Only it wasn't the same scene. It was now a scene of horror. For he knew that the monster and the dog were in that rocket. The rocket that would shoot skyward in moments, even as its companion had done. Would reach into the outer fringes of the Earth's atmosphere where the cosmic rays would envelop it, would react upon the animals inside it. And a terrible dread spread through Trent at the thought. For if the first change had been terrible enough, what would happen now? And as he thought, he saw the rocket lift slowly from its cradle and gather speed as it shot upward into the night. * * * * * The blinding light of the exploding rocket fuel lit the proving grounds like a huge beacon of incandescence, and Trent was aware of shouts ahead of him, and running feet. Then he was surrounded by men from the project, and he caught the glint of alert weapons and uniforms. He felt arms grab him and the girl and heard questions pounding at him. But then he saw a face he knew. And he tore away from the arms of the guards and shouted. "Dr. Mathieson! Listen to me!" The scientist stepped up to him and Trent gripped his arm in the fading light of the vanishing rocket. "What's happened here?" the scientist demanded. "Aren't you one of the newsmen--" Trent interrupted him. He poured out a string of words. Words that told what had happened. And as he talked he saw the eyes of the scientist widen in disbelief. And he heard the guards grow silent around him. Felt every ear listening with awe to his words. And when he had finished there was a long moment of silence. And then Joan Drake moved tremblingly up beside Trent and she spoke: "It's true, doctor! Every word Fred said is true!" And one of the guards broke in: "The word just came in from post four. The fence was torn to pieces--and Giddings has been murdered--just as they said!" Then the silence again. And the face of Mathieson was grim as Trent broke through the quiet: "--Doctor--that monster who was Gaddon--he's up there now! When the cosmic rays change him and the dog and the chamber is released ..." The scientist shook his head slowly, a look of awe in his eyes. "It won't release, Trent," he said. Fred Trent looked at him questioningly. "Gaddon must have forgotten one thing," the scientist continued. "That rocket was also an experimental project. But not for the same purpose. It was to test a new type of explosive ..." Mathieson's voice trailed off and silence closed over the small group then. There was no need to say anything further. There was only the tension of waiting, the tension that showed in every eye. And the girl moved closer to Trent, her body trembling against his. They waited. The seconds passed like moments in eternity. Slowly they marched by, one by one. And then a minute. And the tension grew.