Drake couldn’t tell them the real reason he wanted to see the whole preparation procedure, down to the last grisly detail. But by simply refusing to take no for an answer, he at last had his way.

The head of the team then decided that Drake wanted to come along because he was afraid that some element of the job would be botched. She explained the whole procedure to him, kindly and carefully, on the one-hour drive to the facility. They were sitting together in the rear of the van, next to the temperature-controlled casket.

“Most of the revivables — we much prefer that term to cryocorpses — are stored at liquid nitrogen temperatures. That’s about minus two hundred degrees Celsius. It’s almost certainly cold enough. But it’s still about seventy-five degrees above absolute zero. All measurable biological processes become imperceptible long before that. However, there are still some chemical reactions going on. The laws of statistics guarantee that a few atoms will have enough energy to

induce biological changes. And mind and memory are very delicate things. So for people who are worried about that, we make available a deluxe version. That’s what you bought. Your wife will be stored at liquid helium temperatures, just a few degrees above absolute zero. That’s supersafe. When it’s so cold, the chance of change — physical or mental — goes way down.”

And the cost, although she did not mention the fact, went way up. But cost was not even a variable to be considered from Drake’s perspective. When they arrived at the Second Chance facility he hung around the preparation room, ignoring all hints that he should wait outside; and he watched closely.

The team members became more sympathetic. They were now convinced that he was simply terrified that a mistake would be made. They allowed him to see everything and answered all his questions. He was careful not to ask anything that sounded too clinical and dispassionate. The main thing he wanted was to see, to know at absolute firsthand what had been done, and in what sequence.