"John"." "In a little while," "I expect to die... to be killed... by something... you and I know is here." "Visible - yet moving unseen, amongst us all, each moment of the day and night." "There were times when you thought I was insane - but listen to this tape, I beg you, so that you know what it is you have to fight." "Or is it too late?" "Even if I'd known what I know now, could I - or anyone - have held back... the terror?" " Morning, Professor." " Good morning, Alec." " Good morning, sir." " Morning." " Morning, Miss Ballard." " Good morning, Professor Munroe." "Did you take the lift?" " Certainly not." " You'll strain your heart, you know." "Baloney." "You'll let me know the moment the Director gets here?" "And ask Dr Davidson to come in and see me as soon as he arrives." "He's on holiday, Professor." "But I'll call him in Switzerland if you like... if it's important." "If it's important?" "I have solved the first part of the formula." "So you get on that phone right away!" " I'm terribly glad." "That's marvelous." " Well, let me know the moment the Director gets here." "I can't wait to see his face." "The autopsy report called it haemorrhage of the brain, but it seemed to me as if an explosion had taken place right in the middle of his head." "Blood vessels on the base of the spine completely destroyed." "Hm." "Is this all the report consists of - these isolated facts?" " Would you like a sweet?" " No, thank you." "No marks on the skin, no bruising?" "Here are those red marks like blotches that Miss Ballard mentioned, but they quickly disappeared." "It seems to me, and, er..." "I'm no medical man... but it seems to me that the damage was caused by some electrical force giving off a tremendous heat." "But what from?" "Well, it couldn't have been the lamp, could it?" "You mean the lamp he knocked over?" "If it was anything electrical, the amount of power involved was enough for that lamp, and every lamp in London." "You will find there must be some logical explanation." "Well, we haven't found it yet." "We really haven't, you know." "Tell me, what are you really up to here?" "Our experiments are directed towards the attempt to harness the power of concentration, so that we'll be able to project one's mind with such force, such intensity," "that Man can be where he wants to be just by using the power of thought." "We believe it will be possible to travel across time and space simply in one's mind, and arrive, as poor Munroe used to say, in the world beyond the stars." "And once you're there, you believe you can keep yourself safe, become what you need to become to live in space, simply through the power of concentration?" "Certainly." "By applying the energy from a hitherto unknown source that lodges in the back of all our minds; the force we call TP 91." "Who discovered that we possess this "energy force"?" "Us, or the Americans?" "In this kind of work it's impossible to say... and, in fact, the formula Munroe was working on was a small piece of the whole." "We exchange all our information." "Not altogether, you don't." "What do you mean?" "Well, I don't suppose I should tell you this, but I will." "In America in the past few months, somethings happened that's only known to my department." "Two scientists, both working on the same problems as you;" "both died under the same circumstances and conditions as Professor Munroe." "Brain blown out of existence, and this fusion of the neck vertebrae." "But why haven't I been told this before?" "We decided to keep quiet about it." "If there's any information, I have the right to know - especially where the safety of my staff is concerned." "You've absolutely no right to take such a high-handed attitude." "Lancaster, we're both doing a similar job here, looking after the staff." "I do mine by seeing that they're safe, and what they're working on doesn't fall into the wrong hand." "And what else do you know?" "Are my staff in danger from the other side?" "Was Professor Munroe killed by something they have and we haven't?" "We've had a report from Russia, too." "At least one of their scientists, and possibly more, have died from the same unknown causes." "They suspect us." "Marvelous." "And where do we go from here?" "I don't know, except I have orders to set up all the security measures here." "Oh, no... more identity cards, more guards, double locks on double locks." "Where's it going to stop?" "Why we can't just be allowed to get on with our jobs is beyond my comprehension." "Shall we go and have a word with your new chief, Dr Davidson?" "After all, he had more to gain here than anyone else by Professor Munroe's death." "He had no idea he'd be my choice." "And I've known Mark for fifteen years." "What a lovely view you have here!" "He recently got married, didn't he?" "What's she like?" " I've never met her." " Really?" "After fifteen years of friendship?" "I should've thought you'd have been amongst the first to kiss the bride." "Shall we have Dr Davidson in now?" "I think not." "Let's surprise him." "I like to take people off