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
- 1255 "What are you talking about? What's all this got to do with us, or having a kid?""Don't you see? Taking these shots, having a baby this new way-it's sort of being a pioneer, too. Gonna help bring a new kind of people into a n
- 1254 The gray smile returned to the gray lips. "Suicide? What do you know about suicide, Art? I've been reading a few statistics on that, too. How many actual suicides do you think we had in this country last year?""A hundred thousand? Two
- 1253 So was Harry Collins' face, when he emerged from his interview with Dr. Manschoff that evening. And it was still pallid the next afternoon when he came down to the river bank and waited for Ritchie to reappear.The little man emerged from the bushes.
- 1252 It was some time before he ventured to comment on the situation. "Manschoff is a d.a.m.ned good diagnostician," he murmured. Then he sat up. "Are you a patient here?"She shook her head. "Don't ask questions, Harry. Can't
- 1251 He'd never broken himself of the habit. He still looked to the left every morning, just as he had today. But there was no window any more. There was only a blank wall. And beyond it, the smog and the clamor and the crowds.Window-gla.s.s. Wilmer-Klibb
- 1250 "Bill," he said. "Can you bring my car around to Number Three?"The tiny face in the hand-screen grinned sheepishly. "Mr. Collins, ain't it? Gee, I'm sorry, Mr. Collins. Night crew took on a new man, he must have futzed a
- 1249 Golden Age of Science Fiction.Vol XI.by Various.RING ONCE FOR DEATH.By Robert Arthur The power of the old G.o.ds was certainly nothing for Mark and Edith--a modern, twentieth-century couple--to worry about. After all--everybody dies!Twenty years had left
- 1248 Keeter: Well, let's see. First there's the fuel test.Humper: Fuel test?Keeter: Let me explain, all very simple really. Let's take the case of a planet that seems to be qualified for Federation members.h.i.+p in every respect but one. They d
- 1247 I nodded, and Wilson continued."Commander McClellan was a choleric person, as courageous a man as ever wore the blue and silver of the Service, and very thoughtful of his men. We had had a bad trip; two swarms of meteorites that had worn our nerves t
- 1246 "Yes. You propose to land, sir?""I propose to determine the fate of those two s.h.i.+ps and the men who brought them here," I said with sudden determination. Dival made no reply, but as he turned to obey orders, I saw that his presenti
- 1245 Perhaps that is the penalty of becoming old. From commander of the Budi, one of the greatest of the Special Patrol s.h.i.+ps, to the duties of recording ancient history, for younger men to read and dream about. That is a shrewd blow to one's pride.Bu
- 1244 The Army would put an end to the strike, easily enough. It would wiped out every android in the neighborhood, and probably a good many human beings careless enough to get in the way. I sat hoping that the 5A's would give in, but they didn't. The
- 1243 "Hah!" barked a voice behind us. I swung around, to face Chief of Police Dalton of Carron City. He came straight toward me, his purplish jowls quivering with rage, and his finger jabbed the air in front of my face."You built them, Don Morri
- 1242 Well, it was. After a few moments I was able to give my full attention to the phenomena of the att.i.tudinizor, and queer phenomena they were, too. I scarcely know how to describe the sensation of looking at the world through the filter of another's
- 1241 "You can't lay a hand on me. No robot can."The robot moved forward. Two metal hands held Johnny Malone. Johnny Malone kicked the robot's legs. It hurt his toes. "We were made to teach the children. We can do what is necessary to t
- 1240 "Of course, of course. Well, it's been a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Jenkins. I hope to see you again soon." They walked back to Allenby's not-very-late model car and shook hands. Allenby drove away.On the way back to the hot
- 1239 My mind was now in turmoil. "What," I demanded, "what did they decide?"Erics frowned. "Nothing. They could not answer the question. Every available answer was equally right and proved every other right answer wrong. As you know, p
- 1238 Crowley reached forward, grasping McClelland's shoulder. The gun swung toward him. A stream of light squirted into his middle. Crowley fell forward, pulling the captain down with him. The three other oldsters were above the three black figures sprawl
- 1237 "You've come back. You're in port. You're not in complete command.""I'll always be in command.""Perhaps," said Halter quietly. "However, we can come back to that. Please brief me on the records."
