staring hungrily at the dazzling displays. They had been away from
Hospital Earth and its shops and stores for months; now it seemed they
were walking through an incredible treasure-trove stocked with
everything that they could possibly have wanted.

For Jack there was a dress uniform, specially tailored for a physician
in the Blue Service of Diagnosis, the insignia woven into the cloth with
gold and platinum thread. Reluctantly he turned away from it, a luxury
he could never dream of affording. For Tiger, who had been muttering for
weeks about getting out of condition in the sedentary life of the ship,
there was a set of bar bells and gymnasium equipment ingeniously
designed to collapse into a unit no larger than one foot square, yet
opening out into a completely equipped gym. Dal's eyes glittered at the
new sets of surgical instruments, designed to the most rigid Hospital
Earth specifications, which appeared almost without his asking to see
them. There were clothes and games, precious stones and exotic rings,
watches set with Arcturian dream-stones, and boots inlaid with silver.

They made their way through the corridors, reluctant to leave one
display for the next. Whenever something caught their eyes, the
commander snapped his fingers excitedly, and the item was unobtrusively
noted down by one of the underlings. Finally, exhausted and glutted just
from looking, they turned back toward the reception room.

"The things are beautiful," Tiger said wistfully, "but impossible.
Still, you were very kind to take your time--"

"Time? I have nothing but time." The commander smiled again at Dal. "And
there is an old Garvian proverb that to the wise man 'impossible' has no
meaning. Wait, you will see!"