their guard." "Gives them less time to think." "Are you coming?" "Hope we're not disturbing you, Mark, but Major Clarke wants to ask some questions about your new wife." "My apologies, Dr Davidson, but for the sake of red tape, without which I should be extremely unemployed... it's my fault." "I've been meaning to ring you but I've been terribly busy taking over, you know." "Not to worry." "I'm sorry, I should have notified you officially about my marriage." "Is this her photograph?" "Well, it's not my mother." "Have you another photograph?" "It would brighten up my files considerably." "Very beautiful." "She's a... alien, isn't she?" "She was born in Switzerland." "How are you managing?" "Well, I don't know which is more unnerving - working on this projector being a brand-new husband." "As a confirmed bachelor I'd rather face the unknown than a face covered in cold cream at night and pin curlers over breakfast." "As a confirmed bachelor you seem to know a lot about it." "When you're less busy, perhaps you could let me have the details of your wife's background." "Well, I don't suppose I'll be able to help very much." "I only met her a couple of weeks ago in Switzerland." "Oh." "Well, perhaps you could get her to give me her parents' name, and so on - you know the drill." "Tomorrow some time?" "Oh, by the way, my department has finished with Professor Munroe's room, so you're free to move in when you please." "I'll have a word with you, Lancaster." "Lancaster, the information I gave you about the American..." "I've put the, er, minutes of that meeting on your desk, Professor." "Oh, thank you." "...about the American and Russian scientists... who died under the same circumstances as Professor Munroe;" "I must ask you not to pass this on - especially to Dr Davidson." "If his life is in any kind of danger he has the right to know." "When the right time comes he'll be told." " And did you tell Professor Munroe?" " No." "Hadn't the right time come?" "No one regrets Professor Munroe's death more than I do." "If he could've been warned, if his life could've been saved, it would've been." "And what about Mark?" "Am I just to sit here each clay knowing he may be killed, and just forget about it'?" "No one's suggesting he was going to be killed - except you." "What chance is there of the Russian reports being false?" "Deliberately planted to mislead us?" "Every chance in the world." "But I can tell you the American scientists died." "And were they murdered?" "Their bodies showed that they died from the same shock, but what that was, nobody knows." "And until we do, there will be the utmost security, otherwise..." "That's all that matters to you, isn't it?" "Security." "No one must know." "You're all the same." "You lose sight of the important things because the endless chase to keep things secret makes you blind to what really matters." "What matters to me is the safety of this country." "What matters to me is the safety of the individual." "You put the State first, and the word "democracy" becomes meaningless." "If you put the safety of the individual before the State there'll be no democracy anyway." "Now, look, I must ask you not to disclose any of the information I've given you." "When the time comes to let Dr Davidson know, I'll tell you." "He is now in charge of the project." "He has the right to withdraw." "There is no reason at all for him to be in total ignorance of the kind of danger he may be in!" "I'll see if I can get you an appointment with the Director, but he's terribly busy right now..." "Have you got the schedule ready for the next series?" "Yes, I've got it right here, sir." "And we've got the names of posted?" " Yes." " That's good... good." "Amazing how this stuff accumulates over the years." "Yes." "Mark, would you like me to give you a hand putting all this in the drawers, and so on?" "Er, no, thanks." "I think I'd better do it myself, otherwise I'll never know where everything is." "Well, thank you!" "Oh, I didn't mean it like that, honestly!" " What's going on in here?" " Just changing offices, Professor Lancaster." "I thought you might be superstitious." "Oh, what?" "Sitting in dead men's chairs?" " There's nothing wrong in being superstitious." " Well, I'll do that." "That's all we need, Professor Lancaster." "Here she is, working for two scientists, and does she rely on facts?" "Oh, no." "She relies on the unknown... what she can't see but can only fear, deep down." "Excuse me." " Look after that, will you?" " Yes, Professor." "She's funny, isn't she?" " Who do you mean - Miss Ballard?" " Yes..." "She's like a lot of women." "Not like my woman, she isn't." "You know, if I were in Security I might wonder why you're keeping your wife hidden away from all your friends." " Are you afraid we'll steal her away from you?" " Well, you could try, but you wouldn't succeed." "No, it's just that..." "Julie's lived a sheltered life and she's a bit shy, that's all." "It's all very new to her" " England, and things." "She needs to get used to our ways a bit before she meets