Hadn't this happened already? The two incidents, joined by Kaliinin's care for him, were separated by several hours in time, but melted into one.
He said in a hoarse and almost unintelligible voice, "Are we headed in the right direction?" He said it in English.
Kaliinin hesitated, then answered slowly, also in English and with a moderately heavy accent, "Yes, Albert, but that was some time ago, when we were in the capillary. You came back and then went out a second time. We are in a neuron now. Remember?"
Morrison frowned. What was all this?
Slowly, in bits, his memory returned. He closed his eyes and tried to get it all straight. Then he said, "How did you find me?" He spoke in Russian now.
Konev said, "I sensed - quite strongly - the thought waves of Shapirov as it came through your instrument."
"My computer! Is it safe?"
Konev said, "It was still attached to you. Did you make out actual thoughts?"
"Actual thoughts?" Morrison stared at him fuzzily. "What actual thoughts? What are you talking about?"
Konev was clearly impatient, but he set his lips tightly together and then said, "I could make out Shapirov's thought waves reaching me across the cell by way of your device, but there were no actual words or images."
"What did you sense, then?"
"Anguish."
Boranova said, "The rest of us sensed nothing at all, but it seemed to us that what Yuri described was the anguish of a mind that knew it was in a comatose trap, that knew it was a prisoner. Did you sense anything more specific than that?"
"No." Morrison looked down upon himself and realized that he was sprawled across two seats, his head was in the crook of Kaliinin's arms, and that he was in his one-piece cotton suit. He tried to struggle upright. "Water, please."
He drank thirstily, then said, "I don't recall hearing anything or sensing anything. In my position -"
Konev said sharply, "What has your position to do with it? Your computer was transmitting information. I sensed it at a considerable distance. How would it be possible for you not to sense anything?"
"I had other things to think about, Yuri. I was lost and I was sure of death. Under the circumstances, I paid no attention to anything else."
"I can't believe that, Albert. Don't lie to me."
"I am not lying to you. - Madame Boranova." He managed to pronounce the name very formally. "I demand that I be treated in a courteous manner."
"Yuri," said Boranova sharply. "Don't make accusations. If you have questions to ask, ask them."
Konev said, "Then let me put it this way. I sensed a great deal of emotion, even though I was far from the instrument in terms of our miniaturized state. You, Albert, were right on top of your device and it was keyed to your brain, not mine. Our brains are of similar type, presumably, but they are not identical and you can sense on your instrument more sharply than I can. How is it possible, then, that I could sense so much and that you should nevertheless claim to have sensed nothing?"
Morrison said strenuously, "Do you think I had time or inclination for sensing? I was swept away from the ship. I was separated, alone, lost."
"I understand that, but you need make no special effort to sense. The sensations would invade your mind despite anything that might be taking place."
"I received no sensations just the same. What filled my mind was that I was alone and I was going to die. How is it possible you don't understand that? I thought I would heat up and die, as I almost did the first time." A sudden doubt assailed him and he looked across at Kaliinin. "There were two times, weren't there?"
"Yes, Albert," she said softly.
"And then I realized I wasn't heating up. Instead, it seemed to me that I was growing larger and smaller - oscillating. I was involved in some sort of miniaturization transfer in place of heat transfer. Is that possible, Natalya?"
Boranova hesitated, then said, "That effect follows naturally from the field equations of miniaturization. It has never been tested, but apparently you confirmed it while out there."
"It seemed to me that my surroundings were oscillating in size, that the water molecules all around me were expanding and contracting, and it seemed to me to be more logical that it was I who was oscillating, rather than that everything else was."
"You were correct and what you report is valuable. One might argue from this that the turmoil of the event to you was not without its compensation in a larger sense."
Konev said indignantly, "Albert, you tell us that you were perfectly capable of careful and rational thought out there - and yet you expect us to believe that you sensed nothing?"
Morrison raised his voice, "Can't you understand, you monomaniac, that it was this very careful and rational thought, as you call it, that filled my mind to the exclusion of everything else? I was in absolute terror. I expected, with each contraction of the molecules around me, that contraction would continue indefinitely, which would mean, in actual fact, that I would expand indefinitely; that, in other words, I would undergo spontaneous deminiaturization and explode and die. I was not in the least concerned with sensing thought waves at that moment. If any had forced themselves on me, I would, in my condition then, have ignored them. That is the truth."
Konev twisted his face into an expression of scorn. "If I had an important job to do and if a firing squad had their weapons trained on me, then in the few moments before they fired, I would still concentrate on my job."
Dezhnev muttered, "As my father used to say: 'Anyone can hunt a bear fearlessly when the bear is absent.'"
Konev turned on him fiercely, "I've had enough of your father, you old drunkard."
Dezhnev said, "Repeat that to me when we are safely back in the Grotto and you will then find you are hunting the bear when the bear is present."
Boranova said, "Not another word, Yuri. Are you intent on quarreling with everyone?"
"Natalya, I'm intent on doing my job. Albert must go out again."
"No," said Morrison in terror. "Never."
Dezhnev, who glared at Konev less than lovingly, said, "A hero of the Soviet Union is heard from. He must do his job, so Albert must go out into the cell again."
Boranova said, "Dezhnev is right, Yuri. You boast that even a firing squad would not interrupt your duty. Go out once, then, as Albert has done twice."
Konev said, "It is his machine. It is keyed to his brain."
"So I understand," said Boranova, "but you, as you yourself say, have the same brain type. At least you could sense what he sensed. Certainly you sensed the skeptic waves when he was lost in the intercellular current. And you were at a distance. With the machine in your very hand and yourself outside, you would gather data of your own, which should be more valuable to us, in any case. Of what use would it be to have Albert's keener perception if you insist on disbelieving whatever he says?"
All were staring at Konev now. Even Kaliinin managed to look at him at intervals through her long lashes.
Then Morrison coughed slightly and said, "I'm afraid I urinated into the suit. A little. Not much, I think. Terror has its price."
"I know," said Boranova. "I've drained it and cleaned it as well as I could. That shouldn't stop Yuri. A little bit of urine residue will surely not stop the dedication to duty of a man like him."
Konev said, "I resent this clumsy sarcasm on the part of all of you, but I'll go out into the cell. Do you really think I'm afraid of doing that? My only thought to the contrary has been that Albert is the best receiver. Still, I am second-best, certainly, and if he will not do it, then I will, provided -"