Survivor" has the Rhabwar rescuing a mollusc like creature from the shattered remnants of it's starship. Although the case is not difficult, the crew are all overcome by depression. As the alien is treated aboard Sector General Dr Conway is made aware of the fact that all those in the surroundings were beginning to feel each and every twitch of all the patients. Not a happy time until Dr Conway realised what was happening and evacuated the alien out of range of the hospital and the emotions of its patients.

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"Investigation" brings the Rhabwar to a planet as it chases the ship that had set off its emergency beacon. What they find is a strange scene, with bodies of various species scattered over the scenery. The team had to cope with the weather which was exceptionally windy and the vegetation which was unusually catholic in its tastes as well as being exceptionally mobile. And had one member of the crew really eaten some of it's crew mates?

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"Combined Operation" has the Rhabwar being called out to the scene of a major catastrophe by a Monitor Corps scoutship. Over a fairly short period of time, the two ships realise that they have a real doolly on their hands. There were literally hundreds of individual sections of a ship. At first they thought it might have been a wheel type space station but it soon becomes clear that they were looking at the remains off a huge spiral. As the reconstruction continues it becomes clear that something needs to be done over the missing bits!

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