the likes of you." "Ah, I see." " I'm not ashamed of her." "She's no fool." " I'm sure she's not." "And I haven't just fallen for her body, if that's what you were thinking." "Look, I haven't suggested any such thing. it's only that..." " As a matter of fact, she's an extremely brilliant girl." "Look, Mark, you don't have to defend her." "Calm down." "When you think the time's right I hope you'll ask me over." "Let's drop it now." "Oh, we'll fix up a time next week." "Come in." "I'll talk with her when I get home tonight." "You're a lucky man." "A very lucky man." " You left these behind, sir." " Oh, thank you." "Is there anything wrong, Mark?" "All seems so unreal, moving in like this." "Yes..." "Hey, look, this book's mine." "Any news of what caused Professor Munroe's death?" "Did the Major have anything of interest to say?" "You know the cause." "He died from a heart attack." "John, everyone who dies, dies from a heart attack." "But what made that strong heart of his suddenly stop beating?" "What makes you think he had a strong heart?" "You know and I know that every morning he came up those stairs like a man half his age, so don't let's play games with each other." "If the Major doesn't want you to tell me anything, that's perfectly all right." "It isn't all right." "The secrecy surrounding the whole thing's absolutely beyond my understanding." "Well, at least they haven't kept it secret from you." "They most certainly have." "But why?" "Oh, they're probably working on some theory or other." "But they must have finished examining the body by now - after all, the funeral's tomorrow." "They won't bury him tomorrow." "What do you mean?" "All the arrangements have been made." "Oh, there'll be a funeral all right, and his widow will be crying over his coffin." "Only she'll be crying over a coffin-load of bricks." "What are you talking about?" "What I say." "Someone is keeping the body safe and sound, and I think we ought to know why." "This is it." "Here it is." "Look at this." "Yes." "Have you found what you're looking for?" "I'm slipping." "I should've taken your set of keys this morning, shouldn't I?" "Now we're all in danger of losing our jobs." "Or shall we all keep quiet about this?" "This was entirely my idea." "Dr Davidson is in no way responsible." "It says here that traces of Triemorphinide were found in Professor Munroe's arteries." "What is it?" "It's a powerful and totally immediate sedative, a part of the morphine group of drugs." "Traces of which were found clinging to the inside of certain space capsules, which had been in outer space and returned again to Earth." " But how could this Triemphin..." " Triemorphinide." "...be found in Professor Munroe's body when the only other place it's been found is the inside of a space capsule?" "You're telling me this stuff's all around us - like radioactive dust?" "It's doubtful it would appear in that form." "It certainly doesn't respond to any Geiger counter." "Then what are you saying?" "I don't know." "But I'm beginning to think we're up against something more powerful and destructive than either of you realise." "Triemorphinide..." "Julie?" ""Couldn't stay awake any longer." "Hope you're not too tired." "Love, Julie. "" "John." "Yes, Mark?" " Are you free at the moment?" " Is it urgent?" "I'm dictating." "Yes." "Well, I think so." "If you could leave it till later, I won't be long..." "No, I can't." "Oh - er - put them on my desk, please." "Make three copies of that, Miss Ballard." "Oh, er, you'd better make it six... and you'd better send the top copy to the Ministry." "You know how fussy they are." "Yes, I do, Professor." "Thank you." "D'you know something?" "I think I'm going raving mad." "Oh?" "Not more than usual, I hope." "Last night, when I got home, I went upstairs to see Julie." " She was in bed by the time I got home." " Sensible girl." "I thought she was dead." " What did you say?" " I'm telling you, I thought she was dead." "She was lying on the bed, with her eyes wide open." "I've never been so scared in my life." "I felt for her pulse... there was nothing." "Nothing at her wrist, or at her temple." "Nothing." "What are you telling me?" "A few moments later she woke up; sat up and kissed me." "I suppose you think I imagined it all." "No, how could I possibly say?" "I do know that there are people who can sleep with their eyes open." "What about the pulse?" "Well, if you were in that state, thinking she was dead, it's not surprising you couldn't find it." "I'm telling you, she has no pulse." "And I'll tell you another thing:" "she doesn't blink her eyes at all." "Not at all." "Now, look, now you are imagining things." "It's quite impossible for that to happen without the eyes becoming ulcerated." "I'm not interested whether you think it's impossible." "I watched her, and after last night's little episode I watched her even more, and at no time either then or this morning did she blink her eyes at all!" "My dear boy, come and sit down." "Oh, go to hell!" "John!" " Is the Director still here?" " Yes, he's