and North's Spirit looked at Morn. "Hey, Morn! "
he laughed, half in a daze, "How come you don't have any wings? You
look like a Hashon!"
18 Morn laughed. The door behind them had darkened, and ahead of them
light again shone. "Never mind that right now," instructed Morn, "go
home." North looked back at the Door that had almost faded from view.
"Don't worry," assured Morn, "that's your peoples' conception of The
Passage. When it's time, it will be there. Go home!"
19 North started off towards the light, and Morn too, withdrew back to
that shell that was his home. He fell over onto his desk, his head in
his arms, completely exhausted.
20 Bright Star entered the office. "You all right, father?" he asked.
21 "Yes," assured Morn, "just drained. Let's get to the hospital."
22 In a few minutes Morn was getting a full report on what had
happened. "We almost lost him," the Doctor admitted. "The readings all
went to zero!"
23 "I know," Morn explained, "he was at The Threshold, and I brought
him back. How long will it take to prepare the nerves?"
24 "Optic nerves are very slow," put in another Doctor, "they're about
the hardest to grow to get the length we need ...six ...seven ...months
of very careful work."
25 "Then there'll be a period of at least four months," sighed Morn,
"where he'll he totally blind. It'll be four months we'll be at The
Empire's mercy."
26 "No we won't," came North's voice. "I'll continue my duties. I'm
trained to function in total darkness. I'll have to brush up on that
training a little, but I can
still accomplish it. My staff and my crew will be my eyes until the new
nerves are ready."