"What about you?" demanded Kim.
Calhoun shrugged.
"You'd be surprised how much authority I have—when I can make it stick," he said dryly. "As a Med Ship man I've authority to take complete charge of any health emergency. You people have a hitherto unknown plague here. That's one emergency. The present inhabitants of the city haven't got it. That's another. So since I have authority and reason to exercise it if I can, I'm going to the city to take a little action."
"You'll be killed," said Kim.
"Possibly," admitted Calhoun. "But the number of chance happenings that could favor me is very much greater than the number of breaks that could favor the invaders. And there's the matter of colonists. Prospective colonists. You're being hunted so hard that they must be about due. They've probably been immunized against this plague, but technically I shouldn't let them land on a plague-stricken planet."
Kim Walpole stared.
"You mean you'll try to stop them?"
"I shall try," said Calhoun, "to implement the authority vested in me by the Med Service for such cases as this. The rules about quarantine are rather strict."
"You'll be killed," said Kim, again.
Calhoun ignored the repeated prediction.