A howl of anguished rage left it then and
Trent knew that the dog sensed its master had been murdered. And then it
caught the scent of the monster, the thing that had caused its wild rage
to be unleashed, and it leaped forward, down the hall and out the front
door into the night. Trent held the leash tightly in his hands, running behind the straining
dog, jumping over a low hedge after the animal as it headed down the
shadowed street to the edge of the city. And then the last house was behind them and Trent was racing behind the
dog out into the desert land beyond. *       *       *       *       *

His breath was an aching fire in his throat. His legs were numbed beyond
feeling. They were parts of his body that simply refused to stop moving,
though every nerve and muscle in them screamed in protest. It seemed like he had been running for hours, half tripping, stumbling
across the darkened ground behind the seemingly tireless body of the
Great Dane. They ran in near silence now. Only the sounds of their labored breathing
mingled with the night wind. The howls of rage no longer issued from the
throat of the huge dog. There was only its panting breath, and the
strain of its mighty body as it sought to tear loose from the man
holding it. But Trent held grimly to the leash, running as fast as his numbed body
would go. And he knew he could not go much further. That soon he would drop to the
ground in exhaustion. That his last reserve of energy was nearly spent. And then his eyes peered through the darkness ahead and he saw a glow of
lights in the distance. And suddenly he knew those lights. And he became
aware of where they were racing toward. It was the Rocket Proving Grounds! And the fence of the government project loomed close ahead. And as they neared the fence, Trent's eyes pierced the darkness and he
saw a jagged tear in the metal mesh of the fence. A tear that stood as
high as a man, a hole through which a man could have entered. The Great Dane bounded toward that hole and Trent followed the dog
through it. He felt the animal pause momentarily and he nearly stumbled
over a body lying on the ground at his feet just inside the fence. His heart stood still for a moment and the girl's name sped to his lips. But he never uttered the word. For he suddenly saw that it was the body
of a guard. A body whose torn throat lay red and gory in death. And then the Great Dane let a howl of anger out on the night wind, and
the beast leaped forward again, Trent running behind it. And ahead of them, Trent saw a great looming shape in the darkness, and
as his eyes fell upon it, a despairing terror gripped him. It was the second rocket! Standing in its cradle, silent in the night, a
shaft of metal that looked skyward. And a realization of what the monster had in mind struck him. He knew
now where they were headed. He knew why the monster had torn the fence,
why a guard had been killed where he stood. And as if the thought had been a prelude, he saw the rocket loom before
them as the Great Dane bounded around its base. And he saw the metal stairway leading up to the middle of the giant
projectile. And at the top of those stairs, going into the now open rocket chamber,
was the monster, holding the unconscious girl in its arms. The Great Dane saw the creature in the same instant. And a terrible howl
of rage welled from its throat. It gave a lunge forward then that broke
Trent's grip from the leash he held. And the dog was free. *       *       *       *       *

The monster turned in the same moment and saw them. A roar of feline
anger left its throat as the huge dog leaped up the steps toward the
platform above. The monster dropped the girl's body on the narrow platform and backed
toward the opening of the rocket chamber. Then the Great Dane reached the platform and poised itself for a leap. Trent was dashing forward toward the stairs as the dog's body flew
through the air. He saw the flashing jaws of the animal snap at the
throat of the monster, as its heavy body smashed against it. Then the arms of the creature were tearing at the dog as it was forced
back into the rocket chamber. Trent's feet flew up the stairs, his breath a tortured gasp in his
throat. He saw the girl stir on the platform, as consciousness returned
to her. "Joan!" Her name sped from his lips as he reached the top step. Then his hands
closed around the girl's shoulders, lifting her to her feet. The snarl of the Great Dane reached his ears from the rocket chamber,
and the answering roar of rage from the monster as they fought. His eyes
saw the vague, terrible shadows of them, heard the snapping jaws of the
dog, and the raking claws. And then he was dragging the girl down the steps. They reached the ground and Trent pulled her away from the rocket, felt
her come to life in his arms, heard the sob on her lips. But his head turned away from her and he stared anxiously up at the open
rocket chamber. He heard the bodies of the monster and the dog slam against the inner
side of the chamber, and then he saw the door of the rocket close. He
knew that the automatic mechanism must have been touched in the battle. And even as the thought ran through his mind he heard a sudden roar of
flaming sound. The night lit up in a sheet of brilliant light and a wave
of flame spread out from the base of the rocket. Trent pulled the girl away from that blinding sheet of exploding energy,
and his eyes stared in grim fascination as they ran. He saw the rocket shudder in its cradle and then lift slowly. It was as
if time had turned back and he were watching an identical scene that had
happened earlier that day. Only it wasn't the same scene. It was now a scene of horror. For he knew
that the monster and the dog were in that rocket. The rocket that would
shoot skyward in moments, even as its companion had done. Would reach
into the outer fringes of the Earth's atmosphere where the cosmic rays
would envelop it, would react upon the animals inside it. And a terrible dread spread through Trent at the thought. For if the
first change had been terrible enough, what would happen now? And as he thought, he saw the rocket lift slowly from its cradle and
gather speed as it shot upward into the night. *       *       *       *       *

The blinding light of the exploding rocket fuel lit the proving grounds
like a huge beacon of incandescence, and Trent was aware of shouts ahead
of him, and running feet. Then he was surrounded by men from the project, and he caught the glint
of alert weapons and uniforms. He felt arms grab him and the girl and heard questions pounding at him. But then he saw a face he knew. And he tore away from the arms of the
guards and shouted. "Dr. Mathieson! Listen to me!" The scientist stepped up to him and Trent gripped his arm in the fading
light of the vanishing rocket. "What's happened here?" the scientist demanded. "Aren't you one of the
newsmen--"

Trent interrupted him. He poured out a string of words.