ImpactWyman Ford is tapped for a secret expedition to Cambodia to locate the source of strangely beautiful gemstones that do not appear to be of this world. A brilliant meteor lights up the Maine coast and two young women borrow a boat and set out for a distant island to find the impact crater. A scientist at the National Propulsion Facility discovers an inexplicable source of gamma rays in the outer Solar System. He is found decapitated, the data missing.