ng else on your mind?"

"I'm going to leave you for a while. I can't really understand even a
radio, and just thinking about those funny, complicated rays and things
you are going after makes me dizzy in the head. Mrs. Orlon is going to
take us over to the Country of Youth--she says Margaret and I can play
around with her daughter and her bunch and have a good time while you
scientists are doing your stuff."

"All right. 'Bye till tonight," and Seaton stepped out into the grounds,
where the First of Rays was waiting.

The flier was a torpedo-shaped craft of some transparent, glassy
material, completely enclosed except for one circular opening or
doorway. From the midsection, which was about five feet in diameter and
provided with heavily-cushioned seats capable of carrying four
passengers in comfort, the hull tapered down smoothly to a needle point
at each end. As Seaton entered and settled himself into the cushions,
Rovol touched a lever. Instantly a transparent door slid across the
opening, locking itself into position flush with the surface of the
hull, and the flier darted into the air and away. For a few minutes
there was silence, as Seaton studied the terrain beneath them. Fields or
cities there were none; the land was covered with dense forests and vast
meadows, with here and there great buildings surrounded by gracious,
park-like areas. Rovol finally broke the silence.

"I understand your problem, I believe, since Orlon has transferred to me
all the thoughts he had from you. With the aid of the Rovolon you have
brought us, I am confident that we shall be able to work out a
satisfactory solution of the various problems involved. It will take us
some few minutes to traverse the distance to my laboratory, and if there
are any matters upon which your mind is not quite clear, I shall try to
clarify them."

"That's letting me down easy," Seaton grinned, "but you don't need to be
afraid of hurting my feelings--I know just exactly how ignorant and dumb
I am compared to you. There's a lot of things I don't get at all. First,
and nearest, this airboat. It has no power-plant at all. I assume that
it, like so many other things hereabouts, is riding on the end of a rod
of force?"

"Exactly. The beam is generated and maintained in my laboratory. All
that is here in the flier is a small sender, for remote control."

"How do you obtain your power?" asked Seaton. "Solar generators and tide
motors? I know that all your wo