"Now, I shall try again." "I'm so close to success, it must work." "Next, to increase my power units." "More on A force, more on B force." "Molecular energy has formed." "It has body and it can be harnessed!" "What have I created?" "I must call for help!" "Dr. Quest!" "Dr. Quest!" "Oh, sorry, Race." "What is it?" "It's a frantic radio message from Cave Island!" "That would be Isaiah Norman." "I wonder what he wants." "is he the one who's been experimenting with molecular energy?" "Yes, Race. I hope he's all right." "Dr." "Quest here." "Benton, this is Isaiah Norman." "l desperately need your help!" "Yes, Isaiah, what is it?" "You know of my experiments in attempting to harness energy..." "...and my theory of controlling it?" "Yes, I do." "Well, I'm afraid my efforts have resulted in the creation..." "...of something too terrible to contemplate." "But, lsaiah" "No, believe me, Benton." "It is monstrous beyond imagination." "And what is worse, uncontrollable!" "Can you come at once?" "Of course, Isaiah." "Something must be done to stop this thing." "No." "No!" "It's come back!" "Isaiah, Isaiah!" "What do you think it is, doctor?" "l don't know, but we've got to move fast!" "Boys, let's get all the emergency equipment aboard the plane!" "The new plane?" "Yes, we'll leave in two hours!" "Boy, this plane has some takeoff, Hadji!" "More like a ride in an elevator!" "Stand by for engine switchover!" "Standing by." "Engage main engines." "How are we doing, doctor?" "Pretty good, Race." "Pretty good." "We'll be at Cave Island just about dawn." "Do you think experimenting with molecular energy is dangerous?" "Frankly, Race, I don't know." "l hear Bandit's taking a nap!" "That's for sure." "He's been dognapping ever since we left." "You boys better get some sleep too!" "Almost daylight." "Ought to be about there." "l think I see it." "Whoa, where are we?" "Just coming into Cave Island." "Already?" "Already?" "You slept the whole trip!" "Me?" "Asleep?" "I hardly closed my eyes!" "Me too." "Where's the island?" "Just off to the left there." "You see it?" "That's the western tip of the island." "We should find Dr. Norman's laboratory at the other end." "There she is." "Okay, check your safety belts." "Let's go on down there!" "Gosh, it's so quiet!" "Gee, Jonny, look at those buildings." "Yeah. lt looks like they've been bombed!" "Where's Dr. Norman?" "l don't know, Race." "Let's take a look in his laboratory." "What do you think, Race?" "l don't know." "Never saw anything like it in my life." "You're right, Race." "And no sign of Dr. Norman." "You boys stay here!" "I don't like the look of things." "Here's something over here that might give us a clue." "I think it's Dr. Norman's notebook." "Yes, yes, it is!" "What do you make of it, doctor?" "Hey, Dad!" "Dad!" "What is it, Jonny?" "Can you look at this, Dad?" "Here's a real clue." "Look!" "What do you think that is?" "I don't know." "I never saw anything like it before." "And there's more of them." "They lead to that broken fence over there." "Whatever made those prints has unbelievable strength." "He'd have to, to rip that fence apart." "And from the look of those insulators, that fence was heavily charged with electricity." "What could take a charge like that?" "I'm not sure. I think we'd better follow this trail, find out what we're dealing with." "So do I." "Break out the rocket belts while I have a look at Dr. Norman's notebook." "Dad?" "Dr." "Quest, we're ready to go!" "Oh, Race, you and the boys scout on ahead." "I wanna give these notes of Dr. Norman's more study." "With luck and a couple of hours, I can piece together what happened." "Right, doctor." "Ready, boys?" "Yes, sir." "Okay, boys." "Now let's see if we can track this thing down." "Oh, Race?" "Yes, sir?" "Whatever it is, be careful." "Right, doctor." "Stay, Bandit, stay." "Easy, boy." "They'll be back soon!" "Well, whatever it