the young man 's mental faculties were such that he could not experience shock , fear , disappointment , or anything more than a slight increase in curiosity in response to what he had just observed , but it did not stop his mind from sifting through events in his past as he sought an explanation for how a kindly old quaker from australia could be the alien monster that had threatened to undermine all that the united nations secretary-general had done to prosper and stabilise the nations of the world .