"Who are the others?" I asked.
John Thay walked briskly down the line scooping them up.
"Never mind that for a moment, Morry. Just help me collect every one of
these."
I grabbed handfuls of crystals from the rack, stuffing them in my
pockets, until between us we had every one.
John took a last look to check. Then we dropped through the hole in the
floor, down into the cellar.
"I had an elaborate plan in mind," he said to me, as we hurried away.
"But this changes everything. Is the converter in your truck working?"
We shot out into the courtyard.
"If you're in a hurry, John, why not use the one there in the cellar?"
"Hell, you're right. This has shaken me so much I can hardly think.
Quickly, let's get these crystals reconverted."
We turned and rushed back to the cellar we had just left.
I grabbed the power controls, John fed the crystals onto the minima
plate, I pressed the button and fielded the staggering human being off
the maxima plate before the enlarged crystal came following through.
The crystals I kicked into the corner of the cellar.
We did not talk, but concentrated on this rush conversion.
When we had released the last man, there were fifty-three people in
the cellar, including John, myself and the bubble dancer, who for some
reason clung to me and kissed me.
Most of the people were elderly men. Their clothes were tattered and
stained by nutrient solution. Some were threadbare. Many had been
wearing laboratory coats of ceramic fabric, which had chipped and
fallen away in patches.
They must have been in the crystals for a long time.