PDF Books in Fiction Short Stories
They Reached for the Moon
by William OberfieldThey took a thousand days to build the great, gleaming monster, and another two hundred to groom it for its trip around the moon. All this they did with an air that made a trip to the moon seem quite natural and sure, even though three other rockets had gone before and not one had returned.But they were not sure. They were stubborn, perhaps proud, ..
The Ambassador's Pet
by Alexander BladeOur instructions came in detail a little while later. We were to hover over Aldebaran VII and give a special signal; a transfer-tug would come up to us from the surface and hand the Ambassador and his pet over to us. Under no conditions were we to land on Aldebaran VII itself; the natives would regard it as a breach of the truce that currently exis..
You Can't Buy Eternity!
by Dwight V. SwainSwooping down too fast out of the eternal dust-clouds that shrouded the Venusian sky, it crested a hillock by such a narrow margin as to spray sand high into the never-ending wind, then veered right in a crazy arc.Another hillock. The carrier struck it a glancing blow that churned up new clouds of sand and dust as it skated diagonally down the slop..
Woman's World
by Robert SilverbergComing up out of five centuries of sleep was like fighting my way up from the bottom of the sea. I was blind, I was choking, I was mangled by the pressure. All I could think was that I had to get up and out, up and out.My sleep-cramped brain battled toward consciousness. The blackness around me gave way to deep violet, then gray, then a vague color..
It Might Have Happened Otherwise
by Hugh PendexterThe growth of the thing in his mind had been gradual. When it had obtruded upon his consciousness at first he had drawn back in mingled fear and anger. By degrees, however, he tolerated the thought, only always at a distance, and concluded by allowing it to make a rendezvous of his idle meditations, receiving it much as one might welcome an unwhole..
Guardians of the Tower
by Randall GarrettThat morning, the sun rose bright and clear over the Tower. Jon woke, clambered to his feet, and rolled his sleeping-blanket. Within five minutes, he was fully awake and ready to protect the Tower against its enemies.He took his station and stared out over the sea. Far in the distance, he could make out the bomb-blackened city; off to the left was ..
The Vault
by Murray LeinsterThe window slid up easily–too easily–and Mike waited a long time, listening, before he made a move. The whole huge pile of the factory was still. There were no lights anywhere, except that dim one by the gate through the stockade. Lying quite still in the darkness, Mike waited. There was no sound, no ringing of alarm bells, no bustle of activity an..
Recollections of Captain Wilkie - A Story of an Old Offender
by Arthur Conan DoyleI had been so full of the fact that my long-expected holiday had come at last, and that for a few days, at least, the gayeties of Paris were about to supersede the dull routine of the hospital wards, that we were well out of London before I observed that I was not alone in the compartment. In these days we have all pretty well agreed that “three is..