The street door opened just then and a young man came toward them with a light springy step.
He offered his hand to Howard who took it slowly. "How are you, skipper? And you, Leah? I came as soon as I got your message."
"He's worried, Mike." Leah's face had brightened. "And now he's insisting on growing old."
"I've been through the wringer twice before, you see," Howard said in a low voice.
"I don't think you have much to worry about," Mike said. "Those medics know their business."
"Aging is a nasty process." Leah wrinkled her nose as if she smelled something offensive. "Maybe you can convince him, Mike."
"Leah is right, you know," Mike said. "A few years ago I visited the old age home. There's only one left. You'd be surprised at the amount of suffering old people go through before they die; cancer, angina, broken bones, strokes, arthritis. Rejuvenation won't work on extremely old bodies. Longevity has run out."
"Why does it have to clip off five years?" worried Howard.
"It's the old-age governor they found in the pituitary gland. They can turn it back, but the shock takes off about five years."