In the near-future the Earth is a well-controlled Utopia. Edward Wehling was a young 56 years in a time when the average age was one hundred and twenty-nine. Now he is waiting for his wife to give birth to triplets. The catch is that for everyone that is born, someone must volunteer to die.

Two youth have caged two strange creatures in the barn. While they scheme about joining the circus with their new “animals”, their fathers are waiting for two otherworldly travelers with whom they plan a trade deal for precious elements. The alien merchants are late and when the fathers learn the youth have been feeding some animals in the barn, they put two and tow together. They run towards the barn…

In the near-future the Earth is a well-controlled Utopia. Edward Wehling was a young 56 years in a time when the average age was one hundred and twenty-nine. Now he is waiting for his wife to give birth to triplets. The catch is that for everyone that is born, someone must volunteer to die.

The Boyars have spent the past sixty years terraforming the planet Flamme, clearing jungle, descumming the seas, irrigating deserts and establishing forests. Now the Aga Kaga have decided to move in and claim it as their own. The Under-secretary of the CDT refuses to support the Boyars with anything more than a diplomatic note.It’s up to Retief to deliver it and convince the Aga Kaga to abandon their claim. "Don't worry. I'll keep the peace, if I have to start a war to do it."

“Misrule” and “A Bad Town for Spacemen” were both first published in Worlds of If Science Fiction magazine in 1962. In this reformatted edition you can read both science fiction short stories.Science fiction often answers the question, “What if?” In “Misrule”, author Robert Scott explores what could happen if the government made all decisions and provided every need for all the people–even the need to vent their anger and frustrations.On People’s Day the people are...

With the bipper the Special Police Agency could get anything out of anyone. It burns them out completely in the process, but that is for the good. They are erased and won’t do any meddlesome thinking again. They will do routine work like every other Egghead and never make a mistake for 20 years. Except for the blind. Their brain waves are different and they can’t be bipped.But what does this all mean for Fred? And why does he care so much?

Evon-thia, The Spirit Bands use astral travel to bypass the normal rigors and dangers of an adventure to Mars. Their leader, Carl De L'Ester is the spirit guide to a medium we know only as Madame.Over the course of two years, Madame has several out of body experiences that take her to Ento, that red planet we know as Mars. She is joined by different spirit friends who guide her observations, which she writes about in great detail.This classic science fiction is an epic stor...

Venusport Division Chief Carl Wattles had a problem with the Kentons who wanted to build a new house instead of harvesting pretzins. The Kentons had a problem with the snakes and dragons. Wattles sent his answer and some help, but who knew how the Kenton’s would use it?

"Before this I lived in a star, a puff of expanding gas. Before that in a haunted house ... dreadful. And before that in the lopsided blob of protoplasm that was the last of Pyet, the astrologer.” The computer had begun acting strangely and now it was talking out loud. Dr. Henderson thought it was a virus that would work itself out if he just turned it off. The night janitor knew better.This Science Fiction Classic was written by William Harris and first appeared in the Worlds of I...

Science fiction classic character Retief is back in this sci fi short story by Keith Laumer. Retief is caught in the middle of competing mining claims on the planet 95739-A. He wants to side with the underdog.

"Rig ship for the snowbank orbit! Snowbank orbit with stinger! Mr. Grunfeld, raise the fleet."Grunfiled saw two viridian flares flashing with a bright green ring like a mist halo. "Ambush," he said. "At least two cruisers."They were approaching Uranus with the faint hope there were survivors from the First Uranus Expedition. What will they find if they can get past the Enemy?

The Boyars have spent the past sixty years terraforming the planet Flamme, clearing jungle, descumming the seas, irrigating deserts and establishing forests. Now the Aga Kaga have decided to move in and claim it as their own. The Under-secretary of the CDT refuses to support the Boyars with anything more than a diplomatic note.It’s up to Retief to deliver it and convince the Aga Kaga to abandon their claim. "Don't worry. I'll keep the peace, if I have to start a war to do it."