30 years on Deneb, and he
had avidly accepted his lessons.

Why, he grumbled to himself on his way to the spaceport to meet the
unknown whippersnapper, why didn't Earth turn out young doctors the way
it used to? They ought to have the arrogance knocked out of them before
they left medical school. That's what must have happened to him, because
his attitude had certainly been humble when he landed.

The spaceport was jammed, naturally. Ship arrivals were infrequent
enough to bring everybody from all over the planet who was not on duty
at the farms, mines, factories, freight and passenger jets and all the
rest of the busy activities of this comparatively new colony. They
brought their lunches and families and stood around to watch. Dr. Kalmar
went to the platform.

The ship sat down on a mushroom of fire that swiftly became a flaming
pancake and then was squashed out of existence.

"I'm waiting for a shipment of livestock," enthused the man standing
next to Dr. Kalmar.

"You're lucky," the doctor said. "They can't talk back."

The man looked at him sympathetically. "Meeting a female?"

"Gabbier and more annoying," said Dr. Kalmar, but he didn't elaborate
and the man, with the courtesy of the frontier, did not pry for an
explanation.

Livestock and freight came down on one elevator and passengers came down
another. Slidewalks carried the cargo to Sterilization and travelers to
the greeting platform. Dr. Kalmar felt his shoulders droop. The man with
the medical bag had to be Dr. Hoyt and he was even more brisk, erect and
muscular than Dr. Kalmar had expected, with a superior and inquisitive
look that made the last assistant, unbearable as he'd been, seem as
tractable as one of the arriving cows.

Dr. Hoyt spotted him instantly and came striding over to grab his hand
in a grip like an ore-crusher. "You're Dr. Kalmar. Glad to know you. I'm
sure we'll get along fine together. Miserable trip. Had to change ships
four times to get here. Hope the food's better than shipboard slop. Got
a nice hospital to work in? Do I live in or out?"

Dr. Kalmar was grudgingly forced to say rapidly, "Right. Likewise. I
hope so. Too bad. Suits us. I think so. In."

He got Dr. Hoyt into a jetcab and told the driver to make time back to
the hospital. Appointments were piling up while he had to make the
courtesy trip out to the spaceport, which was another nuisance. Now he'd
have all of those and a talkative assistant who'd want to know