human
Please, colonel. I am needed up there.
gpt
You are probably needed by many others,
human
But I am a nurse. It is my duty to help those who are wounded.
gpt
I know. He was a little startled to find himself in sympathy with this impulse.
human
But, not yet.
gpt
Why not?
human
Because that slope is still too hot to be safe.
gpt
The radiation count is about forty right here at the mouth of this prospect hole,
human
That is interesting,
gpt
Halfway up the slope, it will hit a hundred. At the top of the ridge, where the explosion took place, the count may reach a thousand.
human
That makes no difference. Wounded men are up there. I am a nurse. My duty is clear to me.
gpt
If you try to help them under these circumstances, you will become a casualty yourself.
human
But what of the men who need help?
gpt
They will simply have to get out of the radiation zone themselves, or wait until the area is clear and help can reach them.
human
You are heartless!
gpt
Not at all, he denied.
human
If anything could be done to help them I would be doing it. Don't you understand what has happened? That was an Asian N bomb that exploded. In an N bomb the immediate effect is minor. The real purpose of the weapon is to spray the area with high intensity radiation, to make the ground unfit for living for months. Any living creature caught within the direct blast of the radiation is doomed, and neither you, nor I, nor the medics, can do anything to help them--
gpt
But that man needs help,
human
Certainly he needs help,
gpt
Well--