d, too, that something even more serious was wrong.

Marks was not unconscious, but his stare was fixed. "Are you all
right, sir?" the boy asked anxiously.

The reply was unintelligible.

Scotty bent over the scientist, too. "Are you all right, sir?" he
repeated urgently.

Marks' fixed stare never wavered. A spate of words poured from him,
but they made no sense. Now and then a single word emerged clearly.
Once it was "July," then "soup kettle" and "Planck's constant."

"Just like the others," Tom Dodd said helplessly.

Rick listened with horror. He had no doubt, no doubt at all. Steve had
described it accurately, and here it was. Marks was a victim of the
identical ailment that had stricken the other team members!

CHAPTER IX

Dagger of the Mind

Tom Dodd took command and gave orders crisply. "Help get him into the
car. Here, into the back seat."

The agent got in after the scientist while the boys got into the
front. "Scotty, start driving. We have to shake off any tail that
picks us up. Try to find a stretch where there isn't much traffic."

Scotty swung the sedan into the traffic stream while Rick joined Tom
Dodd in watching behind them. A few minutes later Scotty slipped into
an alley and stepped on the gas. At the end of the alley he turned the
wrong way down a one-way street, found another alley, and slipped into
it. He emerged under a railroad trestle and moved into the stream of
traffic once more. Watching carefully, he moved with the traffic until
he saw an opportunity to cross a main thoroughfare as the light
changed from yellow to red.

Theirs was the last car through the intersection, Rick saw, before
traffic started through the cross street. Scotty took another turn,
doubled back, and went through another alley. As he emerged onto a
street where traffic was sparse, he slowed.

"That should do it," Tom Dodd said. "Nice work."

"How is he?" Rick asked anxiously.

"Just like the others," Tom said flatly. "Listen, boys. Our Newark
agent is in Whiteside. I don't think it's wise to take Marks to
Spindrift in this condition, but I don't want to take him far, either.
Have you any contacts here?"

Rick tried to remember. His father had associates in Newark, he was
sure, including a doctor or two. But he couldn't remember their names.
"I could call home," he suggested. "Dad will have some ideas."

Dodd considered. "You couldn't use the scrambler from here. Could you
tip your father off