on the phone." "But I don't expect he'll want to be interrupted." "Garth and I will get you that, Major..." "Do you mind waiting outside a moment, Mark?" "There's a good chap." "What I have to say can't wait." "Tell him you'll ring him back." "Come in the other office." "Look, do you mind if I ring you back?" "All right?" "I think I'm entitled to an apology." "Uh...?" " For this morning..." " Oh, for heaven's sake, don't let's be ridiculous." "This morning you told me to go to hell." "That's just exactly where I've been for the whole of this afternoon and evening." "In my own nasty, private little hell." "What are you talking about?" "How long do you think it'll take before we really find the answer?" " To the project?" " Mm." "Oh, I don't know." "I suppose it could be years yet." "Generations." "Especially now that our work's been put back by Munroe's notes being burnt." "Yes, that was an accident we could well have done without." "It was no accident." "It was done deliberately, to stop us getting there." "Sabotage?" "By whom?" "We're trying to find a way of projecting ourselves into another world through the power of thought;" "to land, without having to use the conventional means of travel, on the surface of another planet." "What if they've already done it?" "Mark." "I've known you a long time, and in all those years I've never doubted anything you said because I knew that you were the last person to have extravagant theories." "You think this is, do you?" "I suppose you're going to tell me that I'm tired, that I've been working too hard..." "That's exactly what I'm going to suggest." "If ever a man needed a rest, believe me, you're that man." "You drag me away from an important telephone conversation this evening, just to tell me about this wild theory." "This morning you moon around my office telling me about your wife not blinking." "You wait till I see her." "Are you doing anything tonight?" "Well..." "I was going to work late, that's all." "I have had one or two interruptions." "Come home with me and meet Julie." " Won't she mind?" " I doubt it." "Will you come?" "Yes." "And I'll make sure she keeps an eye on you." "An ever-open eye, at that." "How did you meet Julie?" "It sounds as if it was a pick-up." "In a way, I suppose, it was." "At the end of what must've been my fourth day in Switzerland," "I was about five or six miles from the hotel... when I heard what I thought was the sound of the wind in the mountains... a sort of humming sound... you know, like the noise that... telephone wires make when the wind whistles through them it was very much like that," "only it was a hundred times louder and it was getting louder all the time." "Then, suddenly, the car stopped." "It wouldn't start." "Then the headlamps began to dim." "Then suddenly the door opened, and there she was." "Can you give me a lift?" "Can you?" "Then what?" "I said "Yes, of course" - and you'll see why when you meet her." "She jumped in, and when I pressed the starter it worked first time." "What about that humming sound, by the way?" "Did you ever discover what that was?" "No, I didn't." "I asked Julie if she'd heard it, you know, just for something to talk about, but she hadn't." "Must've been something to do with the car, or something..." "Frankly, I forgot about it." "So would you, if you'd found yourself sitting next to such a beautiful creature." " There we are." " Ah, thanks." "Just bung it down there." "Julie!" "Got a surprise for you." "Julie?" " Darling..." " Hello, my lovely." "You're Dr Lancaster." "I'm so pleased to meet you." "You're our very first guest and I bid you welcome." "And I'm very glad to be here." "Your husband spoke in such glowing terms about you, and I'm happy to say he wasn't exaggerating." "Well, who wants a drink?" "Not for me, I'm still busy in the kitchen." "Yours are here." "Oh, don't bother about laying the table." "The firm of Lancaster and Davidson will oblige as soon as they are fortified." "Thank you." " Cheers." " Mm." "This is very nice." " It's quiet." " Not too quiet?" "Julie doesn't get too lonely?" " No, she likes it." " Hm..." "What are you two up to?" "If you feel strong enough yet, I'd be glad of some help." "Ah, allow me." "I've been hearing about how you two met." "Yes, it was very romantic." "This "thing" was staying in the same hotel." "So we had breakfast next morning, spent the day together, and the next and the next, until it became obvious that the only thing to do was to get married." "Which we did." "I'm very glad to say." "Mm, something smells good." "It's been in the oven for the last three hours." "I hope it hasn't dried up." "Ah, thank you." "Oh, don't burn yourself." "Please be careful." "Where do you keep the corkscrew, Mark?" "Er, in the sideboard drawer." "No - it's in the kitchen drawer." "Alright." "Are you feeling all right, John?" "Well, who's hungry?" "How about you, John?" "Ahh..." "Why are you staring at me?" "Oh, um..." "I'm sorry." "I was just thinking what very beautiful eyes you have." ""Why, thank you, kind sir", she