a shudder , more mental than physical , ran through him , and his mind seemed to melt away into emptiness . his bulging eyes caught the reclining form of Heather , who was still repeating in sing-song : &amp;hellip; I will not give in &amp;hellip; . he stared at her blankly , mouthing an incoherent gabble of half words . then he broke into a crazy laugh that made rolling echoes through the house , and trailed-off into a long-drawn-out unearthly wail . the wail should have been despairing ; but its eerie note , even in its senseless gaggling babble , was jubilant , triumphant . chapter 7 . happy faces and an exigency . returning to some degree of consciousness , Steve found himself slumped in a chair trying to shake and blink away the mind-deadening mists of hypnotic trance . to his still rather stuporous perceptions , the world was an endless cloud in which he floated , and in which various dark , shapeless objects went round and round in concentric orbits . the rotations preceeded by rhythmic jerks , which were timed to a painful throb that bumped in his head . he slapped himself in the face and cuffed the sides of his head . then by degrees the rotating objects slowed , and coming into focus took the form of the furnishings in Dan Brown &apos;s living room . he stood up unsteadily and looked about the room , trying to gather his wits . outside the dusk was settling over Dow &apos;s Lake and the heights beyond were in silhouette , already a solid black . he bumped into a floor lamp and switched it on . Heather McNabb still lay on the couch , her body uncomfortably twisted and afflicted with occasional spasmodic jerks . he went to the kitchen for water and found Dan . Dan was lying on a long bench in the breakfast nook , his head bent upright against the wall . his usually animated face was expressionless and looked flat , as though his nose had been pushed back and his eyes and cheeks brought forward . he mouthed a low mutter , punctuated at intervals with a few syllables of a crazy and incoherent jargon . as Steve looked at him his mouth suddenly snapped shut , with jaws askew . there was utter imbecility in his blank face . presently the muttering started again , and went on and on . stunned and shaken , Steve drew a glass of water and went back to Heather . half an hour later Heather and Steve were still trying to shake-off the last traces of hypnotic after-effects . for several minutes they had been facing each other across a low table , like two old convalescents thoroughly bored with each other through forced association . then something like a zest for living began to come back to Steve and he squeezed her hand . her face took on enough animation to produce a wan smile . Dan &apos;s low muttering was just audible from the kitchen . and Steve could see that as Heather recovered her senses and emotions she was growing cold and numb with shock . she had seen Dan , or rather the physical relic of him - the empty shell of flesh and bone , devoid of intellect and personality . and these had been his great qualities , so attractive to her . the base station had gone before , discharging its narrow plane of ementalating energy along the length of the earth &apos;s imaginary longitudes , moving eastward like a knife-edged twilight in reversed progression . it had brought the first stage in the Thetan pattern of conquest , the empty-minded receptiveness that prepared the way for the second stage . the landingship followed with its longitudinal sweeps , an invisible speck moving at incredible speed in the ionosphere . up and down , from pole to pole . beaming down a moving cone of impulses , and bringing the second stage . bringing reverence and servility to preconditioned humanity . now the Thetan impulses of the second stage descended on Dan and he received their inspiration . it was nine-thirty . he rose from his breakfast-nook bench and came into the livingroom , where Heather and Steve stood aghast at his entrance . he came , almost falling forward in an ungainly shuffle , neck thrust out , arms dangling loosely . then , abruptly , he drew himself up and walked on the very tips of his toes . he stretched his arms over his head and yawned agape , drawing-in great breaths that became great sighs of ecstacy . his flat moonface shone with an undescribable expression of utter happiness . seeing Heather he came to her and danced her gleefully around the room . he slapped Steve heartily on the back , and then sat down . he seemed preoccupied , as though groping for an elusive understanding of some new and wonderful phenomenon . then he beamed upon his guests . they have come ! he said reverently , gripping his hands together between his knees and leaning forward . is n&apos;t it a glorious thing ! long awaited transcendent event , the exalted desire of all mankind through all ages ! the kingdom of the mind is at hand ! he turned beaming eyes upward and shook his head slowly from side to side . oh , Lord of Lords ! I commend myself , through my mind which is part of thine , to thy command . for in doing thy command my services become a part of the ultimate fulfilment . fulfilment of the kingdom of the mind on earth ! he had intoned this awful devotion in rapt attention , as though repeating the faint phrasing of a distant voice . and his fervour grew in stringendo until his last words were uttered in a frenzy of zeal and adoration . then , very calmly , and with a light of inner peace and sure purpose shining in his eyes , he said : I go to bed now . good night . Steve drove Heather to her nearby apartment and then continued through the sleeping city to his place in Rockliffe . he drove down the lighted streets , his passage controlled by traffic lights that blinked green and red in their proper intervals . a superfluous precaution for there was no other car abroad ; and no pedestrian to cross his path nor to wait at an intersection for the light to change . at his apartment he garaged