Synopsis
Now, in the latest adventure, the empathic Dr. Prilicla, a veteran of Sector General for years, is put in command of an expedition answering three distress beacons. What he finds is two hitherto-unknown intelligent species, one of which has nearly wiped out the other. And he also finds evidence of a botched first contact—along with a rare opportunity to set matters right.
Assuming, as always, that he can make an accurate diagnosis....
Kirkus Reviews
Another of this Northern Ireland author's fine yarns about the huge, multispecies space hospital, Sector General (Mind Changer, 1998, etc). This time, a hospital rescue ship with Senior Physician Prilicla, the timid, frail, empathic insectile Cinrusskin, on board, hurtles into space in response to no fewer than three distress beacons. Oddly, as the rescuers approach the first distressed ship, its crew frantically rejects help and instead sends the ship diving suicidally toward a nearby planet, where it crashes. Among the injured aliens is what may be a nonorganic life-form, though it may be dead. A nearby ship, apparently inert, turns out to be a ship-killer that also destroys computers. In this top-notch medical/psychological puzzle, Prilicla must sift the conflicts between two previously unknown alien races and the nonorganic druul—and then reach a correct diagnosis. White renders his weird aliens and their bizarre, precarious interactions with utter conviction: a splendid series, a worthy addition.