Mark stared at him. "Important--it's unprecedented! Much the same as
finding eleven identical sets of fingerprints! But what is worse, the
graphs show elements of--of--it's hard to explain. Certainly not
disloyalty! Rather the opposite. An _intense_ loyalty, but governed by
unreason. Their minds seem directed along a single channel, toward a
definite end. And that is--the utter humbling of Perlac! Nothing else
seems to matter!"
Ketrik nodded. Then he asked the obvious question.
"Did you employ this Scanner on yourself?"
"To make the record complete--yes! Needless to say, this tenacity
of purpose concerning Perlac is utterly missing from my own mental
co-ordinates."
"Hmm. How do you account for that?"
"I can't. But this mental trend in the others seems to be _induced_.
Now, you begin to see the implications?"
Ketrik nodded slowly. "Yes, son, and you're right! It even begins to
scare me a little. Suppose Dar Vaajo in some way has gained control of
those eleven minds--is that what you mean? But why Dar Vaajo?"
"There's one more item that completes the pattern, and points to Mars.
During the past year, as many as four of our spacers have disappeared
on the Earth-Mars route. No trace has ever been found. However, about a
month ago, a life-boat from the missing _Terra III_ was found drifting
near the orbit of our moon. Aboard was one survivor--Dr. Curt Ransome,
the brilliant physicist and mathematician, returning from a lecture
tour on Mars."
"And could you learn nothing from him?"
"No." Mark's voice was tragic. "We learned nothing, because--_his
brilliant mind was gone_! The doctors say it's doubtful if he'll
ever respond to treatment. He babbles incessantly, has the mind of a
week-old infant!"