that once removed it formed a circle about thirty feet in diameter with
a three foot circular hole in its center. In case I haven't mentioned
the type of the carpet yet, which I must confess that I cannot remember,
I will do so here: it was not a traditional carpet, that form being
apparently lost after the great wars, instead it was a silky sheet-like
carpet, no more than a quarter inch thick, and in fact greatly
resembling the sail of an old clipper ship, the painting on the glass
that I saw earlier probably attesting to the fact that it had been
designed with that appearance in mind. Like its prototype, the sail, it
caught a lot of wind and acted in the same general manner.

Using the bowie knife that was built into the large frontal buckle of
the anti-electron suit, which, by the way, I was still entirely wearing,
I cut the carpet down its center, making two semi-circular pieces, each
with a moon shaped appearance, much like a wing. I based my idea in part
on the observation that the Canitaurs and Zards had apparently lost, or
disregarded, the springs of my time and instead used a hammock of
springy, elastic cords that spread across the face of the furniture.
Simply put, they stretched elastic ropes across an empty frame, almost
like a trampoline made of individual cords. This created a very
comfortable springing feel, for they gave enough bounce to render the
surface pliable, but not overly soft. Taking the bowie knife again, I
thrust it into the couch, and cut away the cushioning to reveal the
support. To my great relief, I found that it was constructed in a manner
similar to the other couches that I had seen. There were about two score
of the cords, each being between three and four feet long. These I
unattached and laid them down in a pile.

Next, I took the four main support beams for the couch, one running
along each side and two down the center in a crescent shape, with the