- 1236 None of them answered. There was only the faint thrumming of the rockets lowering the old s.h.i.+p to Earth."Let me be sure I have your ident.i.ties right," went on Colonel Halter.He then looked at the man on the captain's right. "You,
- 1235 He efficiently deployed the personnel to the positions on the raft where he felt they might be least useless, the gear being piled in the middle and surmounted by Algol, who naturally a.s.sumed possession of the softest and safest place by the divine righ
- 1234 "Look," Mortland exclaimed in delight as they attained the top of the ridge, "here are some dryish twigs! Don't suppose the trees want them, since they've let them fall. If I can get a fire going, we could boil some swamp water an
- 1233 "I can and I do," Jrann-Pttt replied, haughtily squeegeeing his wet scales. "All I said was that a storm might be coming up and it might be dangerous. How was I to know it would last only half an hour?""Even the camp stools pulled
- 1232 After a fas.h.i.+on. Jrann-Pttt yawned and rose. But why are we sitting here? Let's start back to our camp. We will be able to converse more comfortably.They made their way through the jungle--now walking, now wading where the mud became water. Small
- 1231 "We got only a small portion of the treasure, but it will be enough," said Penrun. "After we pay your family's debt, I want to spend a hundred thousand or so for a specially chartered battle-sphere which will come back here to t.i.tan.
- 1230 A rock loosened by his flying feet rattled and pounded down the hillside. Instantly the monsters whirled round, sighted him and started in pursuit. With a mighty leap he cleared a ten-foot ledge, carrying his unconscious burden, and plunged into the shelt
- 1229 The next instant Penrun was through the door and racing down the long promenade deck under the glow of the electric lights, for the quartering sun was s.h.i.+ning on the opposite side of the s.h.i.+p. Far down the deck ahead fled the slayer.The killer pau
- 1228 "Special buses will take them to closed circuit 3-D houses," said Cam."Fantastic," said Ev.Inside, there were just about the same number of last-minute panics and snafus as at most 3-D spectaculars. Power for the innumerable huge coaxi
- 1227 Cam's car materialized at the curb, and he hustled the sodden Ev into its dark, merciful confines."Granted that this entire affair is not some outre hoax ... a possibility on which I don't entirely close the door ... your 'merchandise&
- 1226 The Cytha had obviously pa.s.sed the word along: Man back there needs killing. Go and get him.Just like that, for a Cytha would be the power here. A life force, the giver of life, the decider of life, the repository of all animal life on the entire planet
- 1225 But it never reached him. Less than a yard away, the ground opened up to take the Cytha and it was no longer there.Suddenly the wind cut off and the leaves once more hung motionless and the heat clamped down again and that was the end of it. The skun had
- 1224 The trail lay plain and clear. The Cytha now, it seemed, was intent upon piling up a lead without recourse to evasive tactics. Perhaps it had reasoned that its pursuers would lose some time at the river and it may have been trying to stretch out that marg
- 1223 "We aren't turning back. If there's something that you know--something that would help us...."It was as close as he could come to begging aid. It was further than he had meant to go. He should not have asked at all, he thought angrily.
- 1222 He worked the mechanism and the spent cartridge case flew out. The feeding mechanism snicked and the fresh sh.e.l.l clicked as it slid into the breech.He lay for a moment, watching. And on the knoll where the thing had fallen, the gra.s.s was twitching as
- 1221 "Dangerous," Zikkara pointed out. "No one hunts the Cytha.""I do," Duncan said, speaking now in the native language. "I hunt anything that damages my crop. A few nights more of this and there would be nothing left."
