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
- 1555 He paused outside the handsomely-panelled door of his private cabin, one hand on the thumb-plate that controlled entrance. His lips were set in a tight thin line. "And remember this, Alan," he said. "Steve's not your twin brother any m
- 1554 "Well," h.e.l.lman said, "it's advertised as a Plugger. I suppose that's what it does--expands to plug up holes.""Sure. But how much?""Unfortunately, I don't know how much two cubic vims are. But it can�
- 1553 "Bite into it," Casker said."Me?" h.e.l.lman asked. "Why not you?""You picked it.""I prefer just looking at it," h.e.l.lman said with dignity. "I'm not too hungry.""I'm not either,
- 1552 As he swallowed the last of his radish, h.e.l.lman stifled a sigh. Their last meal had been three days ago ... if two biscuits and a cup of water could be called a meal. This radish, now resting in the vast emptiness of their stomachs, was the last gram o
- 1551 "Why?""Because they're afraid of the Troopers. You men did too good a job out in Chi. You are the deadliest weapon that has ever been made. You. Single airborne infantrymen!"Lane said, "They told us in Trooper Academy that it
- 1550 Hilary's voice was strong again. With great shouts, he rallied his men. A pitiful handful; only fifteen of the fifty that had entered the valley. But Joan was alive, her face black with burned skin, otherwise unhurt. Wat's grin rose superior to
- 1549 Hilary paused, thrown off his balance momentarily. Yet a second's hesitation would be fatal. It was Joan who answered for him. She sprang forward, lithe and exalted, her dark eyes flas.h.i.+ng even in the dark."I'll tell you how he knows. I
- 1548 "Too late." Grim's voice was flat, controlled.Hilary looked around sharply. "What do you mean?""Look." Morgan's hand swept aloft. Through the darkling night, faintly visible in the feeble starlight--there was no moo
- 1547 There were at least a hundred men encamped in the narrow cleft, crowded and crowding. A tall man thrust himself forward, spare, angular."Welcome, Captain Morgan," he cried. "We had given up all hopes of seeing you again.""h.e.l.lo
- 1546 "What?" Tyler e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed. "Leave me cooped up when there's a fight on. I'm coming.""So am I," Joan was pale but determined."Oh, Lord," Hilary groaned. "Listen to me, please," he said pati
- 1545 "Yes, take her." The Viceroy waved a weary hand. "I don't want her; I have too many as it is."The captain's face lit up with an unhealthy glow. He approached eagerly to seize his prize. Joan gave a little cry of dismay, and s
- 1544 "Get," the guard growled viciously, and sent Hilary sprawling out into the street to the muttering accompaniment of the seething Earth crowds. The temper of the people was rapidly reaching the explosion point.But Hilary picked himself up, meekly
- 1543 "Perhaps," Hilary smiled faintly. Then he leaned forward. "I've gotten a pretty good idea of what's happened on Earth since I went away, but now I need more details. Otherwise I'll run into things that will surprise me, and t
- 1542 "And what does it matter to me?"There was the sound of a struggle, a sharp cry, followed by a dull thud.Hilary was out through the door like a flash, down the corridor to the head of the stairs with automatic extended. The monster Mercutian was
- 1541 "Let's get going then." Hilary was pulling the big man along by main force when he heard a movement in back of them. He stopped, whirled, automatic thrusting its blue nose forward.The little man who had gotten up before on the express was p
- 1540 The great hand clenched tighter. "Now I know you are crazy, or--Who are you?" he ended abruptly."Hilary Grendon.""Hilary Grendon--Hilary Grendon," rumbled the other in manifest perplexity. It was evident the name meant nothin
- 1539 I said to him, "Glad you're here, sir. I can report. Ah, what was it you came for? Impatient to hear if I'd had any results?" My mind was spinning like a whirling dervish in a revolving door. I'd spent a wad of his money and had n
- 1538 Mr. Oyster was taken aback himself. "See here, young man, I realize this isn't an ordinary a.s.signment, however, as I said, I am willing to risk a considerable portion of my fortune--""Sorry," Simon said. "Can't be done
