"You mean it could work in reverse?"
"I don't know."
"You want me to try, darling?"
"Yes—no! We can't do it now. If it works, we'd still be leaving a hundred men here. They're doomed, Teejay. We're all doomed unless we can do something about it, and soon. But at night they sleep. Yeah, they sleep at night! If we can contact the others, and make a concentrated effort of it, using the telepathic powers of the parasites—"
"Shh! That's enough, Steve. My friend here is getting up. I can feel him stirring inside my head. Shh, later!"
At the end, hope had made Teejay her old spunky self again. But when Steve's own master awakened, that hope seemed mighty slim indeed.
Each night they managed to contact two or three of the others, and the word was supposed to be passed on. Finally, it was arranged. The night for action was decided upon, and for some few of them it would be a gamble, for there was no guarantee that all the parasites would be asleep. Once the attempt was made, however, there would be no turning back. Whoever was left behind—was left behind.
Provided the plan worked at all.
The creature was asleep again.