- 1220 "Sure. Water hasn't any shape, has it? Or has it? What's basic?"With an effort, Harrison tried to focus on Cercy's words. "Molecular pattern? The matrix?""Matrix," Cercy repeated, yawning himself. "Pattern
- 1219 "Not yet," Cercy replied tonelessly."Don't forget to read the philosophy," the Amba.s.sador urged them.The men hurried from the room."Now look," Malley said, once they were back in the control room, "there are a few
- 1218 "Unless what?""Unless he had a pretty effective defense," the psychiatrist finished unhappily.Cercy walked across the room and looked at the video panel. The Amba.s.sador's suite was very special. It had been hurriedly constructed
- 1217 He reached out and tapped his gla.s.s with a fingertip. "That about you, doll. You filled it. I'm drinking it. I may not think quite as fast as you do, but I still think. Would I take a drink from a somewhat lawless and very clever lady who real
- 1216 "Let's see if you can stand."Quillan helped the big man to his feet. Baldy hadn't bled too much outwardly, but he seemed to have estimated his own condition correctly. He wasn't for long. Quillan slid an arm under his shoulders.&q
- 1215 He paused to scuff his shoe over the mark the cigarette had left on the carpet, went on, "But there's Nome Lancion now. He kind of liked Cooms, and he might get suspicious. When there's a sudden vacancy in the organization like that. Nome t
- 1214 "Another thing," Quillan said, "Cooms may have the old trick in mind of working from the top down. If he can take you out along with a few other key men, he might have this outfit demoralized to the point of making up for the difference in
- 1213 "What was he doing there?""Well, sir, he came from Hyles-Frisian. He was a crim ... he'd been engaged in some form of piracy, and when the authorities began looking for him, he decided it would be best to get clean out of the Hub. He c
- 1212 The conference room was big and spa.r.s.ely furnished. Four men sat at the long table in its center. Quillan knew two of them--Marras Cooms, second in command of the Beldon Brotherhood's detachment here, and the Duke of Fluel, Movaine's personal
- 1211 "A few smugglers and confidence men I've had connections with. Fairly good boys for this sort of thing. Then there's an old millionaire sportsman, with a party of six, waiting to transfer to the Camelot for a safari on Jontarou. Old Philmar
- 1210 "Happily, I don't feel in the same spot," Jim said. He got up and went to the picture window that took up one entire wall. It faced out over a mountain vista. He looked soberly into the sky.Vovo joined him, gla.s.s in hand."Possibly yo
- 1209 "Please!" begged Swanson incoherently, prostrate before the steel robot. "He would have shot you--please don't hurt me! Let me work for you, like that girl. I'll do anything, anything you tell me--"The robot voice said. "
- 1208 The pictures seemed to have little in common. One was a store, where a girl dressed like April Horn was demonstrating home freezers. One was a series of shots of kitchens. Burckhardt caught a glimpse of what looked like the cigar stand in his office build
- 1207 "After we what?" Mary was looking more than merely alarmed."After we blew the lights out. You know, when the switch at the head of the stairs stuck. I went down to the cellar and--"Mary sat up in bed. "Guy, the switch didn't
- 1206 Burckhardt hesitated, and then recognized him. It was a casual acquaintance named Swanson. Burckhardt sourly observed that he had already missed the bus.He said, "h.e.l.lo."Swanson's face was desperately eager. "Burckhardt?" he as
- 1205 As you know, this is but the latest of a series of such disappearances, beginning about five years ago, when the Khak.u.m River question first arose.Your utmost activity in this matter is required.Dzhoubinsky Amba.s.sador Krylenkoff to Foreign Minister Dz
- 1204 The shoonoon had been watching the fighting in the viewscreens. Then somebody noticed that the spot of light on the navigational globe was approaching a coastline, and they all rushed forward for a look.Travis and Edith slept for a while; when they return
- 1203 Then he relaxed while they argued in respectfully subdued voices. Finally one decrepit oldster, wearing a cloak of yellow ribbons and carrying a highly obscene and ineffably sacred wooden image, was brought forward and installed on the front-and-center cu
- 1202 "I hadn't heard about that," Miles said, as the general returned to his chair and picked up his drink again."Yes. They'll need something better than these thatched huts when the storms start, and working on them will keep them out
- 1201 He sat up, feeling dizzy from having hit the ground with such force. "I don't guess I was much help," he said weakly. "You sure did a fine job." His head ached, but the remembered the fight and being thrown by the impact of the bl
- 1200 "I'm glad I found you. I lost my wife to the patrol some time back.""I've never been anyone's wife before. There was Frank, but I was never really what you could call his wife, exactly.""Many people ever stay with y
- 1199 It didn't take long. Without taking her eyes from him, she moved like an animal to the food and stooped slowly, keeping alert for any sudden move on his part, and picked up the food. She stood up, and stepped back a couple of steps.She ate with her f