- 1537 And the typewriter kept rattling: LOOKS LIKE RAIN ANY MINUTE NOW HOO BOY IM GLAD I WONT BE IN THOSE WHIRLYBIRDS WHEN THE STORM STARTS SAY VERN WHY DONT YOU EVER ANSWER ME Q Q ISNT IT ABOUT TIME TO TAKE OFF x.x.x I MEAN GET UNDER WEIGH Q Q.Some of the &quo
- 1536 The guard said something irritable and unhappy. I got her off his back with some difficulty, and we located Arthur.Picture a s.h.i.+ny four-gallon tomato can, with the label stripped off, hanging by wire from the flas.h.i.+ng-light panels of an electric c
- 1535 I was on Vern's lap, so I was making the notes. It was a Fruit Company combination freighter-pa.s.senger vessel. I looked at Vern, and Vern shrugged as best he could, so I wrote it down; but it wasn't exactly what we wanted. No, not by a long sh
- 1534 She gave me a disgusted look. "What do you think? To relieve the manpower shortage, naturally. There's more work than there are men. Now if the Major could just get hold of a couple of prosthetics, like this thing here, why, he could put them in
- 1533 Then, for a time, there was a clacking and thumping as he typed random letters, peeping out of the suitcase to see what he had typed, until the sheet I had put in was used up.I replaced it and waited, as patiently as I could, smoking one of the last of my
- 1532 "But that's impossible! I told you, between us we know everything that was happening in nuclear physics then. n.o.body in the world knew how to a.s.semble atoms of negamatter and build them into ma.s.ses.""n.o.body, and nothing, on thi
- 1531 The conveyer flashed and vanished. Brannad Klav stared for a moment at the circle of concrete floor from whence it had disappeared. Then he turned to Verkan Vall."I still can't believe it," he said. "Why, those fellows were First Level
- 1530 "You believe that would happen?" Brannad Klav asked anxiously."I know it will, because I'll put through a recommendation to that effect, if those six men are tortured to death tomorrow," Verkan Vall replied. "And in the fifty
- 1529 They had discovered a new planet--but its people did not see them until after they had traveled on.Albrecht and I went down in a shuttles.h.i.+p, leaving the stellatomic orbited pole-to-pole two thousand miles above Alpha Centauri's second planet. Wh
- 1528 Marc Polder, Resident Comptroller of Torran, strolled idly down the dusty littered path that pa.s.sed for a street. In the half-light of the pint-sized moon overhead the town looked almost romantic. One day, when civilization had at last been brought to t
- 1527 "The photographs," he continued, as if lecturing, "were of characters projected by the sphere when placed before a focused light. The sphere was transparent, you see, imbedded with dark microscopic specks. By moving the sphere a certain dis
- 1526 "Just stupid, carefree, happy-go-lucky kids, eh?"Dr. Tarnier shrugged."Go away," said Kielland in disgust, and turned back to the reports with a sour taste in his mouth.Later he called the Installation Comptroller. "What do you pa
- 1525 But there was nothing here that resembled that. Kielland could see a group of little wooden shacks that looked as though they were ready at a moment's notice to sink with a gurgle into the mud. Off to the right across a mud flat one of the dredges ap
- 1524 Tonight, he thought, I might find another like myself. Surely, someone is down here; I'll find someone if I keep searching. I must find someone!But he knew he would not. He knew he would find only chill emptiness ahead of him in the tunnels.For three
- 1523 "Yes," George said. "Yes.""You are happy with me this way, aren't you, George?""But you're so beautiful."The golden-haired girl nodded her head, and the s.h.i.+ning blue eyes watched him carefully."Yo
- 1522 But his father, eyes bright and alert, had said, "No, now if George wants to bring one of these, ah, Venusians home with him, that's his privilege. I think it would be very interesting."George knew what his father meant by interesting.Expos
- 1521 "Didn't know you had an a.r.s.enal in here!" cried Slade."No one else did, either, except Alfred. Now Doc, think you and Pete had better stay here."Slade and Goldsmid pulled themselves out of their chairs as one man. Their timing
- 1520 "Who does go, then?" Halloran did not raise his voice but Knox looked suddenly uneasy."Why ... uh, your operating personnel," he replied gruffly. "Your guards, clerks ... h.e.l.l, man, it's obvious, isn't it?""