said..." ""As she waved her wooden leg. "" "Good morning, Major." "I'm going to see Professor Lancaster..." "I'll see if... just one moment...!" " Major Clarke." " Thank you." "I believe that the interest of security may best be served if Dr Davidson is removed, for the moment, from his position as head of the department." "And what possible grounds have you for suggesting something as outrageous as that?" "I can't tell you." "Well, I'm very much afraid you'll have to tell me." "That will not be possible." "Then I cannot do as you ask." "And, in any case, have you any idea what it would mean to his career if it got out that he'd been removed?" "There's no reason why anyone should know." "He can continue to occupy Professor Munroe's office... while being engaged on some less dangerous work." "I want a reason from you." "I demand a reason from you." " I'll give you half the answer." " I want the whole answer." "I think even you will be satisfied with the half I'm going to give you." "You see... it's about his wife." "Oh?" "What about her?" "In every area of our check-up, there's no record of the girl anywhere." "Hello, my darling." "Aren't you a beautiful baby?" "Mark!" "Mark!" "Mark!" "Ohh..." "Good morning, Miss Ballard." "Good morning, Dr Davidson." "The Director wants to see you." "Splendid." "Where've you been?" "Shopping, if you want to know." "Want to see what I've bought?" "Only, er, don't take too much of a fancy to it, 'cause - er" " I don't think this'll fit you." "Matter of fact, it's for someone with a much more interesting shape than you." " What d'you think of it?" " Put it away." " Or would madame like me to take it to the light...?" " Put it away!" "What's wrong with you this morning?" "I'm going to send you on leave." "Well, thank you very much indeed, but I've only just come back off my holiday." "This is not a holiday." "I'm sending you on leave because I cannot allow you to work on this project for the time being." " You're joking!" " I'm not joking." "I don't know what you're talking about." "I'm telling you in the plainest possible terms." "You're not allowed to work on this project for the time being." "However, so that this will only be known between the three of us..." "What do you mean, "the three of us"?" "Who's the other one?" " The Major." " Oh, really?" "And why, exactly, is so that this will only be known between the three of us, you're permitted to continue to have the use of your office, but you'll only be allowed to work on material which is in no way secret." "Why do you have to talk to me in that stupid, pompous, ridiculous, civil-service jargonese?" "We've known each other for... oh, I don't know - fifteen years?" " And you have to come out with that tripe." "Why can't you say what you mean?" "What's behind all this, anyway?" "You know what's behind all this." "Security is not satisfied." "You mean the Major's not satisfied." "The Major is not satisfied about the information he has on your wife's background." "Well, I've told him all I know!" " Well, it's not enough." " Has he been nosing around?" "Now, look - he's made enquiries and he's not satisfied." "He hasn't, by any chance, been checking up on your wife too, has he, I suppose?" "Oh, no, he wouldn't have to, would he?" "She's from a nice, respectable English family, isn't she!" "Now listen, Mark, I don't want to row about this." "But you must admit that the whole circumstance of how you met your wife... well, it was so extraordinary, and you really know so very little about her." "Well, you must accept that in a government department such as this, we have to put up with this kind of performance." "Meanwhile, I'm to sit here and play noughts and crosses whilst everyone else believes I'm still working my scientific fingers to the bone." "Now look, it'll only be for a few days..." "It won't even be for a few minutes." "I'm off." "What do you mean?" "If you want me, I'm at home!" "Well, I'm very sorry about this." "But it'll only be for a week at the most, I'm sure." "That's perfectly all right." "Perfectly all right." "It'll give me a chance to paint the bathroom." "You know, they talk about these emulsion paints being waterproof but they're not, old boy, they're really not... once the steam gets under that paint it comes off like a huge blister." "I know how you feel." "I'd feel exactly the same." "But, my dear Major, you told me you were a bachelor." "Don't tell me you're keeping a secret wife somewhere?" "It's very unpleasant to have this kind of investigation into someone who's close to you, someone you love very dearly." "But as far as my department's concerned, as far as our files show..." "Oh, yes, the files, the files..." "So far as we know, your wife may come from anywhere." "I mean, she may even come from out there." "Oh, Miss Ballard." "Yes, Dr Davidson?" "If anybody wants me, I'm in the bathroom with a paintbrush." " Yes." " And if they want to speak to me on the phone, tell them to whisper..." "'cause you never know who's listening." "Miss Ballard." "Yes, Major Clarke?" "How