- 1198 Did Jory know about the beef he had this morning with Rogers? Come to think of it, Ernie didn't know there was going to be a layoff. Was Jory just needling him?He looked around the cafeteria again. The tables on the edges of the floor were deserted a
- 1197 Practically everybody would agree that this is Utopia....Ernie turned the dial on his television. The station he had selected brightened and the face of the set turned from dark to blue. Ernie sipped his can of beer. He was alone in the room, and it was n
- 1196 The big man's fists were clenched until the knuckles were white. "You don't know what's over there!" he burst out. "We could be slaughtered."The captain's smile was unpleasant. "That would be such a pity,"
- 1195 "Okay. Next we try combinations. There's got to be something the wretched beast can't tolerate--"There was, of course.Green Doctor Stone brought it to Jenkins as he was getting ready to turn in for a sleep period. Jenkins had checked t
- 1194 "No--" The Red Doctor hesitated. "Not really.""Ah." The Black Doctor closed his eyes wearily and flipped an activator switch. The scanner on the far wall buzzed into activity. It focussed on the rear storage hold of the Mercy
- 1193 The tablets worked. But he did not slide back into unconsciousness again as the throbbing torture became something remote and untroubling. With his good arm he braced himself against the cliff, managed to sit up.Sun flashed on the metal barrel of a needle
- 1192 12."There is only one way they could be moving--toward the mountains." Hume stood in the open s.p.a.ce among the bubble tents, facing him the four men of the camp, the three civs and Rovald. "You say it's been seven days, planet time,
- 1191 Vye flushed. He was not going to try to explain that. Instead he said: "If it went away once, it can again."Hume did not press the subject of his return. Rather he fastened upon the end of that action with the wounded beast, made Vye go through
- 1190 There was a heavy thicket there, too stoutly grown for anything to be within its shadow. Whatever moved must be behind it.Vye looked about him frantically for anything he could use as a weapon. Then he grabbed at the long bush knife in Hume's belt sh
- 1189 A sound, slight, but easily heard in the silent vacuum of the storage cabin, alerted him. The crack of the sliding panel door opened and Vye crouched, his hand cupping the only possible weapon, the ration container. Hume edged through, shut the door behin
- 1188 "What did you expect?" Rynch snapped. He was hungry, but not hungry enough to abandon the islet.Hume laughed shortly. "I don't know. Only I'm sure they are heading us in that direction.""Look here," Rynch rounded on
- 1187 Rynch watched dispa.s.sionately before he caught the needler, jerking it away from the prisoner. The man eyed him steadily, and his expression did not alter even when Rynch swung the off-world weapon to center its sights on the late owner."Suppose,&q
- 1186 "Just what did you sight, Gentleh.o.m.o Starns? There is no large game in the woodlands.""This was not an animal, Hunter. Rather a flash of light, just about there." Again he pointed.Sun, Hume thought, could have been reflected from so
- 1185 "Forty names of Dugor!" he spat.Lansor waited, breathing in the air of early morning. The confidence of the drug still held. At the moment he was certain nothing could be as bad as the life behind him, he was willing to face what this strange pa
- 1184 There was a door, the lintel and posts of which had more carving, but this time Terran, Hume thought--old, very old. Perhaps rumor was right, Milfors Wa.s.s might be truly native Terran and not second, third, nor fourth generation star stock as most of th
- 1183 The banker, who was new to the movie-making branch of his business, spoke first. "I presume," he said finally, "that you're aware of the current feeling in our New York office?"The movie magnate gestured carelessly with a Saxony g
- 1182 "Maywood airdrome," the doctor told the driver.Two hours later the big Martin bomber which had carried the doctor to Chicago roared away into the night, and Bird turned back, reentered the taxi, and headed for the city alone.When Carnes received
- 1181 "I didn't hide it anywhere," said the teller. "It was stolen.""You had better think up a better one," sneered Sturtevant. "If you think that you can make me believe that that money was stolen from you in broad dayli
- 1180 He peered between two cream-colored toadstool stalks and saw the cause of the noise. A wide, funnel-shaped snare of silk was spread before him, 20 yards across and equally deep. Individual threads were plainly visible, but in the ma.s.s it seemed a fabric
- 1179 Surely enough he found a thicket of edible fungi just half a mile beyond the spot where he had sat down to think. Burl tugged at one and broke off a piece. Nibbling as he went, he entered a broad plain over a mile across, broken into odd little hillocks b
- 1178 Finally, the big fish stopped directly beneath his eyes. Burl thrust straight down with all his strenth. This time the spear, entering vertically, did not seem to bend. Its point penetrated the scales of the swimmer below, transfixing that lazy fish compl