- 1519 Knox scowled and angrily s.h.i.+fted his big body. Lansing picked up his cigar, relit it, using the action to un.o.btrusively study the warden. Hardly a presence to cow hardened criminals, Lansing thought. Halloran was just below middle height, with gray
- 1518 "Oh, that!" He smiled. "You're quite right, there aren't many unattached men over twenty-one any more, what with the barrage of government propaganda and their special tax deduction incentives. I a.s.sure you that it's nothin
- 1517 Ronny got up from the gra.s.s and went into the kitchen, stumbling in his walk like a beginning toddler."Choc-mil?" he said to his mother.She poured him some and teased gently, "What's the matter, Ronny--back to baby-talk?"He look
- 1516 The answer was odd. "This is Acting President Kliu. What are your intentions?"Tulan realized he was holding his breath. He let it out and looked around the silent command room, meeting the intent eyes of his staff. He had an unreal feeling; this
- 1515 He checked his appearance, stepped before the scanner, and nodded to Communications to turn it on. "All hands," he said, then waited for attention.The small monitor screens showed a motley sampling of intent faces. He permitted himself a tight s
- 1514 They went back to the house. Shera was sitting on the step."I've made up my mind," she said dully."About what?""I'll do it."She got up and walked away. When Morgan tried to follow, she turned and flicked out the bar
- 1513 "It's true.""Have you ever stung anyone?""No. Earlich didn't even know.""Any desire to?"She reddened slowly and set her jaw. The old man giggled. "Wants ta sting a cat, ah bet, suh."She shot him
- 1512 "Sharp enough to split Oren skulls.""And that's all you're looking for?""I don't know. Ever hear of the Maquis?"She hesitated. "Two wars ago? The French underground? I remember vaguely. I was a little urch
- 1511 "Don't bother," said the girl. "He was stung last week."Morgan stared at her silently for a moment. She seemed not in the least perturbed. If the man had been stung by an Orenian, he was lost anyway. Ruefully, he reb.u.t.toned his
- 1510 It was August 24th, 2037. For three days, now, seven of the eight great combat-squadrons of the United Nations Fighting Forces had been prisoners inside a monstrous transparent dome of force. There was a financial panic of unprecedented proportions in the
- 1509 A pause."Your statement bears out their report," said the G.C. speaker harshly. "The barrier seems to be hemispherical. No such barrier is known on Earth. These must be Martians, as the Com-Pubs said. You will wait until morning and try to
- 1508 [Applause, shouts, a few ribald remarks from the officers nearest the bar]"I just want to tell you all," the Major went on, his arm heavy across Winfree's unwilling shoulders, "before I relinquish this fine young officer to his new com
- 1507 Major Dampfer stood and drew on his uniform gauntlets. "May I a.s.sume that you've covered the field public-relations-wise?" he asked."Yes, sir," Captain Winfree said. "I've composed a slogan for this year's drive i
- 1506 Everyone in the room looked up abruptly at her cry, and so were just in time to see a horrifying change take place in Martin's shape. It was an illusion, of course, but an alarming one. His knees slowly bent until he was half-crouching, his shoulders
- 1505 "It's going to have an all-male cast," Erika said hastily. "And we're discussing contract releases, not options.""He would give me an option if I had him here," St. Cyr growled, torturing his cigar horribly. "W
- 1504 "That was Ivan the Terrible, wasn't it?" Martin interrupted. "Look here, could you impress the character-matrix of Ivan the Terrible on my brain?""That wouldn't help you a bit," the robot said. "Besides, it
- 1503 "I'm on business here," she told St. Cyr coldly. "You can't part author and agent like this. Nick and I want to have a word with Mr. Watt.""Ah, my pretty creature, sit down," Martin said in a loud, clear voice, scra
- 1502 "It does fit," Martin said."That's the trouble with arguing with pre-robot species," ENIAC said, as to himself. "Low, brutish, unreasoning. No wonder, when their heads are so small. Now Mr. Martin--" He spoke as though t
- 1501 "Exactly. Naturally St. Cyr doesn't want us to talk to Watt privately. We might make him see reason. But this time, Nick, we've simply got to manage it somehow. One of us is going to talk to Watt while the other keeps St. Cyr at bay. Which
- 1500 Then it was I saw where he was sending us! Thirty feet below the platform there swung a small cabin, attached by cables and reached by a swinging steel ladder. As I looked a door in the roof slid back. "Climb down!" ordered Fraser again. There w
- 1499 In that eternity of tense waiting I tried to collect my thoughts. I told myself that I must keep steady, that I must keep my mind clear. I struggled to get a grip on myself; the light, the steady flying without power, the boundless, horrible silence had s
- 1498 Nogol smiled. "I'm not drawing Hazard Pay."After a while, Ekstrohm stopped panting and faced Nogol and the captain who was now sitting, rubbing his jaw. "Okay," he said, "now you'll listen or I'll beat your skulls i
- 1497 "Be reasonable, Stormy," Ryan pleaded. "This might be some deep scientific mystery we could never discover in our lifetime. We might never get off this planet."That was probably behind his thinking all along, why he had been so quick t
- 1496 The angry burnt-red face of Ryan greeted him. "Okay, Stormy, this isn't the place for fun and games. What did you do with them?""Do with what?""The dead beasties. All the dead animals laying around the s.h.i.+p.""Wh
- 1495 Secretary of State Blendwell stopped off at Saarkkad IV before going on to V to take charge of the conference. He was a tallish, lean man with a few strands of gray hair on the top of his otherwise bald scalp, and he wore a hearty, professional smile that
- 1494 "Not at all," said Jayjay. "Did you ever chip flint?""What?""Never mind. All we have to do is use that quarter-inch bit."Smith still looked confused. "I don't get it. A bit that big won't fit in."
