like a long-lost brother. "Your father Jai Timgar has long been an
honored friend of the house of SinSin, and anyone of the house of Timgar
is the same as my own son and my son's son! But this collar! This cuff!
Is it really possible that a man of Garv has become a physician of
Hospital Earth?"

Dal touched Fuzzy to the commander's fuzz-ball in the ancient Garvian
greeting. "It's possible, and true," he said. "I studied there. I am the
Red Doctor on this patrol ship."

"Ah, but this is good," the commander said. "What better way to draw our
worlds together, eh? But come, you must look and see what we have in our
storerooms, feast your eyes on the splendors we carry. For all of you, a
thousand wonders are to be found here."

Jack hesitated as the commander led them back toward the display
corridors. "We'd be glad to see the ship, but you should know that
patrol ship physicians have little money to spend."

"Who speaks of money?" the commander cried. "Did I speak of it? Come and
look! Money is nothing. The Garvian traders are not mere money-changers.
Look and enjoy; if there is something that strikes your eye, something
that would fulfill the desires of your heart, it will be yours." He gave
Dal a smile and a sly wink. "Surely our brother here has told you many
times of the wonders to be seen in a space trader, and terms can be
arranged that will make any small purchase a painless pleasure."

He led them off, like a head of state conducting visiting dignitaries on
a tour, with a retinue of Garvian underlings trailing behind them. For
two delirious hours they wandered the corridors of the great ship,