Read the following passage and questions, then choose the right answer from options, the answer should be one of A, B, C, D.

<passage>:
relentlessly toward him. He awoke still screaming.... A night without darkness passed. Ben lay waiting for Maggie's return, a question already formed in his mind. the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] With never a moment to rest, the pursuit through space felt like a game of hounds Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that Ben Curtis eased his pale, gaunt body through the open doorway of the and hares ... or was it follow the leader? " Coma esta, senor? He told her the tales he'd heard. She nodded. "There are quite a few of us now—about a thousand—and a but with almost every advance in space, someone dies." "Venus is getting too civilized. We're moving out and this dome is only tres pretty and tres fat. She weigh almost eighty pounds, monsieur . I take you to her, "It is deal, monsieur ? Five dollars or twenty keelis for visit ignore you then." "Then we move on. We dream up new gimmicks for our crates and take them The boy grabbed his hand. Because Ben could think of no reason for know—if we live long enough. But that Asteroid Belt is murder. You can't follow the text-book rules of astrogation out there. You make up your own." well." She looked at him strangely. "Suppose—" He fought to find the right words. "Suppose I got well and 2 -breathing that had coursed through her. "The only thing that matters, really," she murmured, "is your walking again. We'll try this afternoon. Okay?" , Ben told himself. The officer passed. Ben breathed easier. prisoner for half a million years. Without them, Everson, after three failures and a hundred men dead, would never have landed on the Moon twenty-seven years ago. For an instant, Ben's mind rose above the haunting vision of the dead You can forget a living man. You can defeat him or submit to him or ignore him, and the matter is over and done. You can't escape from a memory that has burned into your mind. It had begun a week ago in Luna City. The flight from White Sands had been successful. Ben, quietly and moderately, wanted to celebrate. He stopped alone in a rocketfront bar for a beer. The man named Cobb Ben stiffened. He was twenty-four and dressed in the white, crimson-braided uniform of the Odyssey's At the age of five—perhaps in order to dull the memory of his parents' death in a recent strato-jet crash—he'd spent hours watching the night sky for streaking flame-tails of Moon rockets. At ten, he'd ground the government boarding-school grounds to a retreat which housed his collection of astronomy and rocketry books. At sixteen, he'd spent every weekend holiday hitchhiking from Boys Town No. 5 in the Catskills to Long Island Spaceport. There, among the grizzled veterans of the old Moon Patrol, he'd found friends who And a month ago, he'd signed aboard the Odyssey Cobb was persistent: "Damn fools shoulda known enough to stay on Earth. What the hell good is it, jumpin' from planet to planet?" The guy's drunk , Ben thought. He took his drink and moved three Ben rose and started to leave the bar, but Cobb grabbed his arm and held him there. "Thas what you are—a sucker. You're young now. Wait ten years. You'll be dyin' of radiation rot or a meteor'll get you. Wait and see, sucker!" Until this instant, Ben had suppressed his anger. Now, suddenly and Ben knew that he was dead. Then, for a single absurd second, Ben was seized with terror—just as, a moment before, he'd been overwhelmed with anger. He ran. For some twenty minutes, he raced through a dizzying, nightmare world You can give yourself up, and that's what a good officer would do. That would eliminate the escape charge. You'd get off with voluntary manslaughter. Under interplanetary law, that would mean ten years in prison and a dishonorable discharge. And then you'd be free. But you'd be through with rockets and space. They don't want new men over thirty-four for officers on rockets or even for third-class , Ben reflected, you can take a beer-and-pretzels tale seriously. You can hide for a couple of days, get rid of your uniform, change your duty. You can try to stay in space, even if you exile yourself from Earth. After all, was it right for a single second, a single insignificant keep you company on your first night in Hoover City, n'est-ce-pas ?" Ben didn't answer. thousand vacuum cleaners for dust. What is vacuum cleaner, monsieur ?" , I go. You keep listen to good Martian music." The toothpick of a body melted into the semi-darkness. Minutes passed. There were two more whiskeys. A ceaseless parade of Just another second— Or would the exits be guarded? his body. He staggered like a man of stone moving in slow motion. He'd have fifteen—maybe twenty—seconds before complete lethargy of mind and body overpowered him. massage and rest, a man could recover from the effects of mortocain within half a day. Without treatment, the paralysis could spread to Ben Curtis had no precise sensation of awakening. Return to rest. Everything'll be all right." Everything all right , he thought dimly. mist. Always, it seemed, the soft voice was echoing in his ears: "Swallow this now. That's it. You must have food." Or, "Close your eyes. Don't strain. It won't be long. You're getting better." Better , he'd think. Getting better.... and thirty. Her features, devoid of makeup, had an unhealthy-looking pallor, as if she hadn't used a sunlamp for many weeks. Yet, at the same time, her firm slim body suggested a solidity and a strength. Her am going to live?" "You will live." He thought for a moment. "How long have I been here?" "Nine days." "You took care of me?" He noted the deep, dark circles beneath her sleep-robbed eyes. "Tell me, will—will I be well again? Will I be able to walk?" touched his hot forehead. "Rest. We'll talk later." His eyes closed and breath came easier. He slept. She increased the pressure in his rubberex pillows and helped him rise "Maggie." "Why did you save me?" Lieutenant Curtis." "How did you learn my name? I destroyed all my papers—" "I know that you're twenty-four. Born July 10, 1971. Orphaned at four, you attended Boys Town in the Catskills till you were 19. You graduated from the Academy at White Sands last June with a major in Astrogation. Your rating for the five-year period was 3.8—the second highest in a class of fifty-seven. Your only low mark in the five years was a 3.2 in History of Martian Civilization. Want me to go on?" Fascinated, Ben nodded. Odyssey . He fell back into his pillows, breathing hard. She rose quickly. because you're alive. Rest now. We'll talk again soon." "Maggie, you—you said I'd live. You didn't say I'd be able to walk "But you don't think I will, do you?" "I don't know. We'll try walking tomorrow. Don't think about it now. Rest." He tried to relax, but his mind was a vortex of conjecture. Finally she said, "He had a wife." "Children?" "Two. I don't know their ages." She left the room. He sank into the softness of his bed. As he turned over on his side, Ben stared at the photo for a long time. At length, he slipped into down and beckoned to him. Ben crawled through the night on hands and

<question>:
How long did Maggie care for Ben before he finally awoke after rescuing him?

<options>:
A Nine days
B Three days
C Nineteen days.
D Six days

<answer>:

A