Nolan forced a grin. “With little green men running around?” Then he became serious. “I’ll be up a little later. I have something to do down here.” Morgan snorted as they headed for the door. “See if you can locate a Buck Rogers ray gun. We might need it.” They went back to their cars and Nolan Brice wedged himself behind the wheel but he didn’t start the engine. He sat there, instead, watching the Government men drive off down the street, his mind whirling with a million jangling thoughts that tore through him viciously. Flying saucers, Martians, little green men! The whole damned thing was impossible, ridiculous... But true. A man just couldn’t sit down and say “I refuse to believe in lightning.” It didn’t make sense. You had to believe what your mind told you ... and his mind was telling him wild things. It all fit. Hell, it fit with a perfection that was absolutely fantastic, but crazy enough to be the truth. Nick Danson, commercial artist, disappeared thirteen months ago and every police agency in the country can’t locate him. It was as if the earth had opened and swallowed him; but it hadn’t been the earth, it had been the sky. They had done it ... the Martians, or whatever the hell they were. Why? Why steal a Terran? To replace him? To send an alien being down to take the place of the Terran they had stolen. That took care of the confusion the watch had represented. For awhile it had looked as though Nick had piloted that space ship, but now Nolan [p87] knew better. It wasn’t Nick. It was an alien! [p87] [p ] Beth! Had an alien, posing as Nick, located Beth and was now engaged in using her to help in whatever they had come here to do? How many other Missing Persons cases were wrapped up in this thing? How many aliens were walking the streets of earth right now? To hell with that, Nolan, he roared at himself. The important thing is Beth. You’ve got to find out about this thing and stop it, before something happens to her. He started the car, slammed it into gear and gunned it out onto the street, the tires screaming a protest...
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