"His heart had stopped beating There was no pain, but no warning either, and at first he did not know what has happening..." These words introduce a deepening mystery. Alone in his laboratory late at night, Dr. Albert Lamerlin, a famous scientist of a prominent research institute, is suddenly stricken. His last act is to scrawl a curious symbol resembling an "I" on the floor in his own blood, and it soon develops that this symbol may be the key to an unexpectedly strange life. When his personal belongings are examined an odd document is discovered which suggests that he may have been 200 years old Assembling the staff of the institute in the Tower conference room, the Director suggests that the dying man may have been trying to write out the formula of a serum responsible for his astonishing longevity, as well as his very high intelligence - and the "I Quest" begins. One after another the principle scientists, accompanied by their young assistants, attempt to unravel the dead man's past in the hope of discovering this magical formula; and though their startling adventures confirm the Director's surmise, none are successful until... But it would be unwise to continue. In the end much more is discovered than a mere "Fountain-of-Youth" formula, and too little space remains to do it justice. Why not start reading at the beginning?