is, it's easy to follow." "Yeah, look at those footprints." "It sure makes a wreck of everything." "Hey, wait!" "What is it, Hadji?" "Look, that village over there!" "lt's wrecked too." "Come on, let's speed it up." "We seem to be on the trail of a two-legged tornado." "What is that strange sound?" "Maybe it's the two-legged tornado." "Let's get out of here." "l don't want any friends like that." "Come on." "Let's get upstairs. lt'll be safer." "Going up!" "Can't figure that sound!" "lt's getting louder!" "There's another village." "But, look, off to the right." "What's that?" "lt's moving." "That must be it." "It's heading for the beach." "We'll be able to see it now." "It's coming out of the jungle." "But, gosh, I can't see anything." "lt's invisible." "l see the footprints, but no body." "Let's go." "We've got to warn the villagers." "Race, there's nobody here." "Everyone's gone." "Hello!" "Hello, anybody!" "lt's deserted." "Hello!" "Come on, let's get out of here!" "Hey, something's wrong!" "Race, Jonny!" "My rocket belt, it won't work!" "Oh, Race, the thing, it's almost on him!" "Help!" "Hold it, Hadji, we'll get you!" "You got a good grip on him, Jonny?" "Yep!" "Once around the park, fellows." "Quiet!" "Now, let's get back to the lab, and fast!" "How far away is it now?" "At the rate it's moving, it would take an hour and a half or two hours to get here." "Well, it's more serious than I thought." "I finished reading Dr. Norman's notes." "I know what we're dealing with." "We'll have to destroy it." "What is it?" "Dr. Norman was experimenting with energy and mass." "To make it brief, it got away from him." "He found he had made a mass of energy that somehow came alive." "It feeds on more energy, and it lives only to feed." "I'm afraid it consumed Dr. Norman before he could stop it." "lt eats people?" "No, Jonny, it consumes them." "It eats energy." "Sunlight, electricity, the energy in a living body." "Anything it can get." "Gosh." "What will happen now?" "Unless it's stopped, it will continue to grow and grow and grow." "How can it be stopped?" "There's only one way I can think of." "How?" "We have to think of a way to make it visible." "Then we can lay a trap with some equipment I can try to put together." "But how to see it?" "We'll paint it!" "We'll paint it, Dad." "Jonny, you may have a thought there." "Race." "Yes?" "There's a paint shack in the back." "Pick up those plastic bags in the plane and load them with paint." "We'll go on a bombing mission before we set our trap." "You boys check out the rocket belts." "Yes, sir!" "Okay, Dad!" "Oh, and, Hadji?" "Yes, sir?" "Especially you!" "Yes, sir!" "This monster sure makes a mess of things." "You can say that again." "Dad?" "Yes, Jonny?" "Wait until you see the villages." "Yes, I know, son." "That's why we've got to find it and destroy it." "That's the village where we rescued Hadji." "Horrible, isn't it?" "Over there is where it came from the forest." "Just below us is where it went back in again!" "I see, Jonny." "Okay, let's follow it." "Look, there it goes, towards the ledge!" "lt's heading back to the laboratory." "But why, Dad?" "So when the sun goes down, it'll be able to maintain its energy with electricity!" "Let's have a look at that thing." "You boys stay up here." "Race and I'll have a try at it." "I mixed this paint with a phosphorescent dye." "Let's hope it works." "lt stopped, doctor!" "Here goes!" "Right behind you!" "Something's taking shape!" "Yes, try it again, but higher." "Great guns, look at that!" "What a monster!" "lt's a terrible-looking thing!" "If it means anything, at least we can see what we're fighting!" "lt's moving." "Yes, towards the laboratory." "Come on, boys." "Back to the lab." "We have a trap to set and no time to lose." "All I can say is, it better be a pretty big trap!" "Yeah, that's a pretty big monster!" "Dr." "Quest!" "Yes?" "ls this all