The Golden Age Of Science Fiction Novel Chapters
List of most recent chapters published for the The Golden Age Of Science Fiction novel. A total of 1755 chapters have been translated and the release date of the last chapter is Apr 02, 2024
Latest Release: Chapter 1 : The Golden Age of Science Fiction.An Anthology of 50 Short Stories.by Various.VOL I.A ST
The Golden Age of Science Fiction.An Anthology of 50 Short Stories.by Various.VOL I.A STRANGE Ma.n.u.sCRIPT FOUND IN A COPPER CYLINDER.
By James De Mille CHAPTER I.THE FINDING OF THE COPPER CYLINDER.It occurred as far back as February 15, 1850. It happene
- 755 Dr. Bird nodded agreement and with a sharp command to his men Bolton broke into a run. Not a shot was fired as they approached, and the front door gave readily to Bolton's touch. At it opened there came a grating sound from the roof followed by the whir
- 754 "At five minutes to two, just as I got up, I heard a noise outside like a big electric fan. It sounded like it came from directly overhead and I went to the window and looked out. I couldn't see anything, although I could hear it pretty plainly, and the
- 753 The happiness faded from the girl's face as if by magic and an expression of absolute immobility took its place. Her eyes looked as though a curtain had been drawn over them."Yes, Doctor," she said in a toneless voice as she turned and left the room.TH
- 752 Carnes had not returned when Davis called Dr. Bird at the officers' club two hours later. Night had fallen and everyone on the proving ground sat behind tightly closed windows with lights blazing on them, wondering whether the finger of death would reach
- 751 "The first intimation we had of trouble was when Lieutenant Burroughs telephoned from the water impact range where they were doing night firing last night at about four A.M. Two ambulances went down and brought him and his four men back, all of them stri
- 750 POISONED AIR.By Capt. S. P. Meek A telephone bell jangled insistently. The orderly on duty dropped his feet from the desk to the floor and lifted the receiver with a muttered curse."Post hospital, Aberdeen Proving Ground," he said sleepily, rubbing his
- 749 Lawton's face was dark with fury. "I was an experimental rat in the sky, eh?""Look, Dave, we're all in danger. Don't stand there glaring at me. Naturally I waited. I have my crew to think of.""Well, think of them. Get those valves open before we a
- 748 Lawton enjoyed a good fight. He stood happily trading blows with Slashaway Tommy, his lean-fleshed torso gleaming with sweat. He preferred to work the pugnacity out of himself slowly, to savor it as it ebbed."Better luck next time, Slashaway," he said,
- 747 Most human problems are circular and fall apart when a single trivial part of them is solved. There used to be enmity between races because they were different, and they tended to be different because they were enemies, so there was enmity--The big proble
- 746 Bordman did not answer. The caterwheel car went on. It came to a patch of sand--tawny sand, heavily mineralized. There was a dune here. Not a big one for Xosa II. It was no more than a hundred feet high. But they went up its leeward, steeply slanting side
- 745 Aletha regarded it with bright eyes."Beautiful!" she said happily. "Isn't it?""Personally," said Bordman, "I never saw a place that looked less homelike or attractive."Aletha laughed."My eyes see it differently." Which was true. It was accepted
- 744 They went off through the rain along the road, nearly parallel to the route the Wabbly was taking. Rain beat at them. Off in the woods to their right the Wabbly's noise grew louder as they overtook it. They pa.s.sed it, and came abruptly out of the woode
- 743 When the echoes of the explosion died away the pilot was grinning queerly. The helicopter's engine was still."I said it could be done! Pack of fat-heads at Headquarters!""Huh?""Picking up a s.h.i.+p by its spark-plugs, with a loop. They're doing th
- 742 Sergeant Walpole made his daily report at 2:15. He used a d.i.n.ky telephone that should have been in a museum, and a rural Central put him on the Area Officer's tight beam. The Area Officer listened drearily as the Sergeant said in a military manner: "
- 741 The haze lightened faintly, three times. I remembered the St. Elmo's fire that had flamed from the cracking plant."Pop," I said--almost whined, to be truthful, "why'd the b.u.g.g.e.r ever have to land here in the first place? He was rus.h.i.+ng stuff
- 740 We looked around and took stock of our resources. It was time we did. It was getting dark fast, although we were chasing the sun, and there weren't any cabin lights coming on and we sure didn't know of any way of getting any.We wadded a couple of satche
- 739 "I just hope we got some sort of anti-collision radar," I said. I guessed we had, because twice we'd jogged in our course a little, maybe to clear the Alleghenies. The easterly green star was by now getting pretty close to the violet blot of Atla-Hi. I
