The 13th Golden Age of Science Fiction Megapack
Page 1
Contents
COPYRIGHT INFO
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
The MEGAPACK™ Ebook Series
WIND BETWEEN THE WORLDS
EARTHBOUND
DARK MISSION
EVENSONG
THE STARS LOOK DOWN
THE STILL WATERS
THE ONE-EYED MAN
HABIT
NERVES
SPAWNING GROUND
COPYRIGHT INFO
The 13th Golden Age of Science Fiction MEGAPACK™: Lester del Rey (Vol. 2) is copyright © 2015 by Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.
* * * *
The MEGAPACK™ ebook series name is a trademark of Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.
* * * *
“Wind Between The Worlds” Galaxy Science Fiction, March 1951.
“Earthbound” originally appeared in Galaxy Science Fiction, August 1963.
“Dark Mission” originally appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, July 1940. Copyright © renewed 1968.
“Evensong”originally appeared in Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison (Doubleday, 1967). Copyright © 1967 by Lester del Rey.
“The Stars Look Down” originally appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, Aug. 1940. Copyright © renewed 1968.
“The Still Waters” originally appeared in Robots and Changelings, 1955. Copyright © renewed 1983.
“The One-Eyed Man” originally appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, May 1945. Copyright © renewed 1963.
“Habit” originally appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, Nov. 1939. Copyright © renewed 1967.
“Nerves” (novella version) originally appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, Oct. 1942. Copyright © renewed 1970.
“Spawning Ground” originally appeared in If, Sept. 1961. Copyright © 1961 by Lester del Rey.
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
Welcome to our second volume of Lester del Rey’s science fiction stories! I purchased the del Rey literary estate for Wildside Press last year, and we have been working hard to get all of his classic work back into print. (Special thanks to Steven Silver for help with scanning and proofing.)
You can now find many of Lester’s very best stories (and quite a few of his novels) available in ebook stores throughout the world, and more are on their way. I am pleased to report that Del Rey Books is planning a major reissue program in paperback a couple of years from now, so we are on the cusp of a great Lester del Rey revival.
Especially notable in this volume is “Nerves,” the novella from Astounding Science Fiction that would later be expanded into the classic novel of the same name. And “Evensong” was included in one of the most important anthologies ever published, Harlan Ellison’s Dangerous Visions. Classics both.
Enjoy!
—John Betancourt
Publisher, Wildside Press LLC
www.wildsidepress.com
ABOUT THE SERIES
Over the last few years, our MEGAPACK™ ebook series has grown to be our most popular endeavor. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, “Who’s the editor?”
The MEGAPACK™ ebook series (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt (me), Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Shawn Garrett, Helen McGee, Bonner Menking, Colin Azariah-Kribbs, A.E. Warren, and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!)
RECOMMEND A FAVORITE STORY?
Do you know a great classic science fiction story, or have a favorite author whom you believe is perfect for the MEGAPACK™ ebook series? We’d love your suggestions! You can post them on our message board at http://movies.ning.com/forum (there is an area for Wildside Press comments).
Note: we only consider stories that have already been professionally published. This is not a market for new works.
TYPOS
Unfortunately, as hard as we try, a few typos do slip through. We update our ebooks periodically, so make sure you have the current version (or download a fresh copy if it’s been sitting in your ebook reader for months.) It may have already been updated.
If you spot a new typo, please let us know. We’ll fix it for everyone. You can email the publisher at wildsidepress@yahoo.com or use the message boards above.
The MEGAPACK™ Ebook Series
MYSTERY
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THE GOLDEN AGE OF SCIENCE FICTION