do you find it working for these temperamental scientific fellows?" "Major Clarke." "I enter this office at nine o'clock every morning." "I have been doing this for a number of years now." "I do my job and I get paid for my job." "How would you like to do a little job for me, Miss Ballard?" " What kind of job?" " Keeping an eye on things?" "Well, I'd like to, but I think I would find it rather... dull... working for you." "Now, if you were a little more temperamental..." "Thank you, Miss Ballard." "Well, how did he take it, coming from you?" "Not very well." "But I'm not surprised." "Well, I trust it will all be cleared up to all our satisfaction very soon." "So do I." "By the way, I hope when he gets home he takes his wife to the doctor." "Do you know, there seems to be something wrong with her eyes." "She seems to have burnt the skin just under here, and all the time I was talking to her she didn't blink her eyes at all." "Julie..." "Julie?" "Julie." "Why are you home so early?" "Oh!" "I thought you were asleep." " Are you all right?" " Yes, I'm fine." "Then what are you doing home at this time of the day?" "Don't ask stupid questions." " Have you had a row with somebody?" " Leave me alone." " Can I get you something to eat?" " I'm not hungry." "Is this because of me?" "Why should it be?" "A man was here, asking questions." "The Major." "Would you like me to go away until all this is over?" "It might make it easier for you." "It was all so simple when we were in Switzerland together." "None of this would have happened to us if old Munroe was still alive." "How long are you going to be home for?" "They've put me on indefinite leave until all this business is cleared up." "Marvelous." "Yes." "So we should have some days together." "And I think we ought to make the most of them, don't you?" "Mm..." "Poor, sweet Julie." "We didn't spend much time together during the days I was at home." "Although I was forbidden to work on the project, it still filled my head during the days and nights that followed." "I wanted so much to find out just how far my old chief had got before he was killed... all his notes destroyed with him." "My mind went back to the last time I saw him..." "just before I went on holiday to Switzerland." "I tried to remember everything we discussed." "I went over and over my notes, hour after hour... until, one night, I felt sure that I'd come to the same point he had." "Hello?" " John?" " Yes." " It's Mark." " Now, look here..." "Yes, I know what time it is... and I'm not going to apologise for disturbing you." "I think I've made the breakthrough and solved the first part of the formula, just as Munroe had before he died." "Are you sure?" "Yes, I thought you'd be interested." "Shall I come round to the office in the morning - or won't I be allowed in the door?" "What about now?" "What do you mean, now?" "Do you know what time it is?" "See you at the office." "All right, I'll be there as quick as I can." " I'll ring the Major." " Why must you ring the Major?" "Well, you know the regulations, Mark..." "I suppose so." "I'll see you both there." " Right." " In about an hour or so." "What time is it?" "It's all right, it's all right." "I'm just off to the office." "But it's the middle of the night." "Yes, but I've just got to drop some work in to John." "I'll be straight back." "What work?" "Why can't it wait until the morning?" "I think I've managed to catch up on the first part of the formula." "I've been working on copies of Munroe's notes, and my own, and I think I'm there!" "Don't go." "Just you turn over and go to sleep." "I'll be there and back so quickly you won't even know I've gone." "You mustn't go!" "Snuggle down and get your beauty sleep." "Not that you need it, because you're very beautiful." "Mark!" "Mark!" "See you soon." "I'll be as quick as I can." "Oh..." "Mark!" "Mark!" "Mark...!" "John?" "Where's John?" "He said he'd be here." "He will, I'm sure." "I hear you have some good news for us." "Is that it?" "I'll have it, if you don't mind." "Oh, it's no use to you - you wouldn't understand it from one end to the other." "I'm sure I won't." "But I'll take care of it, if it's just the same to you." "I can hold on to it just as well as you till John arrives." "I don't intend to hold onto it." "I intend to lock it in the safe." "There's no need to shut the door." "I know the combination." "I work here, you know." "Thank heavens for the bureaucratic mind." "Did you really think that I was responsible for the Major's death?" "Well, you were kneeling over the body, weren't you?" "And you were the first to find poor old Munroe." "As a matter of fact, I wasn't - not that I have to explain myself to you." "Miss Ballard found him first." "But what difference does it make who found him?" "You know very well from the autopsy report the condition of the brain, the blood vessels and the spine, that everything was hit with such a... cataclysmic force that no human being could possibly have been responsible." "So what are you suggesting?" "I'm not suggesting anything - yet." " But let's assemble our facts." " Look, we should be telephoning the police." "Now, look, let's - let's forget the police for the moment." "They're the least of our worries." "I don't think you quite realise the danger you're in - and Julie, for that matter." "Julie?" "You see, if the Major was killed like Munroe, it must be because he had the formula in his hands." "Isn't that so?" "The formula has again been destroyed, but only on paper." "It's still in your head." "How does Julie come into all this?" "Whilst you were at home, working on the formula," "I've had further information about the deaths of those scientists in America and Russia, and in at least three cases the wife of each of them has disappeared, in circumstances that simply can't be explained." "Then she must be given police protection." "From what?" "And that's exactly what I've been asking myself." "Look at it another way:" "the only connection between the deaths of Munroe and the Major, and the scientists both in America and Russia, is that in each case the formula was involved." "Now, the Russian reports may be false." "You mean, they may be responsible, and want us to think they're not?" "It's possible." "But even so, it leads me to only one conclusion." "Now, one day you said to me something I scoffed at." "You said that whilst we were only in the early stage of projecting our minds through space, it may already have been done, but not by anybody on this earth." "Well, now I happen to think that you're right." "What kind of..." "creatures... can they be?" "And nothing's been seen..." "Are we to suppose it's an invisible force, like electricity is?" "Like magnetism is?" "Well, if our theory about this kind of mind projection is correct, then when we get to another planet and, say, the air is entirely toxic, we would have to become different creatures - without lungs, a different bloodstream " "which would make it possible for us to live there." "So, if they have come here, they in turn must also be able to move, able to breathe... even able to think." "And the only creature that we know that can think is a human being." "Yes." "And if our theory is proved correct, to make ourselves equipped to exist on another planet... our method involves being able to measure the amount of concentration that will be needed." "And we can be pretty sure that there must be times over a period when our concentration will weaken, when our voltage, as it were, will drop." "And if they have come here and are projecting themselves as human beings, they also couldn't possibly keep up that enormous power of concentration... all the time, every minute of the day." "No, they couldn't." "In small ways they'd have to, at times, revert to their true selves, whatever that is." "There must be weaknesses in their structure." " They're bound to reveal themselves." " What do you think the signs would be'?" "Well, they may not be able to sweat when it's hot." "They may not be able to grow their nails." "They may have some special deformity." "Their eyes may not be able to blink." "They may even..." "As you say... they may not be able to blink their eyes." "Are you saying Julie's one of these... illusions?" "Let's confine ourselves to what we know." "You, yourself, were very concerned about her not blinking." "That she slept with her eyes open." "That she had no pulse." "But you've been to our house." "You've met her." "What I didn't tell you was what I saw for myself." "What's that?" "I saw Julie take out the red-hot casserole from that 275-degree oven with her bare hands." "Any normal person would have had third-degree burns." "You're out of your mind." "You're talking about my wife!" "All right." "Let us, for the moment, forget she's your wife." "Forget...?" "!" "Now, listen." "If you and I were given certain information - and remember, we both have the kind of mind that's trained not to jump to conclusions - what would your reactions be to all the facts?" "What facts?" "Well, the fact that she knew who I was when we met the night I came home with you." "I telephoned her we were coming." "You didn't." "She'd no idea we were coming." "What I saw... her bare hands inside that oven, the non-blinking of her eyes that you, yourself, told me of, and that the Major also saw... the burn marks under her eyes..." "What burn marks?" "The Major told me about them after he'd been to see Julie." "As if she'd been crying and the tears had literally burnt her cheeks." "He was lying." "Rubbish." "What possible reason could he have for lying?" "When I got home after being sent on my indefinite leave, there was nothing wrong with her eyes." "No, I don't suppose there was." "She could've put that right simply by wanting to be complete again." "Look, let me ask you this:" "if they... whoever they are... if they can't keep up this illusion of being a human being, do you agree with me that we ought to be able to reduce their power of concentration?" "I don't follow you." "What makes you and I lose our grip on things?" "What makes a human being lose