- 738 CHAPTER 4.Any man who deals in murder, must have very incorrect ways of thinking, and truly inaccurate principles.--Thomas de Quincey in Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts For that matter we took off fast with the plane swinging to beat h.e.l.l. Al
- 737 "Those look like mean burns you got there, lady," I heard Pop tell the girl. He was right. There were blisters easy to see on three of the fingertips. "Ive got some salve thats pretty good," he went on, "and some clean cloth. I could put on a bandage
- 736 But you get leery of any kind of mystery in the Deathlands. It makes you frightened and angry, like it does an animal. Mystery is for cultural queers, strictly. The only way for two people to get along together in the Deathlands, even for a while, is neve
- 735 Those he'd find and a few, a very few other places, including a couple I suppose I haven't heard of. Practically all of them would surprise him--no one can predict what sc.r.a.ps of a blasted nation are going to hang onto a shred of organization and rut
- 734 "A year ago," Bregg said, "some of the people got hold of her two young ones. They were torn to pieces before they could be saved, and she saw it. I can't blame her, either."He went on to the gate and opened it and went inside. The people drew back f
- 733 It was the first time she had used his given name. "What?""When they threw the stones, and we got back into the flitter, you pushed me ahead of you. You were guarding me. Why?"He stared at her, or rather at the pale blur of her standing close to him.
- 732 Something hurt him, something threatened him. He put his hand to his cheek and it came away red.Paula and Webber were yanking at him, trying to get him to move.A stone whizzed past his head. It struck the side of the flitter with a sharp clack, and fell.
- 731 "No," said Paula sharply. "If he goes out right now he's liable to stay out. I won't answer for it.""Meanwhile," said Vaillant with an edge to his voice, "the pattern is forming up. Have you any suggestions, Paula?"She nodded. "This."She sudde
- 730 Kieran looked up at him. He asked, "Am I in a stars.h.i.+p?""Yes.""But there aren't any stars.h.i.+ps.""There are. You're in one." The sandy-haired man added, "My name is Vaillant."It's true, what he says, murmured the something in Kieran's
- 729 The commander acted mechanically. Again by touch he steered his s.h.i.+p through the black, ragged cleft. Fifteen minutes after leaving the cavern of the octopi her bow poked through the weaving kelp into the free, salty depths of the Atlantic Ocean.There
- 728 McKegnie's voice was much louder now, and growing every second. The note of pride persisted. "Of course, sir!" he confirmed. "It was kind of hard at first, with these octopises botherin' me, but I got onto it pretty quick. That octopis s.h.i.+p chase
- 727 For a few minutes there was silence. The octopus was apparently surveying this new part of the submarine. Then, without warning, the tip of a metal-scaled tentacle felt around the panel and crept, exploring, up Angus McKegnie's leg--which leg was again s
- 726 Slowly the ruler of the octopi swam into the chamber. Its great eyes centered icily on Keith Wells, standing at the head of his cowering men; and its mighty tentacles waved slowly, gracefully, as if the creature stood in doubt. One of them tentatively rea
- 725 Alone in the control room, Keith battled with the unbalancing flow of water, maneuvering with all his skill in a futile attempt to keep the NX-1 on even keel. The men forward worked with great speed, spurred on by the realization that they were fighting d
- 724 "I'm there, Keith! Now for it!""Oh, G.o.d!" Wells cried. "They see you; they're coming!"For he had seen strange shapes leaving the enemy submarine.And at that same moment, Bowman saw them, too.They came like the blink of a dark eye from a door tha
- 723 CHAPTER II.The Silent Ray A strange shape had suddenly materialized on the screen--an immense, oval-shaped thing of dull metal, with great curving cuts of gla.s.s-like substance in its blunt bow, like staring eyes; a lifeless, staring thing, stretching fa
- 722 The senator puffed his cigar in thoughtful silence."We'll just have to keep working with him," Taggert said. "Maybe we'll eventually make sense out of this precognition thing."At least we've got what we wanted. The Soviets think they've put us bac
- 721 "In general, yes," Taggert said."But what about the details?" Forsythe asked doggedly. "I mean, just how are we going to go about this? You must remember that I'm not at all familiar with ... er ... scientific research procedures.""Oh, we'll work
- 720 She thinks someone blew up the s.h.i.+p, he thought. She thinks I heard about the plot some way. For an instant he hesitated, then: "No, Susan; they weren't after you. No one was trying to kill you. Don't worry about it."Relief washed over her face.
