the floor and plunged on.

There'd been an explosion by the lake, the man who'd warned him said.
That checked. Three men went to see what had happened. That was
reasonable. They didn't come back. Considering what Vale had reported,
it was almost inevitable. Then two other men went to find out what
happened to the first three and--that was news! A smell that was worse
than skunk. Paralysis in a moving car, which ditched. Remaining
paralyzed while seeing crazy colors and hearing crazy sounds....
Lockley could not even guess at an explanation. But the men had
remained paralyzed for some time, and then the sensations lifted. They
had fled back to the construction camp, evidently fearing that the
paralysis might return. Their narrative must have been hair-raising,
because when orders had come for the evacuation of the camp, they had
been obeyed with a promptitude suggesting panic. But apparently
nothing else had happened.

The first three men were still missing--or at least there'd been no
mention of their return. They'd either been killed or taken captive,
judging by Vale's account and obvious experience. He was either
killed or captured, too, but it still seemed strange that Lockley had
heard so much of that struggle via a tight beam microwave transmitter
that needed to be accurately aimed. Vale had been captured or killed.
The three other men missing probably had undergone the same fate. The
two others had been made helpless but not murdered or taken prisoner.
They'd simply been held until when they were released they'd flee.

The car went over a bridge and rounded a curve. Here a deep cut had
been made and the road ran through it. It came out upon undulating
ground where many curves were necessary.