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"But can't you make out any actual thoughts? Words?"
"Perhaps I am too far. Perhaps Albert hasn't got his machine properly focused. And you really sense nothing?"
Boranova shook her head decisively and glanced briefly at Kalimin, who said in a low voice (rubbing one shoulder), "I sense nothing, either."
And from Dezhnev came a discontented, "I never get any of these mysterious messages."
"You got 'Hawking.' Albert suggested there might be different brain types as there are different blood types and that he and I might be of the same type. He may be right," said Konev.
Boranova said, "From what direction does the sensation come now?"
"From there." This time Konev pointed much closer to the fore end of the ship. He said, "You are turning, arent you, Arkady?"
"I am," said Dezhnev, "and I'm now fairly close to the doldrums between the two streams. I am pla
"Good," said Boranova. "We don't want to miss him. - Yuri, can you judge the intensity? Is it getting stronger?"
"Yes, it is." Konev seemed a bit surprised, as though he had not noticed the rise in intensity until Boranova had mentioned it.
"Is it imagination, do you think?"
"It might be," said Konev. "We haven't really gotten any closer to him. We're just making a turn. It's almost as if he's approaching us."
"Perhaps he's washed off whatever he adhered to or forced himself loose. In that case, the current would carry him to us, if we're forcing a turn and staying essentially in the same place."
"Perhaps."
"Yuri," said Boranova vehemently, "you just concentrate on the sensation. Keep Arkady aware at all times of the direction from which it comes, which means you will have to be pointing toward Albert steadily. - Arkady, as you get closer to Albert, you will have to turn toward the original stream again and get into it as close to his position as possible. Then once we're moving together, it will be easy to drift closer by use of our motors."
"Easy for one who's not controlling the motors," growled Dezhnev.
"Easy or difficult," said Boranova, her formidable eyebrows hunching low, "do it. If not - No, there is no 'If not.' Do it."
Dezhnev's lips moved, but no sound came and silence fell upon the ship - except for the unheard flood of sensation that entered Konev's mind but left the other minds empty.
Konev remained standing, facing in the direction from which it seemed to him the sensation was coming. He muttered once, "Definitely stronger." Then, after several moments, "It seems to me I can almost sense words. Maybe, if he comes close enough -"
His expression grew even more strained, as though it were trying to force the sensation, to cram it into his mind, while taking the noise apart and separating it into words. His finger kept pointing rigidly and he said finally, "Arkady, begin curving back into the doldrums and be ready to plunge into the original stream. - Quickly. Don't let him pass us."
"As quickly as the motors will let me," said Dezhnev. Then, in a lower voice, "If I could maneuver this ship by the same magic with which the rest of you hear voices -"
"Head straight for the membrane," said Konev, ignoring the remark.
It was Kaliinin who saw the spark of light first. "There he is!" she cried out. "That's the light of his suit."
"I don't have to see it," said Konev to Boranova. "The noise is like a volcanic eruption in Kamchatka."
"Still noise, Yuri? No words?"
"Fright," said Konev, "incoherent fright."
Boranova said, "If I were aware in any way of being trapped in a comatose body, it would be precisely how I would feel. - But how has he come to realize it now? Earlier we did make out words and even quiet and peaceful images."
Dezhnev said, panting a little in the excitement of the chase, which had him unconsciously holding his breath, "It may be something we've done with this ship. We've stirred up his brain."
"We're too small," said Konev with contempt. "We can't even stir up this one cell noticeably."
"We're coming up to Albert," said Dezhnev.
"Sophia," said Boranova, "can you detect his electrical pattern?"
"Faintly, Natalya."
"Well, throw everything you've got into something complementary that will attract him tightly."
"He seems a little large. Natalva."
"He's oscillating, I'm sure," said Boranova grimly. "Once you attach him to the ship, he'll become part of our general miniaturization field and his size will adjust. Quickly, Sophia."
There was a slight bump as Morrison was electronically pulled against the side of the ship.
Chapter 16. Death
Once the sun sets, it grows dark; don't let that catch you by surprise.
Morrison could not later recall anything that took place - either just before or just after his return to the ship. Try as he might, he did not remember seeing the ship coming for him at any time, nor did he recall the moment of transfer, nor the removal of his plastic suit.
Going far enough back, he remembered the despair and loneliness of waiting to explode and die. Going far enough forward, he remembered looking up at the concerned face of Sophia Kaliinin bending over him. There was nothing in between.
Hadn't this happened already? The two incidents, joined by Kaliinin's care for him, were separated by several hours in time, but melted into one.
He said in a hoarse and almost unintelligible voice, "Are we headed in the right direction?" He said it in English.
Kaliinin hesitated, then answered slowly, also in English and with a moderately heavy accent, "Yes, Albert, but that was some time ago, when we were in the capillary. You came back and then went out a second time. We are in a neuron now. Remember?"
Morrison frowned. What was all this?
Slowly, in bits, his memory returned. He closed his eyes and tried to get it all straight. Then he said, "How did you find me?" He spoke in Russian now.
Konev said, "I sensed - quite strongly - the thought waves of Shapirov as it came through your instrument."
"My computer! Is it safe?"
Konev said, "It was still attached to you. Did you make out actual thoughts?"
"Actual thoughts?" Morrison stared at him fuzzily. "What actual thoughts? What are you talking about?"
Konev was clearly impatient, but he set his lips tightly together and then said, "I could make out Shapirov's thought waves reaching me across the cell by way of your device, but there were no actual words or images."
"What did you sense, then?"
"Anguish."
Boranova said, "The rest of us sensed nothing at all, but it seemed to us that what Yuri described was the anguish of a mind that knew it was in a comatose trap, that knew it was a prisoner. Did you sense anything more specific than that?"
"No." Morrison looked down upon himself and realized that he was sprawled across two seats, his head was in the crook of Kaliinin's arms, and that he was in his one-piece cotton suit. He tried to struggle upright. "Water, please."
He drank thirstily, then said, "I don't recall hearing anything or sensing anything. In my position -"
Konev said sharply, "What has your position to do with it? Your computer was transmitting information. I sensed it at a considerable distance. How would it be possible for you not to sense anything?"
"I had other things to think about, Yuri. I was lost and I was sure of death. Under the circumstances, I paid no attention to anything else."
"I can't believe that, Albert. Don't lie to me."