- 719 As far as he could tell from the gauges lined in a miniature row along the neckpiece of the suit, his heating system was functioning as designed. The batteries had an excellent chance of lasting longer than he would.He began to dwell upon thoughts of sque
- 718 Tremont twisted his head around to eye the three of them without speaking. He was trying to decide where he had made his mistake.Bill Braigh, the elderly youth with the crewcut? Ralph Peters, the pilot who had come with the s.h.i.+p? Dorothy Stauber, the
- 717 He had arranged to be a.s.signed the recording machines drifting in s.p.a.ce at the greatest distance from the command s.h.i.+p. The others would a.s.sume that he needed more time to locate and retrieve the apparatus--which would give him a head start tow
- 716 "Why don't you play what you've written so far. It's not very long, and it might cheer you up a bit."You're a good friend, Channeljumper, Longtree thought, and when Redsand and I are married after the Music Festival we'll have you over to our hole
- 715 "So what should I do, give you lessons?" The idea is so laughable I laugh at it. "Anyway, Frankie always makes with the eyes at thrushes.""Yes," Hotlips Grogan admits, "but never before have I been in love of any of the thrushes Frankie has made wi
- 714 "Why, yes, that's true.""He says the fuel will not work then, senor. He says it is low-grade fuel and the platform must have high octane gasoline."Jan threw up his hands and went back into the dome."I should have known that," he said unhappily. "I
- 713 "Do you speak English?" he asked. The man brightened but shook his head."No hablo ingles," he said, "pero el medico lo habla. Venga conmigo."He gestured for Jan to follow him and started off, pulling his way against the wind along the chain. Jan fol
- 712 "I know what it'll take," the Captain roared. "Don't tell me my job! Put every available man on this, I want that guy brought in."The old man walked back to his room. He was carrying a dozen cans of beer, but the load was light and he walked upright
- 711 The book ... businessman dealt the cards. The reporter picked his up and arranged them in his hand, he discarded one; the businessman ignored it and drew from the deck, he discarded; the reporter picked the discard and threw away a card from his hand; the
- 710 "You mean that Martians can read people's thoughts?""Sure! It's no trouble at all. It's very easy really, once you get the hang of it.""Can you read my mind?" I asked, smiling."Sure!" said Mrs. Dunny, smiling up at me. "That's why I said that
- 709 "I'm talking about the--the--" he gulped painfully--"the stage."Alice wrung her hands, crying bitterly: "Wonderful! Splendid! Tristan LeHuber, The World's Unparalleled Upside-Down Man! He Doesn't Know Whether He's On His Head Or His Heels. He's
- 708 A dark suspicion crept into my mind, but I could not restrain myself."Wait, Dworken!" I shouted. "You can't just leave me up in the air like that! What happened then?"Dworken snorted into his green handkerchief."De Martian admitted it was a fake, af
- 707 "Blast me, Red, it's so d.a.m.ned crazy I'm for it. Let's give it a shot."I did not know then how much it would really cost us. If I had I might not have agreed. Or maybe I would have, it was good to know people could still have such dreams in our co
