The Almost Complete Short Fiction
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The Almost Complete
Short Fiction
Don Wilcox
(custom book cover)
Jerry eBooks
Title Page
About Don Wilcox
Pseudonyms
Bibiliography
THE PIT OF DEATH
WIVES IN DUPLICATE
WHEN THE MOON DIED
WHIRLPOOL IN SPACE
DICTATOR OF PEACE
BEN GLEED, KING OF SPEED
LET WAR GODS CLASH!
SLAVE RAIDERS FROM MERCURY
MIRRORS OF MADNESS
THE GIRL IN THE WHIRPOOL
MYSTERY OF THE MIND MACHINE
CHAMPLIN FIGHTS THE PURPLE GOD
THE VOYAGE THAT LASTED 600 YEARS
THE INVISIBLE WHEEL OF DEATH
BATTERING RAMS OF SPACE
SECRET OF THE STONE DOLL
INVISIBLE RAIDERS OF VENUS
THE LOST RACE COMES BACK
THE IRON MEN OF SUPER CITY
EBBTIDE JONES ATOM CONTSTRICTOR
TAXI TO JUPITER
SECRET LEAGUE OF SIX
QUEEN OF THE LIVING PUPPETS
THE STEVEDORE OF JUPITER
THE MAN FROM THE FUTURE
MR. EEE CONDUCTS A TOUR
RAINBOW OF DEATH
THE FIEND OF NEW LONDON
THE PERFECT TRAP
DWELLERS OF THE DEEP
BULL MOOSE OF BABYLON
MADEMOISELLE BUTTERFLY
THE MAN WHO TURNED TO SMOKE
EBBTIDE JONES ON THE WARPATH
THE EAGLE MAN
THE DEADLY YAPPERS
ROBOTCYCLE FOR TWO
AN ANGEL WITH FOUR FACES
THE HOLLOW PLANET
EARTH STEALERS
THE GREAT BRAIN PANIC
CHARIOT OF DEATH
WORLD OF PAPER DOLLS
MAGNETIC MISS METEOR
MAN FROM THE MAGIC RIVER
INVASION DUST
THE DEVIL’S PIG
TAGGART’S TERRIBLE TURBAN
THE SINGING SKULLS
THE SCARLET SWORDSMEN
THE VOICE FROM VENUS
THE SERPENT HAS FIVE FANGS
WOMAN’S ISLAND
THE SAPPHIRE ENCHANTRESS
THE LAND OF BIG BLUE APPLES
MARCH OF THE MERCURY MEN
THE RED DOOR
GREAT GODS AND LITTLE TERMITES
THE SECRET OF SUTTER’S LAKE
CONFESSIONS OF A MECHANICAL MAN
THE KETTLE IN THE PIT
THE OCEAN DEN OF MERCURY
SECRET OF THE SERPENT
THE RIKITS OF MARS
QUEEN OF THE FLOATING ISLAND
THE BATTLE OF THE HOWLING HATCHET
THE MAN NOBODY KNEW
MARS INVITES YOU
ORPHAN OF SPACE
THE SLAVE MAKER
THE MAD MONSTER OF MOGO
THE FIRES OF KESSA
SERPENT RIVER
VISIT THE YO-YO FALLS (at S-T-S 19)
CLEO ELDON WILCOX was born and died in Lucas, Kansas. In addition to ‘Don Wilcox’, his best known pen name, he used the pseudonyms of Buzz-Bolt Atomcracker (one story), Cleo Eldon, Max Overton, Miles Shelton, and Alexander Blade (a house name). His wife’s maiden name was Helen Miles Shelton. He and Helen had a daughter, whom Wilcox described in an Amazing interview as “furnishing diversion” when he was trying to write.
Wilcox published most of his science fiction in Amazing Stories and Fantastic Adventures, when both were Ziff-Davis publications under the editorship of Ray Palmer. (Wilcox wrote once that he began writing science fiction after a chance meeting with the editor of Amazing Stories). At one time he was Palmer’s most prolific and popular contributor, averaging over 40,000 words a month of published stories.
