es. He raised his hand to the handle, but couldn't grasp it. After
several trials, he abandoned the attempt and hooked his chin on the
handle, pulling it down. The door opened and he was in the next room.
The animal was whining louder now that he was near. Yellow eyes glowed
at him from the corner. He crept to the cage.

It was latched. The animal shivered eagerly, pressing against the side,
striving to reach him. His hands were numb and he couldn't work the
latch. The animal licked his fingers.

It was easier after that. He couldn't feel what he was doing, but
somehow he managed to unlatch it. The door swung open and the animal
bounded out, knocking him to the floor.

He didn't mind at all because now he was sure he was right. The natives
had given him the animal for a purpose. Their own existence was meager,
near the edge of extinction. They could not afford to keep something
that wasn't useful. And this creature was useful. Tiny blue sparks
crackled from the fur as it rubbed against him in the darkness. It was
not whining. It rumbled and purred as it licked his hands and arms and
rolled against his legs.

After a while he was strong enough to crawl back to bed, leaning against
the animal for support. He lifted himself up and fell across the bed in
exhaustion. Blood didn't circulate well in his crippled body. The animal
bounded up and tried to melt itself into his body. He couldn't push it
away if he wanted. He didn't want to. He stirred and got himself into a
more comfortable position. He wasn't going to die.

* * * * *

In the morning, Bolden was awake long before the doctor came in.
Kessler's face was haggard and the smile was something he assumed solely
for the patient's benefit. If he could have seen what the expression
looked like after filtering through the microscreen, he would have
abandoned it. "I see you're holding your own," he said with hollow
cheerfulness. "We're doing quite well ourselves."

"I'll bet," said Bolden. "Maybe you've got to the point where one of the
antibiotics doesn't actually stimulate the growth of the microbes?"

"I was afraid you'd find it out," sighed the doctor. "We can't keep
everything from you."

"You could have given me a shot of plasma and said it was a powerful new
drug."

"That idea went out of medical treatment a couple of hundred years ago,"
said the doctor. "You'd feel worse when you failed to show improvement.
Settling