- 706 ... although the most recent star to die, RNAC 89778 in the distant Menelaus galaxy (common name, Menelaus XII), had eight inhabited planets, only some one thousand people of the fifth planet escaped and survived as a result of a computer error which misc
- 705 The Terrans drew together again."Zid?" Jeff echoed.Chafi Four relieved his fellow of the strain by trying his own rusty croak. "A vicious Canthorian predator, combing the island at this moment for prey. You must help us to recapture it.""So that you
- 704 "A lovely voice," Andy agreed, and his own voice sounded to him as if he were singing.THE END.TRADER'S RISK by Roger Dee Keeping this cargo meant death--to jettison it meant to make flotsam and jetsam of a world!The Ciriimian s.h.i.+p was pa.s.sing in
- 703 "Instead of being patient, and nice, and helping me see how silly I've been." She reached out impulsively to touch his hand, then withdrew her own, feeling somewhat foolish when he made no move to respond. Her relief was too great, however, to be conta
- 702 Genro Kir looked at the proffered circlet, then slowly extended a hand. He took the device, turned it around in his hands for a few moments, then put it on.Suddenly, his face set in decision, and he sat quietly for a while, grim faced. At last, he looked
- 701 "No, not really. We took considerable time gathering in our boy here." Lanko inclined his head toward Genro Kir. "And the Bordeklu's home port is Tanagor, so Musa's old s.h.i.+p wouldn't spend too much of a layover in Kneuros. They're on schedule a
- 700 "Type seventeen screens," he read. "Probably Ietorian model Nan fifty-seven generators. Strictly a sportster setup. He's got electromagnetics and physical contact screens, but there's nothing else. And, with the type of readings I've got here, I'd
- 699 "Oh, Great Kondaro, Lord of all the seas, and the things within the seas," he began.Musa evaded the two slaves with a quick weave of his shoulders. Covering the distance to the side of the s.h.i.+p with a few quick steps, he jumped over the rail. As he
- 698 During the days that followed, Musa made more votive offerings, practiced the rites ordered by the priest, and watched his goods as they were delivered to the Bordeklu, a s.h.i.+p belonging to Maladro, beloved of Kondaro, a s.h.i.+powner whose s.h.i.+ps w
- 697 "I brought twelve bales. They are marked with my name.""Very good, sir. We will hold them for your disposal. You may claim them at any time after mid-day." The man wrote rapidly on his tablet.Musa thanked him, then turned to see how his s.h.i.+pboard
- 696 The man at the workbench looked around. Then, he laid his tools aside, and picked up a small microphone."This is Housewife," he announced."Coming in."The worker clipped the microphone to his jacket, and crossed the room to a small panel. He threw a sw
- 695 THE GOLDEN AGE OF SCIENCE FICTION.VOLUME VII:.AN ANTHOLOGY OF 50 SHORT STORIES.THE BARBARIAN.By Poul Anderson Since the Howard-de Camp system for deciphering preglacial inscriptions first appeared, much progress has been made in tracing the history, ethn
- 694 This one did, he saw, kneeling down and peering inside. A lovely back doorway, rimmed with s.h.i.+mmering blue. It framed a familiar vista, in the foreground of which a familiar green-rosebush stood. Beneath the rosebush Zarathustra sat, wagging his tail.
