James H. Schmitz

[Telzey] took out a pocket edition law library and sat down at the table. She clicked on the library's viewscreen, tapped the clearing and index buttons. Behind the screen, one of the multiple rows of pinhead tapes shifted slightly as the index was flicked into reading position.

Barrand looked at the surgeon. "Get to work. To begin with, I want the left arm deboned to the wrist and extended." The surgeon's look of disinterest vanished. He drew back the sliding top of the instrument table. "A functional tentacle?" Barrand grunted. "She's to stay alive and able to talk. Aside from that, keep her functional if you can, but it's not of primary importance. Let her watch what's happening.