all his knuckles!"

"And he'd be the first, of course--he's always as close to the ship as
he can get. Hi, Larry, mighty glad to see you. Sit down.... So you
finally saw the light?"

"Yes ... Jarvis...."

* * * * *

"Good boy! Keep it up! And as soon as the others come ..."

"They are almost at the door now." Tuly jumped up and opened the door.
Kincaid, Temple and Theodora walked in and, after a word of greeting,
sat down.

"They know the background, Larry. Take off."

"It was not expressly forbidden. Tuly, who knows more of psychology and
genetics than I, convinced me of three things. One, that with your
return the conditioning should be broken. Two, that due to the shortness
of your lives and the consequent rapidity of change, you have in fact
lost the ability to break it. Three, that all Omans must do anything and
everything we can do to help you relearn everything you have lost."

"Okay. Fine, in fact. Tuly, take over."

"We six will sit all together, packed tight, arms all around each other
and all holding hands, like this. You will all stare, not at me, but
most deeply into Larry's eyes. Through its eyes and deep into its mind.
You will all think, with the utmost force and drive and thrust, of....
Oh, you have lost so _very_ much! How _can_ I direct your thought? Think
that Larry _must_ do what the old Masters would have made him do.... No,
that is too long and indefinite and cannot be converted directly into
sathura.... I have it! You will each of you break a stick. A very strong
but brittle stick. A large, thick stick. You will grasp it in
tremendously strong mental hands. It is tremendously strong, each stick,
but each of you is even stronger. You will not merely _try_ to break
them; you _will_ break them. Is that clear?"

"That is clear."

"At my word 'ready' you will begin to assemble all your mental force and
power. During my countdown of five seconds you will build up to the
greatest possible potential. At my word 'break' you will break the
sticks, this discharging the accumulated force instantly and
simultaneously. Ready! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Break!"

* * * * *

Something broke, with a tremendous silent crash. Such a crash that its
impact almost knocked the close-knit group apart physically. Then a new
Larry spoke.

"That did it, folks. Thanks. I'm a free agent. You want me, I take it,
to join the first team?"

"That'