- 693 He reached into his coat pocket and touched the rose. It was no more than a stem and a handful of petals now, but its reality could not be denied. But roses do not bloom in autumn, and green roses do not bloom at all-- "Ruf!"He had turned into the new h
- 692 The woman nodded. "I turned the young man inside out. In a moment the transition will be complete. You will be our next entrance to this universe...."From Red's bunk came a wail. A bawl, like a tiny baby. A dying baby.Some people die of age. Red died a
- 691 THE MINUS WOMAN.By Russ Winterbotham Red Brewer had plugged his electric razor into the lab circuit and he was running it over his pink jowls while I tried to discover what was haywire about the balance scales."Have you noticed," Red said above the clat
- 690 "We'll work together," said the doctor's voice. "You've been ill, but so have others. With your help, we can make you well."The traveler made a tremendous effort. He urged Mersey to say: "I'll help, doctor. I want to find peace."But then Mersey
- 689 There were footsteps and a whistling noise outside. The inhabited man heard the sounds and woke up, irritated. He opened his eyes a slit as his wife told the neighbor that Charlie was taking a nap, worn out from a hard day at the office, and the visitor,
- 688 Out of a sick darkness they came. At first they thought they were confronting Zoro. Then, as the mists of unconsciousness cleared from aching heads, they perceived that they were in a vast hall crowded with swarthy men in short tunics, and with greenish g
- 687 Ward's face appeared in the ray of light, pale and blood-streaked."I wonder what happened.""It sounded like a collision."They stared at one another with fearful eyes. A collision while underseas in a submarine is a serious matter."Where's Solino?"
- 686 "A deadly missile, son, wearing or containing a virulent poison. And people used to blather about curare."I began to draw concentric arcs on the chart."I kept fetching water and testing and retreating all the way back to the plain. Pretty soon there's
- 685 "We destroyed your clothes," the medic said sheepishly. "We figured--"I railed at them for a couple of minutes, but it was mostly unfair. Moya's decision could be justified, too.They rustled up a uniform and helped me to Astrogation. The remaining cr
- 684 I waited for three long hours.The sweat dampness of my uniform evaporated only to be replaced by the stains of new perspiration. I sucked in great gulps of E-T's air and found it consistently comfortable in my lungs. Insects came, investigated, and retre
- 683 His back stiffened and his hands clenched. He turned to face me again. "I went through the Academy with Ben. How about doing me a favor? For old times sake. Tell me who it was that put the finger on him. Just give me a name. I might spot it sometime on a
- 682 "You will now be returned to your world," came the thought of Garboreggg. "We shall watch you through our cosmotel to see that you deliver our instructions. Unless the nations of Earth obey us, they will be obliterated at the end of seven days."A wild
- 681 Phobar turned and shut the door. The world had seen its last dawn. If the purpose of the dark star was destruction, none of the planets could offer much opposition, for no weapon of theirs was effective beyond a few thousand miles range at most--and the d
- 680 The result would be a metabolic explosion. Swiftly each bodily function would stop altogether or race wildly as the central nervous system was invaded, one regulatory center after the other blanking out. His body would be aflame or it would smolder and fl
- 679 As far as he knew, there were no pets and very few domesticated animals. Bolden snapped on the cabin light. It was one of those mysterious creatures every tribe kept in cages near the outskirts of their camps. What they did with them no one knew and the n
- 678 Clyde and I were in Victoria, British Columbia. Not subscribing to the folkway that prescribes seasick intoxication as an expression of joy, we did the town with discrimination. At midnight we found ourselves strolling along the waterfront in that fine, V
- 677 "That's it!" cried Pillbot hoa.r.s.ely. "You switched the pattern of imitation on It--tricked It into bringing you here. That's what made it angry--""Angry?" Harper almost dropped his pad, clutched at Pillbot as there was a sudden upheaval of the
- 676 As Gault made strangled noises, Pillbot stared interestedly. "Why--its like some of the designs in his doodling," he exclaimed."And made with some of my best modeling clay for reproducing geometric solids!" rasped Gault. He wheeled upon Harper."Get t
- 675 Harding grunted: "Well, tell me, have you ever served under a sick skipper?""No.""Do you want to?""Why not? Besides--what can I do about it?"Harding leaned back and sipped away on the straight whiskey he was drinking, watching me over the top of t
- 674 Spender broke in then with his customary cold, quiet speech. "A sickman, eh? Then we have approximately one chance in three of living through our first encounter with the enemy when we leave here. That is according to the statistics, I believe. But to th
- 673 Then came the tremendous thump, the swinging of a colossal page across the void, the warping of the very universe about them, the physical torture and the swift rush through Stygian inkiness...."Farewell." A single word, whispered like a benediction in
- 672 "Behold!" At the Wanderer's exclamation the enclosing sphere became transparent and they were in the midst of a dizzying maelstrom of flas.h.i.+ng color. Brilliant geometric shapes, there were, whirling off into the vastness of s.p.a.ce; as Bert had se
- 671 WANDERER OF INFINITY.By Harl Vincent Lenville! Bert Redmond had never heard of the place until he received Joan's letter. But here it was, a tiny straggling village cuddled amongst the Ramapo hills of lower New York State, only a few miles from Tuxedo. T
- 670 "Majesty! Have mercy!" gasped Moreau. "Paul has eluded us. He was skylarking--in the lower levels of New York. But our secret agents are combing the pa.s.sages. We'll have him in twenty-four hours. I promise!"The rage of the Zar was terrible to see.
