The Eleventh Golden Age of Science Fiction Megapack
Page 1
Contents
COPYRIGHT INFO
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
The MEGAPACK™ Ebook Series
TANGLE HOLD
ACCIDENTAL FLIGHT
FORGET ME NEARLY
MEZZEROW LOVES COMPANY
STUDENT BODY
THE IMPOSSIBLE VOYAGE HOME
SECOND LANDING
BOLDEN’S PETS
WORLDS IN BALANCE
COPYRIGHT INFO
The Golden Age of Science Fiction MEGAPACK™: F.L. Wallace is copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.
* * * *
The MEGAPACK™ ebook series name is a trademark of Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
The “Golden Age of Science Fiction” MEGAPACK™ ebooks are designed to introduce readers to classic science fiction writers of the 1940s-1960s who might otherwise be forgotten. Floyd L. Wallace (1915-2004) is one such unjustly forgotten author.
Wallace wrote not only science fiction, but mysteries. He was born in Rock Island, Illinois, in 1915, and died in Tustin, California, in 2004. He spent most of his life in California working as a mechanical engineer after attending the University of Iowa.
His first published story, “Hideaway,” appeared in the magazine Astounding Science Fiction, but most of his work appeared in Galaxy Science Fiction and other science fiction magazines, including the classics short stories “Bolden’s Pets” and “Tangle Hold” (both of which are included here). His mystery works include “Driving Lesson,” a second-prize winner in the twelfth annual short story contest held by Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine.
Wallace was most comfortable writing at shorter lengths and only wrote one science fiction novel, Address: Centauri, which was published by Gnome Press in 1955 (and recently reprinted in facsimile by Wildside Press).
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!)
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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
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The Lady Sleuth MEGAPACK™
The First Mystery MEGAPACK™
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The Achmed Abdullah MEGAPACK™
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The Carolyn Wells Mystery MEGAPACK™
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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
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The Lt. Jon Jarl of the Space Patrol MINIPACK™, by Eando Binder
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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
TANGLE HOLD
Originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction, June 1953.
Somebody was wrapping him in a sheet of ice and spice. Somebody was pulling it tight so that his toes ached and his fingers tingled
. He still had fingers, and eyes too. He opened his eyes and they turned in opposite directions and couldn’t focus on what they saw. He made an effort, but couldn’t keep it up and had to let his eyes flutter shut again.
“Rest. You’re all right.” That’s where he got the idea of ice and spice—from that voice.
“Mmmm,” said Jadiver. He tried to raise his hand, but it wouldn’t move. It was good advice—to rest; he couldn’t do otherwise. “What happened?” he whispered.
“You had an accident. Remember?”
He didn’t. It was his mind playing tricks, of course. It couldn’t have been pleasant if his memory didn’t have access to it.
“Mmmm,” he evaded.
“Go to sleep. We’ll talk later.”
He thought he felt something shoved deep in his flesh, but he may have been wrong. In any event, the light that filtered through his closed eyelids faded away and the external world, of which there wasn’t much in the first place, vanished completely.
* * * *
Later, he awakened. How much later, he didn’t know, but it may have been days. The oppressive languor had left him and he felt capable of movement. To prove it to himself, he turned his head. He was alone, and he thought he recognized where he was. He didn’t like it.
There was an odor in the room, but this time it was the kind that lingers in all hospitals. He tried to sit up, but that was more than he could manage. He lay there a long time, looking through the heavily reinforced window; then someone came in.
“You’ll live,” said the voice behind him—the same voice.
“Think so?” He hadn’t intended to turn around, but the spice was back and he wanted to see. It was only the fragrance she wore—there was none in her voice or demeanor. That was still ice.
When she sat down, he could see that her hair was a shade of copper and the uniform she wore a dark green. She was not a robot and therefore not a nurse or a guard. It was logical to assume she was a doctor, police variety—definitely the police.
Thadeus Jadiver sighed. “What am I in for?”
“You’re not in for anything. Maybe you should be, but that’s not my business,” she said in a flat voice. That was the only thing about her that was flat; the rest curved nicely even under the uniform. “This is an emergency as well as a police hospital. We were close, so we took you in.”
That was reassuring. Jadiver tried to smile as he lifted a curiously bandaged arm. “Thanks for this.”
“I’ll take only half the credit. That was a combo job.”
He was going to have difficulty if she insisted on using technical slang. “What’s a combo job?”
“Just what it sounds like. A combination robot-human surgeon. All hospitals use them. The robot is more precise and delicate, but it lacks the final margin of judgment that’s supplied by the human. Two of us work together in critical cases.”