- 1493 "Can't you ... uh, what do you call it? Uh ... jury-something--" Hull's voice sounded as though he were forcing it to be calm."Jury-rig?" Smith said. "Yeah? With what? Dammit, we haven't got any tools, and we haven&
- 1492 "Meteor," Jayjay said flatly. "The b.u.mper hull is fused at the edges of the break, and the direction of motion was inward.""I don't see how it could have got by the meteor detectors," said Smith, a lean, sad-looking ma
- 1491 Hull began scribbling on his paper again, evidently lost in the joys of elementary physics, so Jayjay Kelvin went back to his book.He had just read three words when Hull said: "Mr. Kelvin, do you mind if I ask a question?"Jayjay looked up from h
- 1490 "I know," she said thoughtfully, "that Candar has never been friendly to the church. But I do not believe that he has the power to destroy it.""Up to now," Thane answered, "Candar has been limited. Now, with the drive, h
- 1489 The bitterly cold wind cut into Astrid and Thane as they hurried outside. Astrid was ahead, leaning against the wind, running towards the outbuilding which housed the jet. They were in full view of the Darzent attackers who renewed their thrust at the scr
- 1488 He could feel some of the effect himself. He went through a moment of indecision, but that was all. Then he stepped forward and shoved the Third Officer aside. The officer looked blank, then his face reddened in anger. As Thane tried to bring the armament
- 1487 "The slack's gone already. You're thinking of the speed of Phobos, at Phobos. At this end of the cable, we're like the head of a man in the control section of a s.p.a.ce station, which is traveling slower than his feet because its...o.
- 1486 He looked up the name in the Mars City directory and dialed into the city from a nearby telephone booth. A woman's voice answered."Is Lana Elden there?" asked Jonner."I'm Lana Elden," she said.Jonner swore under his breath. A
- 1485 "In ten," confirmed Jonner, pulling a lever on the calibrated gauge of the radio control."Pile Two, in fifteen.""In fifteen.""Check. I'll have the length of burst figured for you in a jiffy."A faint glow appear
- 1484 "What? That's impossible. Just from those small tips?""Small tips, but day after day; year after year. Add up some time what you've given and multiply by the number who've been doing it.""Then that's behind our
- 1483 "Is it time?" Jarth Rolan asked anxiously. Pilot Lan Barda pushed him gently back into a seat. "No, but very soon. And be calm--you're jumpier than a human.""But we've waited so long--yes, a long time. And I am anxious t
- 1482 At Tiffany's--as indeed in many other places--the soldiers made close visual contact with the apparitions. A patrolling group of soldiers entered Tiffany's and went to the second floor. They reported a seated group of "ghosts," with nu
- 1481 "Is it?""Very. That I should care what any woman thinks of me, particularly a captive girl--but I do. And I realize, Jane, that our marriage system is very different from yours. Repugnant to you, perhaps. Is it?""Yes," she mu
- 1480 It brought to my mind the three pilots now operating our vehicle. I mentioned the lens on their left eyes like a monocle."With that they can see ahead of us a great distance. It flings the vision--like gazing along a beam of light--to s.p.a.ce-time f
- 1479 But, we were speedily to learn that he was not as fatuous as he at first seemed. These two worlds--occupying the same s.p.a.ce and invisible to each other--would be plunged into war. And Tako realized that no one, however astute, of either world could pre
- 1478 CHAPTER VI.The Attack upon New York I must sketch now the main events following this night of May 15th and 16th as the outside world saw them. The frantic reports from Bermuda were forced into credibility by the appearance of apparitions at many points al
- 1477 "Yes."We laid them on the ground in a little roadside banana patch. We were no more than a quarter of a mile from the enemy now; the glow of their green beams standing up into the air showed on the ridge-top ahead of us."We'll take the
- 1476 We arrived with a rush. "Is he in there?" Don shouted. "Open the door, you fellows! See here, you watch him--we've got to get his clothes off. He's got some mechanism--wires and things underneath his clothes!""Get out of
- 1475 The night promised to be clear. The moon would rise, just beyond the full, a few hours after sunset. It was a warm and breathless night, with less wind than usual. Most of the people crowding the streets and the restaurants were in white linen--themselves
