Mundo Prohibido

Catalog Description "Mundo prohibido" (Forbidden World) by Murray Leinster is a science-fiction story following Dr. Calhoun, an inspector for the Interstellar Medical Service, as he arrives at Weald Three aboard the medical vessel Aesclipus Twenty to conduct a routine health inspection—the first in twelve standard years. Accompanied by Murgatroyd, a small sociable creature called a torma whose presence confirms legitimate medical service vessels, Calhoun encounters intense resistance from planetary authorities who fear contamination. He discovers the planet harbors "blue-skins," inhabitants bearing blue pigmentation inherited from ancestors who survived a chronic, non-fatal epidemic originating from the planet Dará. The authorities maintain quarantine against these blue-skins despite medical service protocols mandating investigation and resolution. Calhoun, frustrated by bureaucratic incompetence, invokes his authority to secure landing coordinates and begins his inspection, frustrated that proper medical oversight has failed to address the quarantine situation.