"Truly," agreed Wing.  "In exchange, this does allow us to give you a much more detailed look at our facility than the general tour would have."

"Some exchange does seem due, yes."

"Would you care for some refreshments?  Tea?  Or shall we follow galactic custom and begin right away?"

"I'd prefer to jump straight in, actually.  My time here is not unlimited."

"Right this way, then . . ."

The whole party shuffled off after Wing at Miles's cane-pace, not altogether feigned.  Between his underground ordeal and the usual aftereffects of the damned seizures, his aches and pains were catching up with him.  Aida stuck to his side, as if ready to catch him should he fall over.  The prettiest public parts of the HQ building were quickly displayed, then they were wafted by float cart over to another building where actual intake of patrons occurred.  Both the front lobby and the back loading docks seemed busy.

"Our patrons come from two sources," Wing explained, leading them down the medically-scented corridors.  "Some, who've suffered sudden and unexpected metabolic shut-downs, are actually processed by the hospitals, and then transferred to us for long-term storage.  Others, who choose a less chancy mode, come in to our clinics and have us do the processing on-site."

"Wait, they come in alive?" asked Roic.

"The healthier you are when frozen, the better your chances of a healthy revival," said Storrs.

"That's quite true," murmured Raven.

Roic's brows drew down, and he shot a glance at Miles, who could only say, "Alas, yes."

"Would you care for a closer look at the technical processes?" said Wing.  "That section isn't normally on the public tours, of course.  We have some twenty or so freezings scheduled for today.  The transfers are of course usually unscheduled."

Miles, who had once endured the whole process far too intimately, if not consciously, waved aside the macabre treat; Roic looked relieved.  Vorlynkin bore it all with a wooden expression.  Raven, at Miles's thumbs-up behind his back, took the suggestion and went off with Storrs.  Miles was glad to exit the processing building; the smell of the place, while not unpleasant, was doing odd jumpy things to his backbrain.

"And how many cryorevivals do you do here in a day?" Miles asked Wing, once they were safely back in the float cart and in motion.  He and Wing shared the front seat with the best view, Aida sat facing rearward at their backs, and Vorlynkin and Roic shared the last bench, not quite out of earshot.

Wing hesitated only slightly.  "I would have to look that figure up."  He glanced back as the cart bowled along through the well-kept grounds.  "How did you come to know Dr. Durona?"  Included in this jaunt at Miles's—well, not request; Raven had simply been announced in the seat count for the groundcar.

"He and my assistant Roic were rather thrown together during the kidnappings.  A bonding experience, I gather."