With dinner over, Earl drifted toward the door after excusing himself and thanking the Glassmans. Basil followed him. "I need someone to talk to--to help me, Basil," Earl said as they walked back toward the lab building. "Remember that test tube breaking? And the window pane?" "How can I forget?" Basil said ruefully. Quickly Earl outlined everything that had happened. "What you should have done," Basil said in amazement, "is gone directly to Dr. Glassman with it. Now nobody will believe you. Even I find it hard to believe. You must have fallen hard, the way you want to keep her under lock and key." "It's not that," Earl said. "Just a lot of little things. Like her repeating my name as if she knew all about me. And her refusing to say where she's from. And her knowledge of our language yet knowing absolutely nothing about our social customs." "What about time travel?" Basil said. "Time travel? That's absurd." "Why?" "If time travel were possible at any future date, we would have time travelers all around us. They'd come back." "Maybe they have," Basil said darkly. "What did she call those colored marbles you found? Stasis spheres? But the main thing right now is that if I were in this George Ladd's shoes--" "He doesn't wear shoes." "Well, I would be trying to rescue Nadine Holmes this very minute. It's dark now--" But Earl wasn't listening. Basil hurried to catch up with him as he walked rapidly, until they reached the lab building resting against the giant starless bulk of the dome that housed the Brain. "Be quiet," Earl warned as they stole down the hall toward the door to his lab. They reached the door and stopped. Through the panel came the sound of a male voice, the words indistinguishable but the tones unmistakably demanding and insistent. Nadine's voice answered, its tones firm. Earl and Basil looked at each other. Neither of those inside were speaking English. The male voice uttered a harsh monosyllable. Nadine screamed. Earl, abandoning caution, tried to open the door. It was locked. He wasted precious seconds getting the key into the lock. Cursing at the delay, he flung the door open and ran toward the two figures struggling near the windows. One was Nadine, her clothes torn, her face a mask of desperate effort to escape. The other, Earl recognized instantly as being George Ladd. He also recognized the suit Ladd was wearing. It was one of his own. * * * * * Ladd didn't seem to be aware of him until he grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him around roughly. For a split second George Ladd was motionless with surprise--and in that split second Earl lashed out with his fist. The blow sent Ladd stumbling backward until he brought up against a table. Earl leaped toward him. Ladd made no attempt to escape, but fumbled for something in the coat pocket of the suit he was wearing. A glistening object appeared in his hand.