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.The Snapcard wasn’t visible, either.McMurtrey saw Jin in the throng, moving away from the center of attention.Why does Jin want those things? It had to be him.the broom.McMurtrey hurried toward Orbust to help him.“My card,” Orbust gasped.“Where’s my card?”“Does anyone see that card he was holding?” a man asked.No one responded.“Uhhhh, aaah!” Orbust groaned.“I need a doctor!”McMurtrey pushed his way through, knelt by Orbust and dabbed around his eye with a handkerchief.The eye didn’t look too bad, but the brow was badly split, dripping blood into the eye.He stopped the flow.Sister Mary and her companion Sister Agatha got through, and the latter cradled Orbust’s head.He wasn’t twitching anymore, but had a terrible grimace on his face.Archbishop Perrier shouted for Appy to send medical aid.“Is there a doctor aboard?” McMurtrey asked.“Processing data,” Appy reported.“Cannot locate infirmary or assigned attendants.all was in order at departure.processing.I don’t think we jettisoned anything like that.Shusher, did you?.Oh, here it is.an infirmary with no attendants.not my fault.”“Hang who’s at fault!” McMurtrey shouted.“Just get us some aid, pronto!”“Sister Agatha and I are nurses,” Sister Mary said, “but we need supplies and a facility where we can handle the injuries.” She chewed at her lip, looked around.McMurtrey was perspiring at the brow, guessed that the close gathering of people was absorbing available oxygen.He asked them to move back, and most cooperated.“Oh, there you are!” Appy exclaimed.“Sister Mary and Sister Agatha are the attendants! Weren’t you informed?”Sister Mary shook her head, looked blankly at her companion and said, “No.We were just asked to be here, without explanation.”“‘Well, it was adequately explained to your bishop,” Appy claimed.Invited for particular tasks, McMurtrey thought.Like Corona, they must not have participated in the visual assembly of this ship.“Why aren’t you on duty?” the computer demanded.“You think this is a party ship, with no work to do?”“We’d be happy to report” Sister Mary said, with more than a hint of irritation, “if we knew where to go.”“Why didn’t you ask? You think you can just show up and have everything laid out for you?”It’s Appy’s fault, McMurtrey thought, judging from the intensity with which the computer was attempting to distance itself from culpability.This suggested a stern taskmaster above, one who didn’t coddle subordinates.“I showed up for work, Appy!” Corona yelled, from a short distance away.“You took my captaincy, gave me the runaround, broke your word! Now you’re chastising these gentle ladies for something they had nothing to do with? What kind of a crazy operation is this?”“Make yourself useful, Corona,” came the response.“Take these nurses and their patient to the infirmary.Level Sixteen, Corridor Two, the little room on the left with the caduceus on the door.”“All egress blocked,” Corona said, “as we’ve been telling you.Is your brain blocked, too?”“Get over to the patient, Corona! Now! Then I’ll, lead you by the hand, since that seems necessary.”Corona emerged from the crowd and went to McMurtrey’s side.Her forehead was creased in anger.“Out of the way, McMurtrey!” Appy commanded.“You’re slowing things down!”“Don’t jump on me! I was just—” McMurtrey stood up and moved aside.Corona, the nuns and Orbust disappeared into the deck, just as the chairs had done in their assembly room.“Magic!” a woman exclaimed.“The work of the Devil,” offered another.“No need to worry,” Appy said, with sudden cheer, “S.O.P.”“Standard Operating Procedure,” a man said.“Oh shut up,” another man said.“You think we’re a bunch of dodos?”Soon we’ll hear the hiss of gas, McMurtrey thought.But this thought humored him only slightly.McMurtrey experienced a wave of concern for Corona.This computer/ship combination was not operating at peak efficiency.Could Corona and the others have been jettisoned accidentally?The air in the corridor was stale, and several of the women complained of this.“Not to worry,” Appy said.“The ventilation will be operating presently.We haven’t lost a passenger yet!”That might bode well for Corona, and McMurtrey was about to ask for confirmation, when several pilgrims shouted that the corridor was open.McMurtrey became one with those around him, and like a segmented creature with a single brain, they rushed through doors that before had been closed.Just before he left the corridor, McMurtrey glanced over his shoulder and saw Room B-3 open, with more confinees pouring into the rear of McMurtrey’s throng.Miraculously, no one was trampled.Since no one had ordered him back to his cabin, McMurtrey took this opportunity to explore the ship.It was like the Shusher of old but off a bit as if dream-distorted, reshaped in ways McMurtrey couldn’t discern
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