1. Winston K. Marks
2. Mark Clifton
3. Poul Anderson
4. Clifford D. Simak
5. Lester del Rey
6. Charles L. Fontenay
7. H.B. Fyfe
8. Milton Lesser (Stephen Marlowe)
9. Dave Dryfoos
10. Carl Jacobi
11. F.L. Wallace
12. David H. Keller, M.D.
13. Lester del Rey (vol. 2)
SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
The First Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
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The Murray Leinster MEGAPACK™***
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The Jack London Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Lost Worlds MEGAPACK™
The Mad Scientist MEGAPACK™
The Martian MEGAPACK™
The A. Merritt MEGAPACK™*
The E. Nesbit MEGAPACK™
The Andre Norton MEGAPACK™
The H. Beam Piper MEGAPACK™
The Pulp Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Mack Reynolds MEGAPACK™
The Milton A. Rothman Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
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The Willam P. McGivern Fantasy MEGAPACK™
The Wizard of Oz MEGAPACK™
The Zanthodon MEGAPACK™, by Lin Carter
HORROR
The 2014 Halloween Horrors MEGAPACK™
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The Achmed Abdullah MEGAPACK™
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The E.F. Benson MEGAPACK™
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The Algernon Blackwood MEGAPACK™
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The Cthulhu Mythos MEGAPACK™
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The Lon Williams Weird Western MEGAPACK™
The M.R. James MEGAPACK™
The Macabre MEGAPACK™
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The Arthur Machen MEGAPACK™**
The Mummy MEGAPACK™
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SINGLE-AUTHOR
The Achmed Abdullah MEGAPACK™
The H. Bedford-Jones Pulp Fiction MEGAPACK™
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The Jacques Futrelle MEGAPACK™
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The Anna Katharine Green MEGAPACK™
The Zane Grey MEGAPACK™
The Edmond Hamilton MEGAPACK™
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The William Hope Hodgson MEGAPACK™
The M.R. James MEGAPACK™
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The Murray Leinster MEGAPACK™***
The Second Murray Leinster MEGAPACK™***
The Jonas Lie MEGAPACK™
The Arthur Machen MEGAPACK™**
The Katherine Mansfield MEGAPACK™
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The William P. McGivern Fantasy MEGAPACK™
The First William P. McGivern Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
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The A. Merritt MEGAPACK™*
The Talbot Mundy MEGAPACK™
The E. Nesbit MEGAPACK™
The Andre Norton MEGAPACK™
The H. Beam Piper MEGAPACK™
The E. Hoffmann Price Spicy Story MEGAPACK™
The Mack Reynolds ME
GAPACK™
The Rafael Sabatini MEGAPACK™
The Saki MEGAPACK™
The Darrell Schweitzer MEGAPACK™
The Charles Alden Seltzer MEGAPACK™
The Robert Sheckley MEGAPACK™
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The Fred M. White Disaster MEGAPACK™
The Lon Williams Weird Western MEGAPACK™
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The Virginia Woolf MEGAPACK™
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* Not available in the United States
** Not available in the European Union
***Out of print.
FREE PROMO MINIPACKS™
Each one is only available for a single day—on Free Ebook Monday! Like us on Facebook to see new title announcements.
The Lt. Jon Jarl of the Space Patrol MINIPACK™, by Eando Binder
The Paul Di Filippo MINIPACK™
The John Gregory Betancourt MINIPACK™
The Thubway Tham Thanksgiving MINIPACK™
OTHER COLLECTIONS YOU MAY ENJOY
The Great Book of Wonder, by Lord Dunsany (it should have been called “The Lord Dunsany MEGAPACK™”)
The Wildside Book of Fantasy
The Wildside Book of Science Fiction
Yondering: The First Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories
To the Stars—And Beyond! The Second Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories
Once Upon a Future: The Third Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories
Whodunit?—The First Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories
More Whodunits—The Second Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories
X is for Xmas: Christmas Mysteries
WIND BETWEEN THE WORLDS
I
It was hot in the dome of the Bennington matter transmitter building. The metal shielding walls seemed to catch the rays of the sun and bring them to a focus there. Even the fan that was plugged in nearby didn’t seem to help much. Vic Peters shook his head, knocking the mop of yellow hair out of his eyes. He twisted his lanky, angular figure about, so the fan could reach fresh territory, and cursed under his breath.
Heat he could take. As a roving troubleshooter for Teleport Interstellar, he’d worked from Rangoon to Nairobi—but always with men. Pat Trevor was the first of the few women superintendents he’d met. And while he had no illusions of masculine supremacy, he’d have felt a lot better in shorts or nothing right now.
Besides, a figure like Pat’s couldn’t be forgotten, even though denim coveralls were hardly supposed to be flattering. Cloth stretched tight across a woman’s hips had never helped a man concentrate on his work.