"Well, then," Dowland said, "I think there is a race of beings who aren't quite in our time and space. They have YM and use it, and don't want anyone else to use it. They can tell when it's activated here, and use their own YM to interfere with it. Then another experiment suddenly turns into a failure. * * * * * "But they don't know yet who's using it. When the Trelawneys turned on their machine, these beings spotted the YM stress pattern back there in time. They went to that point and reinforced the time-blending effect with their own YM. The Trelawneys hadn't intended a complete contact with that first test. The aliens almost succeeded in blending the two periods completely in the area near the laboratory." "For what purpose?" Camhorn asked. "I think they're very anxious to get us located." "With unfriendly intentions?" "The ones we ran into didn't behave in a friendly manner. May I ask a question, sir?" "Of course," Camhorn said. "When the Trelawneys' machine was examined, was the supply of YM adequately shielded?" "Quite adequately," Camhorn said. "But when I opened the door, the laboratory was hot. And Miguel Trelawney died of radiation burns...." Camhorn nodded. "Those are facts that give your theory some substance, lieutenant. No question about it. And there is the additional fact that after you shut off the YM flow in the laboratory, nearly ten minutes passed before the apparent contact between two time periods was broken. Your report indicates that the phenomena you described actually became more pronounced immediately after the shutoff." "Yes, sir." "As if the aliens might have been making every effort to retain contact with our time?" "Yes, sir," Dowland said. "That was my impression." "It's quite plausible. Now, the indications are that Paul Trelawney actually spent considerable time--perhaps twelve to fourteen hours, at any rate--in that other period. He gave no hint of what he experienced during those hours?" "No, sir, except to say that it was night when he appeared there. He may have told Miss Trelawney more." "Apparently, he didn't," Camhorn said. "Before you and he went into the laboratory, he warned her to watch for the approach of a creature which answers the description of the gigantic things you encountered twice. But that was all. Now, here again you've given us your objective observations. What can you add to them--on a perhaps more speculative basis?" "Well, sir," Dowland said, "my opinions on that are, as a matter of fact, highly speculative. But I think that Paul Trelawney was captured by the aliens as soon as he appeared in the other time period, and was able to escape from them a number of hours later. Two of the aliens who were attempting to recapture him eventually followed him out on Lion Mesa through another opening the YM stresses had produced between the time periods, not too far away from the first."