ead. Some of the aliens seemed to heal almost
instantly; others took days. Some operated completely alone; some seemed
to have joined with others. But they were legion.

Lack of a clearer pattern of attack made him consider the possibility of
human mutation, but such tissue was too wildly different, and the
invasion had begun long before atomics or X-rays. He gave up trying to
understand their alien motivations. It was enough that they existed in
secret, slowly growing in numbers while mankind was unaware of them.

When his proof was complete and irrefutable, he took it to his
editor--to be fired, politely but coldly. Other editors were less
polite. But he went on doggedly trying and failing. What else could he
do? Somehow, he had to find the few people who could recognize facts and
warn them. The aliens would get him, of course, when the story broke,
but a warned humanity could cope with them. _Ye shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free._

Then he met Sylvia by accident after losing his fifth job--a girl who
had inherited a fortune big enough to spread his message in paid ads
across the country. They were married before he found she was
hard-headed about her money. She demanded a full explanation for every
cent beyond his allowance. In the end, she got the explanation. And
while he was trying to cash the check she gave him, she visited Dr.
Buehl, to come back with a squad of quiet, refined strong-arm boys who
made sure Dane reached Buehl's "rest home" safely.

Hydrotherapy ... Buehl as the kindly firm father image ... analysis ...
hypnosis that stripped every secret from him, including his worst
childhood nightmare.

His father had committed a violent, bloody suicide after one of the many
quarrels with Dane's mother. Dane had found the body.

[Illustration]

Two nights after the funeral, he had dreamed of his father's face,
horror-filled, at the window. He knew now that it was a normal
nightmare, caused by being forced to look at the face in the coffin, but
the shock had lasted for years. It had bothered him again, after his
discovery of the aliens, until a thorough check had proved without doubt
that his father had been fully human, with a human, if tempestuous,
childhood behind him.

* * * * *

Dr. Buehl was delighted. "You see, Dane? You _know_ it was a nightmare,
but you don't really believe it even now. Your father was an alien
monster to you--no adult is q