Sections 1-7
- Martin travels back to America on the same ship he came to St. Hubert on. This only reminds him all the more of the absence of Sondelius and Leora.
- When he leaves the boat in New York, he's greeted by reporters who want to hear about his adventures among the plague people of St. Hubert. He wants nothing to do with them, though.
- Martin eventually meets up with Terry Wickett, who informs him that Gottlieb has had to resign as the director of the McGurk Institute because his age is catching up with him and he's losing his memory.
- Terry says that the company lackey Holabird is now in charge and that he (Terry) is thinking about leaving McGurk to set up his own lab in a shack in Vermont. He even asks Martin to come with him, although it's all a pipe dream at this point.
- Martin refuses all public appearances and speaking appointments that he's offered, even though he's become a really big deal in the scientific community.
- Martin is in for another huge blow when he visits Max Gottlieb at his home. The guy is so far gone that he can't really remember who Martin is and he only speaks in his native German. At this moment, Martin knows that he'll never be able to apologize to Gottlieb for ruining the St. Hubert experiment.
- Martin goes nuts when Dr. Holabird publishes Martin's study in St. Hubert without waiting for Martin's permission. Of course, Martin would have held the thing back for years if he'd had his way.
- Terry calms Martin down though and Martin spends the next year obsessive over mathematical equations and working in his lab.