of it?" "Yes, Race, that's it." "Take it away." "I'll be with you in a minute. I just have time to hook up the main cable to the generator." "Jonny, Hadji!" "Jonny, Hadji!" "You finished?" "Yes, Race." "We're back here!" "Let's go, boys." "Give me a hand getting these lights hooked up." "Okay." "We about finished?" "Soon as this stuff gets connected and your dad gets here!" "I was right. lt's headed for the lab." "I'd better get down to the cave." "Boy, that looks terrific." "lf it works." "It's got to work." "After all, I'm going to be the bait." "You, the bait, Dad?" "I don't understand!" "Someone has to lure that monster down here and into the cave." "And that will be me." "Now, let's head back to the generator shack and I'll explain the strategy." "I've rigged up a system of lights that I hope will do the trick." "The equipment in the cave?" "If I can attract this thing into position, my plan is to reverse the process..." "...by which it was created." "l think I follow you, doctor." "l'll just keep my fingers crossed, Dad." "Me too, Jonny." "It's coming!" "Now look, Race, the minute that monster gets in view throw the switch marked number 1 , like this." "When it sees that light, the monster should head for it." "The light is food for it." "See it, Hadji?" "Yes." "And when it gets there, I turn it off." "Right, then turn number 2 on." "That'll light the light by the entrance." "He'll see it from light number 1 and he'll head down the path." "You'll turn that one off." "Yes." "And then I'll attract the monster into the cave with a flashlight." "When I give the signal on the viewer, hit the main switch fast." "You got that?" "Got it." "Good!" "I've got to go!" "Good luck!" "Be careful, Dad!" "l will, Jonny!" "Bandit, come back here!" "Don't go out there, Jonny!" "But Bandit's following Dad!" "Back, Bandit, go back!" "Stay, Bandit, stay!" "Bandit!" "Bandit, come back here!" "Jonny, I told you not to go out there!" "l've got to, Race." "Bandit's scared to death!" "Jonny!" "Jonny's got Bandit, Race, and here he comes!" "Good boy." "And here comes the monster!" "Wow, it's bigger than I thought!" "lt's coming toward the shack!" "Steady, everybody!" "Now!" "The light's on, Race." "The monster sees it!" "It's just about there, Race!" "Here goes." "Has it seen number-2 light yet?" "No, Race, it just stands there screaming!" "Now it's turning that way!" "lt's near the path down by the cliff!" "l'd better alert your dad!" "Dr." "Quest." "Dr. Quest, Race here!" "Yes, Race." "The thing's on its way toward the cave!" "Yes, Race, I hear it. I'm ready for it." "It's heading for the cave entrance light." "Well, that did it!" "Race, do you hear me?" "Yes, doctor." "It's seen the flashlight." "It's coming this way." "Ready with that switch." "Steady." "It's moving into position." "Here, monster." "That's a nice little monster!" "He's there, Race." "Hold it." "Hold it." "Now!" "You okay, doctor?" "Yes, Race." "The monster's finished." "It's gone!" "Yippee!" "Hooray!" "Oh, man. I'm glad that's over!" "Everything packed and ready for takeoff." "Good." "For once I'm really glad to leave." "By the way, where are the boys?" "Over in the house, I think. I'll get them." "Hi, Bandit." "Okay, fellas, let's roll." "ln a second, Race." "We're training Bandit not to be afraid of monsters." "l don't think it's going to work." "Here goes the big test." "Here, Bandit!" "Here, boy!" "Here, Bandit!" "Hey, hey!" "Hey, watch it!" "l told you it wouldn't work!" "Take it easy." "Take it easy!" "Down." "Down, Bandit, down!" "Please, Bandit!" "Take it easy, Bandit." "Okay, you win!" "Come on, monsters, the plane's waiting." "Let's go!" "I'll make a full report on Dr. Norman's experiment when we get back." "His loss will be a serious setback in his field, won't it, doctor?" "Yes, but if there's any consolation, what we learn from every setback helps science to move forward."