It was the singsong delivery of the words more than the voice. Chan stepped forward and sank to his knees. “Tully? Tully the Rhymer?”

“Less of that than I was. But yes, you have it right. The man you see, that is he.”

Chan reached out, gripped Tully O’Toole’s outstretched hand, and gently lifted until the other man was sitting upright on the mattress. The hand that gripped Chan’s was all bone, and the fingers felt fleshless. “How are you, Tully?”

It was an inane question, given O’Toole’s condition, but Tully laughed. “Oh, never too bad and never too sad. I’m not the man I once was, Chan, but who of us is? Sometimes I’m up, sometimes I’m down. Nights get worse as they go on, the darkest hour before the dawn. We’re about halfway.”

At least Tully knew that it was night. Third-stage Paradox addiction robbed its victims of all sense of time and place. From the look of him, Tully O’Toole was coming off the high point for the night and heading downhill. By morning he would be running a fever and shivering. Before that he had better be safe in bed.

“Tully, I have something important to tell you. But you’ll have to wait another minute or two before I can say it. Will you wait? I’ll be right back.”

“Where would I be going? Take your time. I’ll sit tight, if it takes all night.”

“It won’t. Three minutes, no more.”

Chan hurried back up the steep stairs. Deb stood at the top, still and silent as a statue in her cowled cloak. She said, “Well, now you’ve seen for yourself. Ready to give up and leave me alone?”

“Deb, Tully can’t stay here like this. We have to get him away.”

“Where were you, all these past years? Do you think I haven’t tried? I love Tully. In the old days he was close to me as a brother. I’ve been here a dozen times, and I’ve begged and pleaded with him to take treatment. And got nowhere. He won’t listen. He can’t listen.”

“You don’t have to tell me that Paradox is hard to break. But there are ways to get through. I’m going back to talk to him.”

“Oh, sure. You think you’ll succeed where I failed.”

“I don’t think that. But I know how to try, better than most. Look, Deb, I want to ask a favor.”

“Whatever it is, no. I don’t owe you a favor — any favor.”

“It’s not a favor for me. It’s for Tully. If I can persuade him to leave this place, I have to head out at once to look for Chrissie and the Tarbush in the Oort Cloud. I’ll be gone only a few days, but Tully can’t be left on his own. Will you look after him until I come back?”

“I’d do anything to help Tully. But you don’t know what you’re asking. He’d be with me for a few hours, then he’d want the drug. Unless I chained him down I couldn’t stop him from getting it — and I’m not so sure that would work, either. He’d find a way.”

“He would if he was here on Mount Ararat. But if we left Europa — if you took him to Ceres—”

“I see. I take him to Ceres, so you get me to Ceres.” She flung the hood back from her head, and her eyes were blazing. “You bastard. You think you’re being so sneaky, but I read you easy. All you care about is getting a team together for your damned assignment.”

“That’s not true, Deb. I care about Tully. And don’t pretend you don’t care about the stars. You might fool yourself, but you don’t fool me. I’m going back to talk to Tully now. If I can get him to come with me and you’re still here when we come back, fine. I’ll ask you again. And if you won’t give it, I’ll find some other way to help him.”

Chan turned and stumbled back down the stairs without looking at Deb or waiting to hear her reply. In the smoky room at the bottom, Tully O’Toole lay like a dead man on his mattress.

“Tully?” Chan spoke softly. “I’m back. Can we talk now?”

“Sure, sure.” The answer was a weak whisper.

“Do you think you’ll be able to understand me?”

“Sure I can, Chan the man. This time of night I’m sharp and bright.” Tully struggled to sit up, and Chan bent and placed his arm around the other man’s back. As he lifted he could feel the separate vertebrae in the spine.

“I’ll get right to the point. Tully, we have a chance to lift the quarantine. Did you hear me? We can lift the quarantine. We can go to the stars . And I don’t just mean that humans can do it. We can do it, you and me and the old team.”

“Wha-what?” Tully’s pale blue eyes clouded and his thin features took on a puzzled frown. “I think maybe I’m not hearing right.”

“You’re hearing right. You’re not imagining. I know, it sounds too good to be true. But listen.”

Chan spoke slowly and carefully, giving details of his meeting with the Stellar Group, watching Tully’s face. Occasionally the thin man frowned or seemed to drift away, but after a few moments he would nod for Chan to go on. The final proof that he was following everything came when Chan said, “We need you, Tully. None of the translation machines can talk to aliens, they’re programmed for human languages. But you can do it.”

“I can’t do anything.”

“You’ll learn. It takes a genuine madman like Tully the Rhymer to talk to aliens. The rest of us wouldn’t know where to start, but we’ll be there to back you up. Me and Tarbush, and Deb and Chrissie, and Dapper Dan and the Bun. Together again.”

“Together again. The old team, it’s like a dream.” Tully’s blue eyes filled with tears. “Oh, God, Chan. If I could I would. But I’m no use any more. I can’t go.”

“You can go, Tully. But first you have to break the Paradox habit.”

“Do you think I don’t know that? I can’t do it. I’ve tried and tried. I close the door and fix the locks, and even throw the key away. But still I get out every day — and drink the milk of Paradox.”

He was bent over, weeping hopelessly. Chan patted the thin shoulder. “It will be different this time, Tully. You won’t be alone. You’ll have me to help you, and Deb and Danny Casement. And in a few more days, as soon as I can reach them, Chrissie and the Tarbush will be along, too.”

“Dapper Dan. Oh, how I’d love to see him again.” Tully was laughing and crying at the same time. “Him and his lady friends. Do you remember how he used to sell them pieces of the Yang diamond?”

“Tully, he’s still at it. When you see him, he’ll tell you about it. Come on now.” Chan had his arm around O’Toole, lifting him. “We have to do this in stages. First, we go to Deb Bisson’s place. Then you two go on to Ceres.”

“What about you?” Tully stood up, swaying for balance. “Where will you be?”

“I told you, I have to find Tarbush and Chrissie Winger. Then we’ll have the old team together, and be all set to go. We’ll be on our way to the stars, Tully. Come on. Deb Bisson’s waiting for us.”

He led the way to the steep stair and the two of them slowly climbed together, Chan providing extra lift when it was needed. He was afraid that Deb had left, until she stepped forward out of the shadows.

Tully O’Toole stumbled over to her and draped his tall, gaunt form around her.

“Deb, I don’t know how to thank you and Chan. When I came here tonight I felt sure I was done, a little while longer and I would be gone. But now there’s hope. We’ll get away from here, and head for the stars. We said we would, we said we could — and now we’ll do it.”

Deb patted him on the shoulder. “We will, Tully. We will. We have to go to your place first, to get your things, before we go to mine. You lead the way.”

As Tully started back along the corridor, feeling his way along the dark walls, she held Chan back for a moment and whispered, “While you’re gloating, just remember one thing. I’m not going to Ceres or anywhere else for you. I’m doing it for him .”

“I know that.” Chan tried to pull free. “You hate my guts. You don’t need to tell me again. As soon as I can make arrangements for you and Tully to go to Ceres, I’ll leave you and head for the Oort Cloud. I have to find Chrissie and the Tarbush.”