lationships Foundation have some powerful friends on
Anvhar. I'm forced to admit I brought a little pressure to bear."
He leaned back and read the course tape as it streamed out of the
printer. "We have a little time to spare, but I would rather spend
it waiting at the other end. We'll blast as soon as I have you tied
down in a stasis field."

The completeness of the stasis field leaves no impressions on the
body or mind. In it there is no weight, no pressure, no pain--no
sensation of any kind. Except for a stasis of very long duration,
there is no sensation of time. To Brion's consciousness, Ihjel
flipped the switch off with a continuation of the same motion that
had turned it on. The ship was unchanged, only outside of the port
was the red-shot blankness of jump-space.

"How do you feel?" Ihjel asked.

Apparently the ship was wondering the same thing. Its detector unit,
hovering impatiently just outside of Brion's stasis field, darted
down and settled on his bare forearm. The doctor back on Anvhar had
given the medical section of the ship's brain a complete briefing.
A quick check of a dozen factors of Brion's metabolism was compared
to the expected norm. Apparently everything was going well, because
the only reaction was the expected injection of vitamins and glucose.

"I can't say I'm feeling wonderful yet," Brion answered, levering
himself higher on the pillows. "But every day it's a bit
better--steady progress."

"I hope so, because we have about two weeks before we get to Dis.
Do you think you'll be back in shape by that time?"

"No promises," Brion said, giving a tentative squeeze to one bicep.
"It should be enough time, though. Tomorrow I start mild exercise
and that will tighten me up again. Now--tell me more about Dis and
what you have to do there."

"I'm not going to do it twice, so just save your curiosity awhile.
We're heading for a rendezvous point now to pick up another
operator. This is going to be a three-man team, you, me and an
exobiologist. As soon as he is aboard I'll do a complete briefing
for you both at the same time. What you can do now is get your head
into the language box and start working on your Disan. You'll want
to speak it perfectly by the time we touchdown."

With an autohypno for complete recall, Brion had no difficulty in
mastering the grammar and vocabulary of Disan. Pronunciation was
a different matter altogether. Almost all the word endings were
swallowed, muffled or ga