Rick shrugged. It was hard to pinpoint the way he felt. He tried to put it into words. "I've talked to the scientists, including Parnell Winston. None of them has ever heard of an ailment like the thing that struck the team scientists. Winston especially knows a lot, because he's studied the human brain extensively. He doesn't even know of anything similar." Scotty knew all this because he had been present. But talking aloud helped to make things clearer, so he only commented, "And where does that leave us?" "At the starting line. We haven't moved an inch forward. But at least, if medical history seems to have no record of any such cases, we can assume that something new and different caused the scientists to go off the beam." "Yes, but if some enemy caused it, how was it done?" "Glad you asked that," Rick answered gloomily. "Wish someone could answer. Anyway, we know why it was done--if it was done. It was to cause trouble with the project. That would be important enough for an enemy to go to a lot of trouble." Scotty shook his head. "The thing that sticks in my craw is, how come only two of the scientists got hit? Why wasn't the same thing used on the others? If anything was used, that is." Rick was bothered by the same point, and he had no answer--nor did Steve Ames, with whom they had discussed the problem. To both boys, the puzzle was more than just an interesting problem to be solved. If some enemy really had penetrated the project and somehow caused disruption of the scientists' brains, then the people nearest and dearest to both of them were also in jeopardy. Spindrift now provided three out of five for the new project team. Rick swung into the main street and into the public parking lot. The Whiteside _Morning Record_ was in the heart of town, only a block away. Next to the parking lot was a hardware store where Rick planned to buy batteries, and diagonally across the street was the Sports Center. Nothing in Whiteside was far from anything else; it was a typical small town. It took only a moment to buy a box of batteries; they were the type used in hearing aids. Then the boys crossed the street to the Sports Center. Extra mouthpieces for the lungs were in stock. They chose one that seemed softer and smaller than the regulation models, then started for the newspaper. Two doors away from the Sports Center was the town's only barbershop. As they passed, Scotty suddenly grabbed Rick's arm and said hurriedly, "Come back!" Quickly he led the way out of sight of the barbershop windows. Rick looked at him curiously. "See something?" Scotty's forehead wrinkled. "I think so. But it's so unlikely that I'm not sure. Rick, I thought I saw the barber from Washington--the one with the massage machine!" [Illustration: _Rick focused the monocular on the barbershop_] Rick's mouth opened in astonishment. "You're kidding!"