Spindrift to include the island's young people in
staff activities, and Rick had been a part of the various projects and
discussions since he could remember. But not until Jan Miller's arrival
on the island, during the adventure of _The Electronic Mind Reader_, had
Barby bothered to attend the scientific discussions. Jan, as bright as
she was attractive, had succeeded in persuading Rick's sister that
science was not only exciting, but understandable.

The buzz of talk in the room stopped as Hartson Brant and his guest
entered, followed by Scotty. The husky, dark-haired ex-Marine at once
joined Rick. The two had been close friends and constant companions
since the day Scotty joined the staff during _The Rocket's Shadow_
project. An orphan, Scotty was now a permanent member of the Spindrift
family.

Hartson Brant did not need to rap for attention. There was an expectant
hush as he began immediately. "Our guest today is Dr. Esteben Balgos, of
whom many of you have heard. Until his retirement a few years ago, he
was considered by his colleagues as the dean of South American
geophysicists. His primary field of interest was--and still
is--volcanology."

Rick leaned forward. Volcanology, study of volcanoes. The mountain that
formed the backbone of San Luz had once been a volcano, but it had been
dead or inactive since prehistoric times. El Viejo--the Old One--was its
name. Rick wondered if it might not be the connecting link between San
Luz and Spindrift, but he couldn't yet see how.

"Dr. Balgos reached me at Florida University while I was lecturing
there. We talked, and I agreed that we would examine his problem. It is
so unusual and challenging that I wanted all of you to hear what he has
to say. Rick and Scotty have built a scale model of the island to help
Dr. Balgos describe the problem to us."

"So that's why we built it," Scotty whispered. "I've been wondering."

Rick grinned. So had he.

Dr. Balgos acknowledged Hartson Brant's introduction, took a moment to
wipe his horn-rimmed spectacles, and got down to business, using a
pencil as a pointer. He spoke perfect English with a soft, musical
Spanish accent which Rick found pleasant.

"This, young ladies and colleagues, is San Luz. I retired to this island
from my native Peru a few years ago, so it is now my home. Its
relationship to South America is the same as that of Bermuda to the east
coast of your country. In other words, it is an island vacation resort.