Short Fiction

Short Fiction

By Manly Wade Wellman.

Table of Contents

1. Titlepage
2. Imprint
3. The Invading Asteroid
   1. I
   2. II: An Incredible Story
   3. III: The Deserter
   4. IV: The Great Battle
4. The Golgotha Dancers
5. The Hairy Ones Shall Dance
   1. Foreword
   2. I: “Why Must the Burden of Proof Rest with the Spirits?”
   3. II: “You Can Almost Hear the Ghosts.”
   4. III: “That Thing Isn’t My Daughter—”
   5. IV: “I Don’t Know What Killed Him.”
   6. V: “They Want to Take the Law Into Their Own Hands.”
   7. VI: “Eyes of Fire!”
   8. VII: “Had the Thing Been So Hairy?”
   9. VIII: “A Trick That Almost Killed You.”
   10. IX: “To a Terrified Victim He Is Doom Itself.”
   11. X: “Blood-Lust and Compassion.”
   12. XI: “To Meet That Monster Face to Face!”
   13. XII: “We Are Here at His Mercy.”
   14. XIII: “Light’s Our Best Weapon.”
   15. XIV: “I Was—I Am—A Wolf.”
   16. XV: “And That Is the End.”
6. The Black Drama
   1. Foreword
   2. I: Drafted
   3. II: Byron’s Lost Play
   4. III: Enter Judge Pursuivant
   5. IV: Into the Country
   6. V: Jake’s Story
   7. VI: The Theater in the Forest
   8. VII: Rehearsal
   9. VIII: Pursuivant Again
   10. IX: Davidson Gives a Warning
   11. X: That Evening
   12. XI: Battle and Retreat
   13. XII: Return Engagement
   14. XIII: The Black Book
   15. XIV: Zero Hour
   16. XV: “Whither? I Dread to Think—”
7. Fearful Rock
   1. I: The Sacrifice
   2. II: The Cavalry Patrol
   3. III: The Image in the Cellar
   4. IV: The Mandifers
   5. V: Blood in the Night
   6. VI: Return
   7. VII: The Rock Again
   8. VIII: The Grapple by the Grave
   9. IX: Debate and Decision
   10. X: Enid Mandifer Again
   11. XI: Return of the Sacrifice
   12. XII: Jager
   13. XIII: Lanark
   14. XIV: Enid
   15. XV: Evil’s End
8. Bratton’s Idea
9. The Devil’s Asteroid
10. Venus Enslaved
11. Warrior of Two Worlds
    1. I
    2. II
    3. III
    4. IV
    5. V
    6. VI
12. Half Around Pluto
13. Colophon
14. Uncopyright

Imprint

This ebook is the product of many hours of hard work by volunteers for Standard Ebooks, and builds on the hard work of other literature lovers made possible by the public domain.

This particular ebook is based on transcriptions from Project Gutenberg and on digital scans from the Internet Archive.

The source text and artwork in this ebook are believed to be in the United States public domain; that is, they are believed to be free of copyright restrictions in the United States. They may still be copyrighted in other countries, so users located outside of the United States must check their local laws before using this ebook. The creators of, and contributors to, this ebook dedicate their contributions to the worldwide public domain via the terms in the CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. For full license information, see the Uncopyright at the end of this ebook.

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The Invading Asteroid

I

Higher and higher through the night mounted the small, trim space-launch. Far below the lights of St. Louis, capital of the Terrestrial League, shone as myriad stars and reflected gleams on the flat surfaces and soaring spires of the uppermost levels. From a great height the city resembled a rambling building of tremendous size, wherein little specks of surface-cars scampered over miniature traffic-ways and clouds of air and space-vehicles danced around and over the town like midges.

It was a fighting ship that was mounting upward, one of the many that sped through space in the days of 2675, when Earth and Mars were in the throes of that gigantic and regrettable conflict, the Interplanetary War. However, the disintegrating ray apparatus, a deadly weapon that enabled Terrestrial forces to compete on something like equal terms with the overwhelming numbers of the space-navies of Mars, had been removed from bow and stern. Most of the space inside the cigar-shaped hull was occupied by engines to insure highest maneuverability and speed, but in the center was a cushioned chamber large enough to allow its three occupants to ride in comfort.

They were in Terrestrial uniform, but did not look like the sternest of warriors. A year ago they had been students together at the International University in St. Louis, looking forward to graduation in 2675. But 2675 was here, and already they had participated in the bitter conflicts that marked the beginnings of the war. Even now, when the two worlds had drawn far apart in their orbits and the interplanetary passage was too far for war parties to travel, they were kept in intensive training and their school days seemed memories of a thousand years ago.

“This is a squadron-commander’s gig, at the very least,” chuckled Bull Mike Tishinev, former star athlete of his university, as he squared his colossal shoulders. “We’ll never have a softer trip, nor a freer one, so long as we’re in the service.”

“And, inasmuch as we are in the service, we’re apt to catch it for absence without leave, and also for using property of the Terrestrial government for private purposes,” suggested Neil Andresson, slim and handsome.

“I wouldn’t have suggested it if I had thought there would be danger,” assured Sukune, the little Japanese, his young Oriental face shining with a smile. “However, I had free run of the rocketport for my experimentation, and nobody thought anything of it when I checked the ship out. And we have all had two days’ liberty and won’t be missed. They won’t check the rocketport until the day after tomorrow, so we’ll have full forty-eight hours in space⁠—first chance we’ve had to do such a thing without some officer