Suddenly the stars flicker to one side of the darkened Moon, and a new planet swims into view. The Wanderer's abrupt arrival causes catastrophic gravitational effects. Don Merriam, an American astronaut on the lunar surface, manages to escape in a small spacecraft just as the Moon begins to crack down the middle and split in two. He is drawn to the Wanderer's surface and discovers that it is a hollow planet inhabited by all manner of intelligent beings. Meanwhile, California is riven by earthquakes, and oceans the world over begin to swell with tidal waves.
Many people die.
Paul and the cat are whisked away. Nevertheless a kind of friendship grows between the man and the cat-woman, which culminates in an act of physical love. A continent can fill with rabbits almost as swiftly as a single field. The planets of a trillion suns can fill with spaceship-builders as quickly as those of one. Intelligent life spreads faster than the plague.