"Never mind. It"s easy to see you"ve been your own inimitable self.
Believe me, if I ever get back to the Ultroom I hope I never see you again. And I hope I"ll never leave there again though I"m rejuvenated through a million years."
"Was Kanad"s life germ transferred all right this time?"
Tendal 13 shook his head. "I haven"t heard. The transfers are getting more difficult all the time. In 1609, you"ll remember, it was a case of pneumonia for the two-year-old. A simple procedure. It wouldn"t work here. Medicine"s too far along." He produced a notebook. "The last jump was 342 years, a little more than average. The next ought to be around 2250. Things will be more difficult than ever there, probably."
"Do you think Kanad will be angry about all this?"
"How would you like to have to go through all those birth processes, to have your life germ knocked from one era to the next?"
"Frankly, I didn"t think he"d go back so far."
"If it had been anybody but Kanad n.o.body"d ever have thought of going back after it. The life germ of the head of the whole galactic system who came to the Ultroom to be transplanted to a younger body--and then sending him back beyond his original birth date--" Tendal 13 got up and commenced his pacing again. "Oh, I suppose Kanad"s partly to blame, wanting rejuvenating at only 300 years. Some have waited a thousand or more or until their bones are like paper."
"I just wonder how angry Kanad will be," Arvid muttered.
_HB92167. Ultroom Error. Tendal 13. Arvid 6. Kanad transfer out of 1951 complete. Next Kanad transfer ready. 2267.
Phullam 19, son of Orla 39 and Rhoda R, 22H Level M, Hemisphere B, Quadrant 3, Sector I. Arrive his 329th Day._
_TB92167_
Arvid 6 rose from the cot and the two men faced each other.
"Before we leave, Arvid," Tendal 13 started to say.
"I know, I know. You want me to let you handle everything."
"Exactly. Is that too much to ask after all you"ve done?"
"I guess I have made mistakes. From now on you be the boss. I"ll do whatever you say."
"I hope I can count on that." Tendal 13 rang the jail buzzer.
The jailer unlocked the cell door.
"You remember the chief said it"s all right to take him with me, Matthews," Tendal 13 told the jailer.
"Yes, I remember," the jailer said mechanically, letting them both out of the cell.
They walked together down the jail corridor. When they came to another barred door the jailer fumbled with the keys and clumsily tried several with no luck.
Arvid 6, an amused set to his mouth and devilment in his eyes, watched the jailer"s expression as he walked through the bars of the door. He laughed as he saw the jailer"s eyes bulge.
"Arvid!"
Tendal 13 walked briskly through the door, s.n.a.t.c.hed Arvid 6 by the shoulders and shook him.
The jailer watched stupified as the two men vanished in the middle of a violent argument.