He fell into a deep black quiet and all the sights and sounds grew smaller and fainter and disappeared entirely. * * * * * He awoke in a Porcyn hospital. Kielgaard was there, wearing a broad grin and brilliant Porcyn clothes and promising Dan a huge bonus. But it was all like a dream. Kielgaard said the Porcyns were as mad as hornets. They had raised a battle fleet and it had taken a corps of diplomats and the Combined Intergalactic Space Fleet to argue them out of personally chopping Trans-Space into fine bits. No one knew what would finally happen, but meanwhile Galactic had its contract and everyone was tentatively happy. His account finished, Kielgaard grinned more broadly yet and switched on a bedside televiewer. Dan lifted his head off the pillow and looked at the screen. Then he stared. It was the statue, solid once more on its base, the ring grasped firmly in one hand and a big wrench in the other. But something seemed different. Dan at last saw what it was. It was the face. It wasn't a bad face, if one expected to see strong cheekbones, copper skin and a high-arched nose. "What a compliment!" he said, embarrassedly pleased. "I--hell, I feel like blushing." "Make it a good one," said Kielgaard. "After tomorrow, you'll have to blush with your own face again." "_Tomorrow?_" "Sure. You're still working for us, remember." Dan sank back on the pillow and gazed up speculatively at the ceiling. "All right, but I want some time off. I have a fat bonus to spend." "You could use a holiday," Kielgaard agreed. "Why not try the Andromedan cloud gardens? Pretty expensive, but with your bonus--" "I've got a place picked out," said Dan. "I'm going to take a vacation on Porcys." Kielgaard started. "You're joking! Or you've gone twitchy!" "No. Before I have to give this face back to Surgery, I ought to get a _little_ enjoyment out of it. And what could be more enjoyable than hanging around the statue, letting people see the resemblance? Besides, they can't make me take my vacation on the Vacation Planet--I've already had it." End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Advance Agent, by Christopher Anvil