Wilcox also had stories published in Mammoth Western and Mammoth Detective, two other Ziff-Davis magazines.
Wilcox graduated from The University of Kansas, and then earned an M.A. in sociology. He taught English, creative writing, history, and sociology in several junior and senior high schools, at the Chicago campus of Northwestern University, and at The University of Kansas — and later he edited newspapers.
In 1932 he and his wife began writing plays for high school classes, and he began writing feature articles for the Kansas City Star. He was also a painter, but early in his career gave up painting in order to have more time to write.
Wilcox also wrote scripts for television programs, including Captain Video. In explaining his science fiction writing, he told genre historian Mike Ashley that he seldom read other science fiction authors, but got his ideas for stories from museums, planetariums, ancient histories, and sociology textbooks.
His only published SF novel outside of the pulp magazines was The Whispering Gorilla (World Distributors, 1950) [as by David V. Reed/reprinted with Return of the Whispering Gorilla by Gryphon Books in 1999].
Almost forgotten today, at one time Don Wilcox was a mainstay of the Ziff-Davis science fiction magazines and very popular with readers of both Amazing Stories and Fantastic Adventures. He was said to write science fantasy rather than science fiction, but he had many readers who thought of themselves as science fiction fans. One of these fans was future science fiction writer and editor Terry Carr. “Give Us More Wilcox, Please!” begged Carr in a letter to Fantastic Adventures in the early 1950s.
When his writing career was nearly over in 1975, Wilcox retired to Florida and resumed painting. At the time of an interview with Mike Ashley in the late 1980s, he had created 300+ paintings, most of them portraits.
Cleo Eldon Wilcox, in addition to his main pseudonym ‘Don Wilcox’, also wrote under these names:
Buzz-Bolt Atomcracker
Alexander Blade
Cleo Eldon
Max Overton
Miles Shelton
BIBILIOGRAPHY
SHORT STORIES & NOVELETTES
The Pit of Death (1939)
Wives in Duplicate (1939)
When the Moon Died (1939)
Whirlpool in Space (1939)
Dictator of Peace (1939)
Ben Gleed, King of Speed (1939)
The Gift of Magic (1940)
The Robot Peril (1940)
Let War Gods Clash! (1940)
Slave Raiders from Mercury (1940)
Mirrors of Madness (1940)
The Girl in the Whirlpool (1940)
Mystery of the Mind Machine (1940)
The Whispering Gorilla (1940)
Champlin Fights the Purple God (1940)
The Voyage That Lasted 600 Years (1940)
The Invisible Wheel of Death (1941)
Battering Rams of Space (1941)
Secret of the Stone Doll (1941)
Invisible Raiders of Venus (1941)
The Lost Race Comes Back (1941)
The Iron Men of Super City (1941)
Ebbtide Jones’ Atom Constrictor (1941)
Taxi to Jupiter (1941)
Secret League of Six (1941)
Queen of the Living Puppets (1941)
The Stevedore of Jupiter (1941)
The Man from the Future (1941)
Mr. Eee Conducts a Tour (1941)
Rainbow of Death (1942)
The Fiend of New London (1942)
The Perfect Trap (1942)
Dwellers of the Deep (1942)
Bull Moose of Babylon (1942)
Mademoiselle Butterfly (1942)
The Man Who
Turned to Smoke (1942)
Ebbtide Jones on the Warpath (1942)
The Eagle Man (1942)
The Deadly Yappers (1942)
Robotcycle for Two (1942)
An Angel with Four Faces (1942)
The Leopard Girl (1942)
The Hollow Planet (1942)
Earth Stealers (1943)
The Great Brain Panic (1943)
Chariot of Death (1943)
World of the Paper Dolls (1943)
Fair Exchange (1944)
Magnetic Miss Meteor (1944)
Man from the Magic River (1944)
Cats of Kadenza (1944)
Invasion Dust (1944)
The Devil’s Pigs (1945)
Taggart’s Terrible Turban (1945)
The Singing Skulls (1945)
The Scarlet Swordsmen (1945)
The Voice from Venus (1945)
The Serpent Has Five Fangs (1945)
Woman’s Island (1945)
The Sapphire Enchantress (1945)
The Land of Big Blue Apples (1946)
March of the Mercury Men (1946)
The Red Door (1946)
Great Gods and Little Termites (1946)
The Secret of Sutter’s Lake (1947)
Confessions of a Mechanical Man (1947)
The Kettle in the Pit (1947)
The Giants of Mogo (1947)
The Ocean Den of Mercury (1948)
Secret of the Serpent (1948)
The Rikits of Mars (1948)
The Iron Men of Venus (1952)
Queen of the Floating Island (1952)
The Battle of the Howling Hatchet (1952)
The Man Nobody Knew (1952)
Fifty Thousand Nuggets (1952)
Too Old to Die (1952)
Mars Invites You (1952)
The Slave Maker (1952)
Orphan of Space (1952)
The Mad Monster of Mogo (1952)
Tombot! (1954)
The Fires of Kessa (1956)
Graygortch (1957)
The Serpent River (1957)
The Smallest Moon (1964)
Visit the Yo-Yo Falls (1989)
Blueflow (1992)
THE PIT OF DEATH
First published in Amazing Stories, July 1939
What strange horror lay below the trapdoor in Laboratory II? Blaine Rising thought he knew, but how could he prove it . . .
