aches, pains, signs, symptoms,
malaises, and malfunctions. After all, it wouldn't do for him to be
released from the Service on a Medical Discharge. No, he would suffer in
silence for the sake of his chosen career--which, apparently, was to be
a permanent Spaceman 2nd Class.

Broderick MacNeil had never seen his medical record, and therefore did
not know that, aside from mention of the normal slight defects which
every human body possesses, the only note on the records was one which
said: "Slight tendency toward hypochondria, compensated for by tendency
to immerse self in job at hand. According to psych tests, he can
competently handle positions up to Enlisted Space Officer 3rd Class, but
positions of ESO/2 and above should be carefully considered. (See Psych
Rept. Intelligence Sectn.)"

But, if MacNeil did not know what the medics thought of him, neither did
the medics know what he thought of them. Nor did they know that MacNeil
carried a secret supply of his own personal palliatives, purgatives and
poly-purpose pills. He kept them carefully concealed in a small section
of his space locker, and had labeled them all as various vitamin
mixtures, which made them seem perfectly legal, and which was not _too_
dishonest, since many of them _were_ vitamins.

On the morning after the fire, he heaved his well-muscled bulk out of
bed and scratched his scalp through the close-cropped brown hair that
covered his squarish skull. He did not feel well, and that was a fact.
Of course, he had been up half the night fighting the blaze, and that
hadn't helped any. He fancied he had a bit of a headache, and his nerves
seemed a little jangled. His insides were probably in their usual balky
state. He sighed, wished he were in better health, and glanced around at
the other members of the company as they rose grumpily from their beds.

He sighed again, opened his locker, took out his depilator, and ran it
quickly over his face. Then, from his assortment of bottles, he began
picking over his morning dosage. Vitamins, of course; got to keep plenty
of vitamins in the system, or it goes all to pot on you. A, B_1, B_2,
B_12, C, ... and on down the alphabet and past it to A-G. All-purpose
mineral capsules, presumably containing every element useful to the
human body and possibly a couple that weren't. Two APC capsules.
(Aspirin-Phenacetin-Caffeine. He liked the way those words sounded; very
medicinal.) A milk-of-magnesia tablet, just in case. A