ared up to the red-flashing disk, their mouths
agape in dumb amazement. A fire in the most protected, the most guarded
apparatus in the world, a fire in The Brain!

Cautiously Bondy raised his bleeding nose to Lee and quickly put it down
again: the dangerous maniac was a horrifying sight; with his greying
mane standing wildly all around his death head he stood and _laughed_.

He alone understood what had happened: the timebomb he had planted had
ticked its allotted span, the millions of devouring mandibles had done
their work, the living were eating away along the Apperception Centers.
And now the bomb went off; the short-circuit-fires were racing through
The Brain and not even carbon-dioxide could reach them inside the nerve
paths!

But now the alarm stopped and a calm commanding voice came over the
intercom: "Attention, please! A five-alarm fire has broken out in the
Parietal region. There is no immediate danger. I repeat: _There is no
immediate danger._ I order all occupants of Apperception Centers to
collect important papers and documents and then to proceed down to Grand
Central for evacuation. All elevators will be kept in operation. There
is no fire in the Dura Mater. Keep calm! Keep calm and proceed as
ordered."

The voice broke off; the alarm bells started shrieking again.

Bondy and Mellish had scrambled to their feet; wide-eyed they stared at
Lee. Lee made wild gestures now and they heard him call: "Get out....
Get out!"

With their backs to the wall they exchanged a rapid glance which said:

"This is our chance; Together then and quick."

As one man they bolted to the door and down the corridor into the
elevator, slamming the door behind.

"That was a close shave!" Mellish exclaimed as the cage streaked down.

"He caught me by surprise," Bondy moaned. "Never expected it from him,
he almost killed me!"

"He can't get away though, the guards will get him the moment he comes
down. But what about the girl? We quite forgot to warn Vivian that she
has a paranoiac on her hands."

"Bah!" Bondy scoffed, "Vivian is an intelligent girl. It was our _duty_
to evacuate, wasn't it? Besides, we can warn her over the phone."

With the unbearable tension gone from him as sudden as the air from a
blown tire, Lee really acted like a madman now. Stretching to his full
length he reached out to the alarm over the door and put it at rest.
What was alarm to others, to him was a signal to rest. The noise didn't
befit