CHAPTER I
Laboratory Eleven
Blaine Rising opened his eyes and stared. Where was he? Lying in a strange bed in a strange white room—apparently in a hospital ward. But how did he get here? How long had he been here?
He scanned the wall. There was a small calendar too far away to be read. He could only discern the puzzling figures “2 0 8 9.” The number was unfamiliar. A telephone number perhaps.
Blaine’s eyes fell shut. A torrent of thoughts rushed through his mind and at once a single overpowering emotion surged to the surface—revenge! He’d kill Borden Keohane, who had pitched the girl he loved into the icy Pit of Death. Pretty Marcella Kingman—in that pit of horrors!
Blaine tried to leap out of bed but fell back helpless. A terrific pain was shooting through his head. Again be closed his eyes. The face of the heartless Keohane rose before him—the drooping eyelids, the gray blotch on the cheek, the sneering lips. A burning fever swept through Blaine’s prone body. It was his surging, fighting, driving will—to live—to kill!
The will to live—to kill a beast! What else had he to live for now? His scientific career had been shattered, his experiments riddled, and—most tragic of all—his sweetheart, the brilliant dark eyed Marcella, had been sent to the pit of death, a lifeless pillar of ice. Was there anything left in life except revenge? He wondered. As his hazy thoughts cleared, one ray of hope entered his tortured mind. Perhaps one of his experiments would yet prove that there is such a thing as temporary death—perhaps—
As Blaine lay quietly, the events of his conflict with Borden Keohane passed through his feverish brain . . .
When Blaine Rising first went to work at the Keohane Laboratories everything was lovely—all the equipment he wanted—a free hand to experiment as he pleased—efficient assistants. One of them, Marcella Kingman, was not only an able chemist but also a skillful recorder. For ten weeks Blaine made rapid progress with his two long-dreamed-of experiments—the extension of life, and the suspension of life.
And then one morning the picture changed. Blaine looked up from his desk to see the president of the laboratories standing before him.
“Mr. Rising,” the president said crisply, “you are making fine progress. Your genius seems to bum very brightly. However, you should not be burdened with business matters. Your time is too valuable.”
“But one of my assistants, Miss
Kingman, is very efficient along this line—”
The president paid no attention to the protest. “I am adding a new official to your laboratory staff, Mr. Rising. I have a nephew who has volunteered to take over the records and business end of this laboratory. I’m sure you two will work together well. He already knows of your experiments, and his own scientific ability should prove useful. His official title will be Superintendent of Laboratory Eleven.”
“Superintendent?” Blaine’s steel blue eyes turned on the president sharply. “Does that mean he is coming in as my superior?”
“I trust there will be no occasion for that question, Mr. Rising, but if there should be—yes. You are subject to his orders.” The president left.
