When their vision cleared, the alien had disappeared. And with him the two babies....
Henry, Uncle Andy, Dr. Edwards, Scarface, the G.I. negro and the Swedish actress were all shoulder to shoulder in the lounge, looking down at the world.
Martia had been "rescued" by her mother, the Lady Dewitt, and the governess, whose dough-like face had acquired red emotional splotches similar to hives.
First aid was being administered to the injured and the hysterical--including the two mothers whose babies had been stolen.
In spite of the overwhelming enigma below him, where the Atlantic Ocean should have been, Henry kept remembering Martia--the look she had given him when she had started back to A deck with her mother and the governess. Her eyes had revealed a composite expression of sadness, puzzlement and urgency. With them she had transmitted a message: _Something unknown binds us together. I will see you again._
More important than that, it seemed to be imperative that he discover _what_ it was that bound them together. Just the two of them. No one else in the world.
"Well, Henry," said Uncle Andy, whose pipe had gone out, "after all that's happened, and in view of the landscape below us, I imagine you are about ready to extrapolate."
"He's got company!" ejaculated the negro G.I. "Ah's about ready to lose control, myself! Dat Monster Man done burned up mah nervous system, but dis here country we's flyin' over is gonna make me exasperate all over if somebody don't tell me where we is at!"
Dr. Edwards was not concerned with him, just now, Henry noted. Instead, he studied the unknown country below them--and the peculiar sky--as though orthodox authority were at a loss for an opinion. The Swedish actress, known by the name of Valerie Roagland, looked at Henry, her brilliantly blue eyes searching him curiously.
"When will they tell us?" she asked, with just the pleasant trace of a liquid accent.
"I don't think the Captain or the Navigator are going to be able to come up with much," said Uncle Andy, noting with appreciation that Valerie Roagland's hair was naturally blond and wavy. "Unless they are equipped with a crystal ball."
"What I'd like to know," said Dr. Edwards, "is _how_ this happened. A weird creature like that, suddenly appearing on board and stealing two babies, then disappearing into thin air. And when it's all over--" He shrugged and pointed below.