The Interstellar Medical Service was just about the only remaining
galactic organization that every one of the hundreds of inhabited
planets respected. So when their service broke down in Star Sector
Twelve, it created a very dangerous situation, When Calhoun took his med
ship out of overdrive near the sector's planet Weald, he was vaguely
aware of the risks. But the crisis came home to him with a crash the
moment he radioed in for landing coordinates. "Contamination! Full
Mobilization! Red Alert! Death to Blueskins!" Such were the nature of
his greetings. And it began to look like a case of the cosmic jitters
that only the most drastic of orbital surgery could cure.