But instead of moving him to the globe, the alien took him to the carrier in which he'd escaped from Mars; loaded him into it.
A moment later the second Kalquoi appeared, Nelva in tow. In seconds, she was installed in the carrier alongside Dane. Then, as if by magic, the hatch swung shut, and they were left alone.
Minutes dragged by, a dreary procession.
Then, so abruptly the shock rocked Dane, the paralysis that gripped him vanished. Feeling, the power of movement, flooded back into his body. His brain clicked into high gear, no longer dim nor foggy.
A moment later the carrier's gravity unit came to coughing life. Dane found that once again he had weight and could move about at will.
It brought him a quick surge of relief from inner tension; a sense of control over his situation.
He was glad. He had a feeling he was going to need all such he could get.
Beside him, Nelva Guthrie whispered incredulously, "Clark—! I can move! The brain-drain—it's off!"
"Could be," Dane nodded. He felt weak in the knees, just hearing the girl's voice—partly out of relief to know that she'd survived the ordeal of the brain-drain, partly because she seemed to have forgotten or be overlooking their earlier hostilities.
"Then we must be almost to Callisto!" New excitement crept into Nelva's voice. "That's the only way to explain it, Clark. We must be so far beyond the blockade stations that their relays are too weak to maintain catatonia!"