They woke up to the smell of danger. No one could see it. None of them could hear it. But it was there. Lurking... intangible... inaudible... invisible. The space around them was alive with it. They breathed it into their lungs. It crept through the pores of their skins. It was the dreaded presence of X the Unknown.

Why had Jon seen that face in his dreams over and over again? Was it real, or did it belong to the uncanny half world of pure mental projection? He glimpsed it again in a patch of moving shadow... He fancied he saw it taking shape on the video screen, only the screen was switched off.

He saw it next on the control panel. A trick of reflection from a thousand switches dials and levers. Maybe... but dials and levers don't talk to a man... Reflections don't send a tough space patrol crew screaming in terror.

Then Jon put the impossible facts together and came up with a pattern. The X face was a personality projection... the planet itself was alive.

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JOHN SPENCER & CO. (Publishers) LIMITED, 131 BRACKENBURY ROAD, LONDON W6

Alex was a pioneer. Like all pioneers he had problems. He had more problems than most; when things start to go wrong in space they go wrong in a big way. One by one the perils of the void took their toll of his companions. Alex was alone, alone with a vision, the vision of a town, home.

Only thoughts of home kept him alive. He remembered trees, houses, shops, churches, people... above all people. At last he reached earth... or perhaps it wasn't earth? Things had changed unbelievably. Perhaps he had changed. How long had he been away? How far had he drifted? There was a sinister possibility that this wasn't home at all. If the things that looked like people weren't people but aliens, what was he to do?

Alex was a realist. He knew what space could do to a man's mind. He was disinclined to trust the evidence of his own senses. A mind that has had more than it can take can produce some very peculiar perceptions...

© 19??
23 Coleridge Street, Hove 3, Sussex. Printed and made in Great Britain by Caldra House Limited.
JOHN SPENCER & CO. (Publishers) LIMITED, 131 BRACKENBURY ROAD, LONDON W6

It should have been routine. Nothing could go wrong. The anode and the cathode were behaving perfectly. The meters and dials were recording accurately. A faint effervescence stirred in the chemical solution.

There was a subtle change in the speed - the experiment seemed to freeze in its tracks - the stream of gentle bubbles hovered motionless. Something inexplicable was appearing in the solution. The scientist peered harder at the vessel... It couldn't be... It was impossible... It was incredible... but it had happened!

A woman's face smiled at him from the depths of the glass tank! But the face was translucent, he could see tank and solution despite its contours.

"Hello Earthman," said the face from Nowhere.

He clapped a hand to his forehead and collapsed insensible. When he came to, the experiment was back to normal. What had happened? Was it all in his mind? Or had he really made contact with an alien?

© 19??
23 Coleridge Street, Hove 3, Sussex. Printed and made in Great Britain by Caldra House Limited.
JOHN SPENCER & CO. (Publishers) LIMITED, 131 BRACKENBURY ROAD, LONDON W6