Contamination Crew: Restored Classics to Go Edition

· Otbebookpublishing
Ebook
23
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

Red Doctor Samuel B. Jenkins thought his career crisis began with a bureaucratic accusation from the icy Black Service. It turns out the real disaster was waiting aboard the medical survey ship Mercy: a pink, shapeless organism called a hlorg, quietly devouring the vessel from within. What first seemed like a mass delusion on Mauki IV becomes a nightmare of hard evidence when the creature follows Jenkins home, forcing Hospital Earth's doctors to confront a biological threat that mocks every rule they trust. As Green Doctor Wally Stone, Black Doctor Turvold Neelsen, and the rest of the crew investigate, they discover a monster with no cells, organs, or waste—only a self-propagating mass of protoplasm capable of breaking matter down to the nuclear level. Severed pieces can regrow or become new hlorgs, making containment nearly impossible. But amid the horror, the crew uncovers a fatal weakness: dilute hydrochloric acid destroys the organism's enzyme system. Faced with dwindling supplies and a threat that cannot be reasoned with, the doctors resort to grim improvisation, dark humor, and quarantine. Sharp, satirical, and suspenseful, this science-fiction tale skewers medical authority, bureaucracy, and scientific certainty as it turns a "fantasy" into a deadly reality. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.
Red Doctor Samuel B. Jenkins thought his career crisis began with a bureaucratic accusation from the icy Black Service. It turns out the real disaster was waiting aboard the medical survey ship Mercy: a pink, shapeless organism called a hlorg, quietly devouring the vessel from within. What first ...

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About the author

Alan Edward Nourse was an American physician, science fiction writer, and sharp observer of the promises and perils of modern science, a background that gave his fiction both credibility and urgency. Born in 1928 and trained in medicine, he brought a clinician's eye to the human body and a storyteller's instinct to the ethical dilemmas surrounding technology, illness, and social change. Over the course of his career, he became known for fast-moving, idea-driven fiction that appeared in magazines, novels, and stories for younger readers, helping to shape mid-century American science fiction with its blend of adventure, realism, and moral inquiry. His work often explored medical innovation, environmental danger, corporate power, and the vulnerability of ordinary people caught inside systems larger than themselves, themes that feel especially contemporary in an age of public-health crises, biotechnology, and anxiety about scientific responsibility. Nourse's writing remains significant because it treats science not as abstract spectacle but as something deeply human, capable of healing or harm depending on who controls it and why. For today's readers, his fiction offers both entertainment and a reminder that progress always carries ethical consequences. Readers who enjoy thoughtful science fiction, medically informed speculation, and stories that combine suspense with social relevance are especially likely to appreciate his work.

Alan Edward Nourse was an American physician, science fiction writer, and sharp observer of the promises and perils of modern science, a background that gave his fiction both credibility and urgency. Born in 1928 and trained in medicine, he brought a clinician's eye to the human body and a storyt...

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