- 1177 Collins left Gordon's office in Administration moving slowly, one arm hanging loosely by his side, the other clutching the book. The corridor stretched ahead into B Wing with its laboratories flooded with the glow of mid-morning suns.h.i.+ne, bright
- 1176 "Ah! Thank you," replied the professor. He dropped his instrument into his coat pocket and gazed in the direction of the gla.s.s square whose image had so aroused his ire. "I apologize, B262H72476Male, for my suspicions as to your veracity-
- 1175 Jonathan frowned. Did Richie mean the greenhouse down the road? Was there a Mr. Allavarg who worked there? "Whose nursery?""Ours." Richie wrinkled his face thoughtfully. "I think I better go outside and play.""Our nurser
- 1174 Margery shook her head, sucking in her breath. "When I think of all those fine young men," she murmured. "Heaven only knows what happened to them!""You," Jonathan accused, "have been reading that columnist--what's-h
- 1173 "Mister," he asked ominously, "what the h.e.l.l happened to that cow?""I don't know," Zack spoke with sarcasm, "jest the way I found her."The important-looking civilian bustled past the patrolman and confronted
- 1172 "But what will we do?" Kial's mind was reeling again."Since we've already broken the First Law," Broyk said, "we may just as well break the Second: 'No Thek-traveler may enter the body of a native of a foreign s.p.a
- 1171 Bottles tumbled from the shelves. Furniture was upset. Precious liquids flowed unrestrained and unnoticed. Finally the professor dropped with exhaustion and the rat and Mag Nesia made a dash for freedom.Early in the morning pedestrians on Arlington Avenue
- 1170 "d.a.m.n," thought Bill. "I wish I were a scientist right now instead of a know-nothing artist!"He touched the dog with his toe. It was perfectly preserved, as though it had died just a few hours before. It was rigid, but it had not st
- 1169 He saw the frown forming on Kriijorl's face."Thrayx, and the Forest of Saarl," he bit from between teeth clenched against the creeping agony in him. "The Book of the Saints, Kriijorl. It is the key, don't you see. Key to all this,
- 1168 Cain laughed easily. "Then maybe you better consider it if you want to come out on top! And as to the rest of it, if I was part of some counter-plot against you do you think I'd've gone to the trouble of bringing along some security?"
- 1167 "Keep an eye on the scanner for me, will you, beautiful?""Yes sir.""And forget that sir stuff! Look, Judy--""For what do you want me to watch, sir?"Cain grunted, gave a shrug of his powerful shoulders and turned his
- 1166 "They proceed toward a planet on the near side of this galaxy called Earth," the second officer said. "Their mission is to replenish their supply of breeders.""You are certain of that?""I admit it is peculiar, for the br
- 1165 "And that is why you will take us to Earth, Lieutenant," barked the Ihelian warrior. "We do not want your arms or your men. What we must ask for is--ten thousand women."Mason was nervous. It was the nervousness of cold apprehension, no
- 1164 He stretched luxuriously. "Let's call it a day and turn in. Tomorrow we'll go about the business at hand with clearer heads.""A good idea," Cleve said, "but first, one little gesture. I think it would be judicious."
- 1163 "So you know?" Narth asked. He smiled, an unpleasant twisting of his mouth. "Do you think that knowing will help you any?""We expect it to," he answered."It's a battles.h.i.+p," Narth said. "It's thre
- 1162 "Where's Freckles?" he asked Jimmy."Here," someone said, and came forward with Tip's mate.He set Freckles on his shoulder and the first searchlight came on, s.h.i.+ning down from high up on the cruiser. It lighted up the area
- 1161 They would have to migrate in one of two different ways: they could go to the south as nomad hunters--or they could go to other, fairer, worlds in s.h.i.+ps they took from the Gerns.The choice was very easy to make and they were almost ready.In the worksh
- 1160 "I suppose the score is even now," he said to it, "and we'll never see each other again. So good hunting--and thanks."It made a sound in its throat; a queer sound that was neither bark nor growl, and he had the feeling it was tryi
- 1159 He climbed to the top of the hill and saw boulders there he could use to build the monument. They were large--he might crush Tip against his chest in picking them up--and he took off his jacket, to wrap it around Tip and leave him lying on the ground.He w
- 1158 "It doesn't matter," Lake said. "It's served its purpose. We won't rebuild it."George watched him questioningly."It's served its purpose," he said again. "It didn't let us forget that the Gerns w
- 1157 The children of each generation would be better adapted to Ragnarok and full adaptation would eventually come. But all the generations of the future would be potential slaves of the Gern Empire, free only so long as they remained unnoticed.It was inconcei
- 1156 He dropped a double handful of rubies, sapphires and diamonds at Barber's feet."Take a look," he said. "On a civilized world what you see there would buy us a s.h.i.+p without our having to lift a finger. Here they're just pretty