Alan E. Nourse - The Bladerunner Read Online Free PDF

without doing the patient any harm. Sometimes I just take longer with a procedure than necessary, or I reverse the order of certain steps, or leave certain steps out, or do things slightly differently from one case to the next—anything so that the computer can't pin down a coherent, consistent pattern of action. I make random mistakes—never bad mistakes, just little ones—and then I use randomly chosen remedies, never the same remedy for the same mistake twice in a row. All so that the computer can't program a robot to do a safe transplant procedure by learning from me how it's done. Aha, here's Molly."
    A tall, dark-haired girl had come into the coffee shop and was making her way back to their booth. Although she wore no cap, the dark blue cape with the red satin lining and the traditional white uniform marked her as a registered nurse. Her blue eyes were wide with concern as she slipped into the booth facing Doc and Billy. "Oh, I'm glad you got away when you did," she said breathlessly. "I had to leave by the parking garage, and even
    then It took forever to get through the police cordon—"
    "Police cordon!" Billy said. "What happened after we left?"
    "Those Naturists outside the Hospital—somebody pulled a knife and it turned into a full-blown riot. Night sticks, tear gas, half a dozen police copters herding bystanders away. The demonstrators broke through into the lobby and were trying to occupy the business office before the police finally got them out; they must have arrested a dozen of them. Three patients and one doctor injured, according to one report. If anything like this happens again, I'm afraid there's really going to be trouble."
    "It'll happen again," Doc said somberly. "Basically the Naturists are a violent group, and when certain ones of them say 'Destroy the Hospital* they mean literally take it down, brick by brick." The older man shrugged his shoulders. "Well, that's Health Control's problem. We've got problems of our own. Billy has the packs, right?"
    "Two T&A packs."
    "Then let's get moving."
    Once outside the coffee shop, they caught a ground-cab to the heli-cab station a few blocks north. The place was crowded with early-evening travelers, and the small interurban helicopters were landing and taking off in rapid sequence like bees around a hive. Doc dialed for an auto-pilot model, and they joined the line waiting at the designated landing pad. Doc stood first on one foot and then the other, impatient and irritable, while Billy clutched the flight bag with the surgical packs tightly under his arm. Only Molly Barret appeared calm and unruffled as they waited. Doc kept peering critically at Billy over his glasses. Finally he said, "When did you scrub your hands last?"
    "This afternoon when I woke up," Billy said.
    "Nails and all? Looks to me like you've been shovel ing coal," Doc said.
    Billy looked at his hands, which were anything but clean. "Well, I can't help it if they get dirty. I scrubbed them."
    "How long?"
    "Maybe five, ten minutes."
    "I thought I told you twice a day for fifteen minutes at a time," Doc said. "What would you do if you had to step in and help me in an emergency?" Billy spread his hands helplessly. "Well, you might have to any time," Doc said testily. "When I tell you I want you surgically scrubbed, I mean surgically scrubbed. How about cap and mask? Did you bring them for yourself?"
    "You didn't tell me to bring them," Billy said.
    "Didn't tell you! Do I have to tell you every single time?"
    "Well, I just forgot."
    "Oh, great. I wonder what else you forgot."
    Molly interrupted. "It's about our turn," she said.
    "Why didn't you remind him about a cap and mask?" Doc asked her.
    "I didn't think of it."
    "You shouldn't have to, but if this idiot can't remember fundamentals like scrubbing his hands and bringing cap and mask, somebody has to remind him."
    "He's not an idiot," Molly said defensively. "You'd forget things too if you woke up and found a bug in your room. He's just