 Why was Hank lying down for months?
They held onto each other as if seeking mutual support, the thirty-three-year old woman and ten-year-old boy. So he put him down and told himself that it would all change, that everything would loosen up just as his commanding officer, General Carlisle, had said it would early this morning before he left Washington. Carlisle had said his position was analogous to Columbus', to Vasco De Gama's, to Preshoff's when the Russian returned from the Moon—but more so. They had feared for him, having read of the many launchings gone wrong even in continent-to-continent experimental flight.
 Hank's body was lying in a tank designed to regenerate his body processes.
 Hank's body was lying in a cryostasis tank while the doctors figured out how to bring him back to life.  Hank was lying in a stasis tank on the way back from the moon.  Hank was lying in a stasis tank on the way back from Mars.  Hank's body was lying in a tank designed to regenerate his body processes.