his car and then stood listening in the night . listening in vain . for the earth had lost its life-tempo , as the heart loses its beat in death . deadly stillness , deadly portent ! Steve awakened early and switched on the radio , which he kept tuned to CBO . the set lighted-up but gave only a low buzzing sound . he had just finished shaving when it came on , with a flat voice repeating : this is BBC calling &amp;hellip; this is BBC calling &amp;hellip; . after what seemed an undue period of repetition , the voice went on to describe the landing of the Thetan colony in Sussex , in all its obscene details . then the radio went dead again , and Steve had no stomach for breakfast . it was a beautiful day , as firsts-of-June should be . Steve got out the car and traversed the same empty streets as he had the night before , to keep an appointment with Heather . coming around the great mass of the Chateau Laurier , he braked to a screeching stop . a flying saucer was tilting and dipping over the war memorial . there was a deep whirring sound , and a high-pitched hissing overtone that sang in his ears with an almost painful sharpness . he reversed and turned back on McKenzie Avenue . the Thetans must not see him ! he took another route to Heather &apos;s and saw two more flying saucers on the way . Heather was very anxious to visit Dan at once ; but Steve insisted that they should first discuss their situation , as far as it could be assessed , and to decide on what seemed to be the best way of meeting it . the Thetans , he said , are presumably here to take charge , as it were , of the minds of the people - who are probably falling all over themselves in their zeal to get their orders and to carry them out . just what these orders will be , we do n&apos;t know . now , because of prior hypnosis we have escaped Thetan subjugation . this time . but we no longer have any immunity . there can be little doubt that if the Thetans discover our mental independence they will promptly give us their hypnotic treatment . if we can avoid undue prominence , it may be that we can move about pretty freely without detection . if we can - well , then we may be able to promote our own interests . what those interests are , beyond personal security , I have n&apos;t a clue ; but , who knows , we may form the nucleus around which some sort of resistance movement may be built . now , to summarize what I think our course of action should be . first , to avoid the Thetans like the plague , for they must not find us out ! second , to tread pretty warily among our own people , finding out just how much freedom we can take with safety . and third , to study these damned Thetans . we must learn all we can about them . there is just a hope that we may uncover some weakness , and find a way of fighting back at them . Heather agreed , and suggested that they use Dan as a specimen demonstrating how the Thetan machinations had been working out . it occurred to Steve that this may not have been entirely an objective suggestion on her part ; but he thought it a good idea nevertheless . so they proceeded to see if the coast was clear . the street was quiet and deserted , and there were neither sight nor sound of flying saucers . so they ventured forth and made their way on foot to Dan &apos;s house . Dan came to the door at their ring but neglected to offer any greeting . he was deeply preoccupied , and it seemed that the ringing of a doorbell was to him a new and strange phenomenon . when he finally beckoned to them to enter , the action gave the impression of having been thought out and decided upon . inside they sat down unbidden , while Dan paced the floor . he seemed completely unaware of their presence . they just stared at him , turning their heads like tennis spectators as he walked up and down , up and down . his whole attitude was a mixture of impatience pending an awaited communication and of a vague perplexity respecting his surroundings and the purpose he was to serve . finally , being so obviously on their own , Heather and Steve tried to make themselves at home . Steve switched on Dan &apos;s powerful , world-wide radio and systematically turned the tuning knob through all the tuning points of the world &apos;s great radio stations . the dials lighted up but he got only a variety of squeaks and whistles . the ether waves were without human voice or sound ; they were dead to the world . overhead a flying saucer whirred and , pitched high above the whir , whined its pungent song . Dan stopped his pacing and became profoundly attentive . it seemed that he was listening to unspoken orders and they could almost hear him say , yes , yes ! , in his eager acceptance of them . then he beamed on Steve and Heather in turn with an expression of ineffable happiness on his flat face . quickly taking his coat and hat from the vestibule closet , he rushed from the house without a word . they followed him to a city bus stop on Carling Avenue , where he waited . the bus stop was a deserted island on an empty street . but not for long , for soon pedestrians and cars flocked upon the Avenue from its many tributary streets . it might have been a normal business-day bustle , except for two anomalies . first , it was Sunday morning ; and , second , everyone walked , or drove , or waited as a person possessed of a single all-exclusive purpose . there were no pleasantries , no shouted greetings , no friendly waves of recognition . everyone minded his own business with a vengeance . yet there was not a grim or surly face in all the crowd . anywhere that Heather and Steve might look they found reflections of Dan Brown &apos;s indescribably happy face . after a long wait a bus appeared and they followed the beaming Dan aboard , taking seats some rows behind him . Steve was beginning to find the stereotyped , flattish , happy faces very disconcerting ; and looking at Heather he found a welcome relief in her relatively long doleful one . 