mental-invasion

In this chapter, Paul Hagbolt is abruptly transported into an alien saucer filled with a breathable, perfumed atmosphere and exotic flowers, where he is captured and mentally probed by a mysterious green and violet tiger-like creature. Meanwhile, Donald Merriam pilots the spaceship Baba Yaga as it is unexpectedly intercepted and escorted by two unknown saucer-shaped craft exhibiting null-gravity and impossible acceleration, leading to a tense approach toward the Wanderer planet's surface. The chapter explores the disorienting experience of alien technology and the limits of human understanding of physics and space travel.

Norman Saylor confronts the serious political and personal threats posed by college trustees and colleagues, while grappling with the supernatural theft of his wife Tansy's soul by Mrs. Gunnison. Using a broken Prince Rupert mirror, Norman traps Mrs. Gunnison's soul outside her body and mentally confronts her invasive presence before restoring Tansy's soul to her body, resolving the metaphysical struggle between soul and body amid institutional and occult tensions.