Blaine’s heart sank. Could he preserve his newly found scientific paradise under these conditions? His question was soon answered, for the superintendent turned out to be a long forgotten classmate and worst enemy, Borden Keohane—of all people! Somehow he had never associated Borden’s name with the Keohane Laboratories.
He took the jolt in silence but inwardly he was deeply angered. It was plain Borden Keohane had tricked his uncle into making him superintendent so he could steal Blaine’s ideas. Yes, steal them—for that was exactly the way he had coasted through four years of engineering college. At graduation Blaine had breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he was at last through with Borden for life, and now—
“I’m sure you’re glad to see me,” said Borden with contemptuous sarcasm as he extended a pulpy hand. He had grown heavier and a little whiter in the five years since college. Blaine looked into his eyes. They were the same—expressionless, half covered by drooping eye-lids. The blotch on his left cheek was barely visible—a blotch reminiscent of Borden’s foolhardy experiments in chemistry. Blaine shuddered to think what Borden’s rash ways would do for the fine atmosphere of scientific precision of Laboratory Eleven.
Blaine was tempted to say, “I can’t hope to carry on scientific investigations under your scrutiny. I quit!” But he held his tongue. After all, Laboratory Eleven was still his big chance.
At their first conference Borden abruptly asked, “How soon do you expect to apply the life-suspension principle to human life?”
“Perhaps in ten years. Perhaps twenty,” said Blaine.
“I see no reason to wait.”
“We wouldn’t care to have our first experiment with humans go wrong,” said Blaine.
Borden sneered. “Human life is cheap. Already seven convicts have written us offering themselves as subjects. If they’re willing to take a chance, why shouldn’t we be?”
“I’ll take no chances with convicts or anyone else,” Blaine asserted, “until I have experimented further with animals. Of course it is well known in the scientific world that instantaneous freezing is not injurious to living tissue. A swift plunge into liquid air will turn a fish into frozen stone on the instant. Those seven convicts doubtless know that the fish thaws out and returns to life as soon as it is tossed back into the fish bowl. But that doesn’t prove that we could succeed in a similar experiment with humans.”
Borden’s lip curled slightly. “And why not?”
“There may be
several reasons. At least it seems likely that a large animal can’t be frozen as readily as a small one. Of course, as far as we can detect, a fish and a cat and a small monkey all turn to ice in the same split second, when immersed in our most potent freezing mixture—but can we hope that an elephant, for example, would do the same?”
Borden’s face colored and the blotch on his cheek showed pale blue. Blaine’s cool scientific caution always burned him up.
“Oh, that’s it,” he said caustically. “You won’t try it on humans because you’re afraid it won’t work on elephants. Nice logic! However—” here he leveled his eyes at Blaine, “—I notice you’ve made your trap door big enough to admit a full grown man.”
Blaine did not deny this. All the apertures in his recently constructed unit for instantaneous freezing were of ample size, for there was no telling what the demands of the future might be. This freezing equipment was built in a vertical arrangement. At the top was the small “Trap Room,” located in one corner of Laboratory Eleven, with a swift action trap door in the floor. This trap opened into a shaft that descended straight down through the building to the so-called “Pit of Temporary Death” concealed deep in the earth.
Thus, an animal driven to the inner corner of the Trap Room would drop through the trap door and plunge downward. On its descent, after gaining a good speed from the acceleration of gravity, it would pass through a bath of liquid air and would turn instantaneously into a chunk of ice.
Photo-electric cells operated the system of valves through the shaft and set into motion the automatic receiver and distributor at the foot of the shaft. This mechanism couched the fall of each frozen object, to prevent breakage, and carefully deposited each in the next available space of the pitch-dark Pit of Death, where a temperature of nearly absolute zero was constantly maintained.
After a careful testing of all mechanisms, Blaine had seen to it that the Pit of Death was securely sealed. He realized that the sight of long rows of frozen cats, dogs, and monkeys might create an unfavorable sentiment among some outsiders. Besides, a strong lock would guarantee that Time would have a chance to do its work without the interference of meddlers.
Time! That was another thing which galled Borden Keohane. He complained:
“Why drag it out to ten or twenty years? We already know these monkeys stay the same over weeks and months. What can a longer experiment prove?”