Birthright

orifice was the only one that fogged the crystal of his watch. However, he had never come across any

being that required four mouths, nor did it seem likely that the remaining orifices could all be breathing apparatus, unless the being had the equivalent of three stuffed noses. Theycould be ears, but it seemed unlikely; in every species he had ever examined, human and nonhuman, sapient and nonsapient, the ears were set much farther apart for greater efficiency. Urethra and anus? Possibly; but, if so, which was which, and how could he differentiate them from the mouth? He grinned at the thought of some alien physician pouring the equivalent of hot chicken broth into his rectum, then frowned as he realized that it would only be funnyafter he cured the patient. Or, he admitted honestly to himself,if he cured it. The Pnathian had two eyes. The lids were over them, but he had lifted them and seen that they were quite dull, with the pupils reacting only very slightly to light stimuli. Just above the eyes was the cranium, an oblong structure stuck atop the rest of the face at a 45-degree angle, almost like a baby whose head was terribly misshapen due to a difficult birth. Its pulse was almost twice that of his own, but that could simply be because of the gravitational difference. Or it could be a sign of impending death. Or... Darlinski cursed once again, stepped back, and stared at the Pnathian. He felt terribly oppressed. Hell, oxygen-breathers weren't even his specialty. But Jacobson was on vacation somewhere on Deluros VIII, so they'd pulled the boy genius out of the chlorine ward, pointed him in the direction of the Pnathian, patted him on the head, and said Go.

The question, of course, was: Go where? Hammett broke his concentration, such as it was, by calling on the intercom. “Any ideas yet?”

“All of ‘em pertain to what I'm going to do to you once I get this patient out of my hair,” said Darlinski disgustedly.

“I hope we're both still here long enough for you to have a chance,” said Hammett. “I've been checking up on the story, and it's true. The government's bought us a little more time, but if we haven't got our ambassador on its feet and ready to exonerate us in a few days, that's it.” “I don't suppose anyone has yet thought to get me any useful information from a Pnathian medic?” said Darlinski.

“Yes and no,” said Hammett.

“And just what in blazes is that supposed to mean?” “Yes, they thought to ask, and no, nobody got you anything. You don't understand the political situation. I can hardly believe it myself. I don't know if this race is composed of nothing but paranoids or what, but they won't send anyone here or even feed us any information about their physiology until they know their ambassador is all right.”

“Thereby making sure that it's never going to be all right,” said Darlinski grimly.