- 669 "Bah! A reason! You've kept me in this misery and squalor for a reason! Who's my father?"He flung Rudolph to the floor, where the old man crouched in apprehensive misery."Please Karl--don't! I can explain. Just give me time. It's a long story.""T
- 668 The Rhal touched the fingertips of both hands to his forehead in the Arrillian gesture of greeting, and Tyndall did the same. He noticed several male Arrillians standing near the back of the room, although the servant had bowed and retired."Well, Tyn-Dal
- 667 The interruption was dismissed with a wave of Thompson's hand."Your government was informed by George Fisher.""George Fisher!" Harry gulped."You see, Mr. Fisher ... that wasn't really his name, you understand ... was one of us ... a member of our o
- 666 "It's important, Frank. I must find out what causes total loss of all hair."The detective grunted. "Well, let's see, there are three or four diseases I know of. Some people claim it's hereditary. Sometimes a deficiency in the genes ...""Okay, Fran
- 665 But all this was last night, Harry reminded himself. Today was a different matter. He was in the sanct.i.ty of his office now and capable of clearer thinking. Paula Ralston had accomplished the first phase of her mission. The next move was his. Seeing the
- 664 "I? I am nothing. I am the end-product of an equation our ancestors found a million years ago. An equation to give them G.o.d-like power. Instead it made them savages and I have had to watch their slow climb back to the stars. An equation, Ramsey. Almost
- 663 The Enterprise was empty.Garr Symm looked doubtfully at the gray murkiness behind them. Although the Dog Star stood out there less than a quarter of a mile away, they couldn't see it through the murk."Where did they go?" Ramar Chind asked.Symm waved va
- 662 Margot smiled.The smile suddenly froze on her face.The Enterprise lurched as if an unseen giant hand had slapped it.At that moment Ramsey leaned forward over the controls, battling to bring the Enterprise back on course.And let down his mental guard. ...
- 661 "Well, there could be. If they were lucky enough to find such a fuel supply in one of the wrecks in the Graveyard, they wouldn't be suspicious. Naturally, we won't put one there.""But you're wrong, my dear Ramar Chind. You'll load the hopper of one
- 660 "Give me the gun," Ramsey said."My goodness, of course. I'm not trying to hold you up. Here." She got up from the bed for the first time and walked toward them. She had firm, long legs, and used them well. She was utterly lovely and although part of
- 659 "I'm sorry," Ramsey said. "Were you talking to me?""I thertainly wath," lisped the Irwadian, his eyes blazing with drunken hatred. "I thaid I won't have any Earthman thnooping over my thoulder while I gamble, not unleth he'th gambling too.""Be
- 658 The expression on his face scared them even more than the pounding of the worms, and they hurried to obey.d.i.c.k jumped into the nearest ground car. He couldn't be bothered traveling on the railroads. This happened to belong to the a.s.sistant head of t
- 657 d.i.c.k sat down hard. Not a man in the crowd was able to answer. Success had left them speechless. Barrow was the first to recover his voice."Are you sure?""Yes, d.i.c.k! We took three separate observations, and each showed the same result--almost dou
- 656 d.i.c.k laughed, but knew that it was close to the truth. The other men in the party were tied to their wives' ap.r.o.n strings. Aside from Dolores and Eileen McCarthy, none of the women trusted the s.p.a.ce s.h.i.+p. They were afraid it might fly to pie