consciousness...?" "There are all sorts of things." "Loss of blood to the brain, a blow, shock..." "And anesthetics." "Yes." "Suppose we came across one of these..." "creatures, whatever you want to call them." "Suppose we were - by using an anesthetic like ether, say - able to make them lose their power of concentration." "Would they, in fact, cease to exist once that had happened?" "Would they lose their human form, and if they did, what would they turn into?" "Are you prepared to find out?" "Would you allow me to come to your home, and in your presence anesthetize your wife... so that we could see, once and for all, whether she is a real human being... or an illusion?" "You get whatever anesthetic you like - as strong as you like - and get over to our house as quick as you like." "I'll be there first, to tell her you're coming and why." "And when you walk out of our front door, having seen how devastatingly wrong your thinking has been," "I want you to know here and now that from that moment you and I will never see each other again." "Why are you up?" "What's wrong?" "I was just thinking about how we first met..." "That's a fine thing to get depressed about." "...and how to tell you that I have to go away." "What are you talking about?" "Go where?" "When I sat beside you in your car that first night, I didn't think about you very much " "I was more concerned with what I had to do." "You mean, get back to the hotel before they locked up for the night?" "Why do you think we met?" "Why do any two people meet and fall in love?" "I waited in the night for your car to come." "Did You?" "I waited." "I was sent to search you out because of your work... to kill you." "From behind the Iron Curtain?" "Because I have failed, my life here must come to an end." "But this is nonsense!" "You don't have to go." "No one can force you to leave the country." "We have each other - no one can harm us." "There've been lots of cases where British subjects have married women from Russia." "We just have to ask for political asylum." "What do you mean, Russia?" "I'm not from Russia." "Then... where?" "Don't you know'?" "Don't you really know?" "And isn't John coming here to prove it to you?" "I don't care where you've come from." "You are what I love!" "I've only seen you as a woman, not as anything else!" "But I am something else." "And now I'm involved with human emotions; involved with loving you... with wanting children." "But if you love me - if you're happy - why do you have to run?" "Because I know we can't ever be together the way we want to be." "Wherever we went they would search us out." "Look... you came hereto kill me because of my work." "I can give it up." "I don't care about the project." "I care about you." "It isn't enough." "I can't bear to see you come to any harm." "But they won't harm me if I give up working on the project." "We'll be safe, won't we?" "I'm telling you, We'll be safe!" "They'll leave us alone!" " What is it?" " Don't you hear it?" "Hear what?" "You must get away from me... from this house." "I don't want you to see me die." "But you're not going to die." "Mark, I beg you." "If you love me, get away from here." "Otherwise you will be killed, too, like Munroe and the Major." "How do you know they were killed?" "But anyway, you couldn't have killed them because you were with me in Switzerland, and here at home tonight." "No, I didn't kill them." "You mean... there are others?" "Julie...!" "Julie!" "Come back." "If we're together they can't touch us." "Don't move!" "Julie!" "Julie!" "Get away from me!" "I don't want you near me." "Please." "Please..." "I told you they couldn't harm us." "I told you if we'd love each other they would leave us alone." "It's all right, my darling. it's all right..." "Julie!" "That I saw this beautiful creature become... nothing." "And whatever destroyed her is coming here to kill me..." "Dr Davidson, can I help?" "You don't know what a relief it is to see you walk through that door." "I'm glad, because I really am very sorry about Julie." "Yes, we've been here for twenty years." "And so far we have stopped you moving into outer space, and we will continue to stop you with every means." "Including killing men like Munroe and Major Clarke?" "Unfortunately, yes." "And now you." "You can't go on killing." "We found this was the way back, not the way forward." "But if you threaten us, we in turn will have to destroy." "And we will win, because you are weak." "You will always reveal yourselves." "There are too many of us, and few as weak as Julie was." "You call it "weak" to love'?" "You call it strong to give yourself to someone else for this so-called "love"?" "You talk a lot about love;" "love of freedom, for example." "But do you have it?" "Do you really have it'?" "It's an illusion, and we have learned to live without illusions." "You saw what happened." "We have no time for mistakes to be made." "You progress fast." "The dangers of your reaching us make it imperative that our powers are never diminished... not for one moment of any day."