- 1474 "You keep behind me." Don led us now, with his gun half raised. "Don't talk when we get further along, and walk as quietly as you can."The narrow path followed the bottom of the cliff. We presently had the open sea before us, with
- 1473 "I represent that nonent.i.ty called the government, Captain.""A nonent.i.ty wouldn't make you what you are, Dawn.""My name, Captain--" She drew a long breath. "My name is Dawn Farren. The rest of my family is dying
- 1472 The Von Rausch castle--and the word was scarcely a metaphor--was something lifted bodily out of a Tri-D historical romance, complete with porticos, battlements, stone-walled towers and an imitation moat where mechanical swans floated on the dark water.He
- 1471 His first sensation when the paralysis began to wear off was the dull ache of visceral nausea. He opened his eyes, and saw, bleakly shadowed, the living room of the Ames house. It was after dark, which could only mean that he had lain there nearly four ho
- 1470 He glanced at the woman. She was past the first bloom of youth and her face, under her makeup, was heavily lined, her eyes shrewd and observing. Had he known that she had been shadowing him almost from the instant of his arrival in Los Angeles, and had be
- 1469 THE CARTELS JUNGLE.By Irving E. c.o.x, Jr.It was a world of greedy Dynasts--each contending for the right to pillage and enslave. But one man's valor became a s.h.i.+ning s.h.i.+eld.... and he who overcomes an enemy by fraud is as much to be praised
- 1468 They are odd things, these legends, peopled with unreal creatures, magnificent heroes and despicable villains. We stand for no nonsense where our mythology is concerned. A man becoming part of our folklore becomes a fey, one-dimensional, shadow-image of r
- 1467 But the Outsiders were still here, alive in that huge alien brain ... the science, the knowledge, the strange arts of a race which had conquered the stars while men still wondered about the magic of lightning and fire. A science was encapsuled here which
- 1466 He grinned wearily. "Wait till next time.""Lee, where are we?" she said abruptly. Their eyes were becoming adjusted to the darkness, and they could see rising around them a complexity of machine relays, connectives, and pieces which di
- 1465 "They're firing something!"He saw that she was trying to gain alt.i.tude, but something was wrong; the buildings on the screen dipped and wavered, up and down, spinning."Mara! Pull up-get out of there!""One of the wings is da
- 1464 "I told you not to trust them!" Manning snapped. "Now if you can't even match wits with a senile horsehead....""You were the one who said they might be more adept at telepathy than we are," Rynason said. "It was a c
- 1463 And in Horng he heard the whisper of distrust, of fear, and the echoes of that hatred which had struck at him once before. But they were in the background; all around him here on the surface was a pervading feeling of ... uselessness, resignation, almost
- 1462 From Horng's mind came a slow rebuilding of the fear that he had just experienced, but it subsided. And as it did Rynason probed again into his mind, searching quickly for that contact he had just lost. He could almost feel Tebron's mind, began
- 1461 Finally, he said, "That's the trouble with them, the Hirlaji. I can't really understand them. It's like there's really no contact, not even through the interpreter." He stared into his drink. "I wish to h.e.l.l we had so
- 1460 "Then Tebron made this prohibition in the name of Kor. When did this occur?"THE KNOWLEDGE PROHIBITION WAS COMMUNICATED TO HIRLAJ WHEN TEBRON a.s.sUMED POWER RIGHT."The same day?"THE DAY AFTER. TEBRON COMMUNICATED WITH KOR IMMEDIATELY A
- 1459 "Not a terminal velocity drive, Bannister. He said it's not flying anymore. Lord knows which way he's falling.""So?""So I'd try anything. You've got to slow him.""Or return him to level flight."&
- 1458 They returned to the AstroBar, and Clements began trying to catch up with Jordan."You know," said Jordan, his head wobbling a little with the emphasis he put into the words, "this is the d.a.m.nedest farce in the history of the world."
- 1457 Clements stretched out on the Vibrolounge and turned it on."The president," he began, as the machine went to work, "has called an arbitration meeting. Everyone's in on it ... Darius, Flack, Criswell, Wamboldt, Larkin and the Lord knows
- 1456 Jordan shook his head."Why didn't somebody tell me about this?""I sent you a ten page memo about it last week," objected Clements, somewhat aggrieved. "Gave you the whole story with extrapolations.""Memo! You know I