The High Ones and Other Stories

Now was Eben Holbrook’s chance to play hero—and win his lady love.
Eben Holbrook was not much of a spaceman; he was just a simple nucleonics engineer, not even close to being a scientist. Yet a rare burst of inspiration on his part was what saved them from harm … or maybe just the thought that his dear Ekaterina was in danger.
After having landed on a planet which had the makings of a new Earth, Rurik’s troop discovered that someone else beat them to it. The Zolotoyans—a more highly intelligent race—started an arbitrary attack, which forced an investigation into the reason for their hostility.
Holbrook, Ekaterina and Grushenko were assigned to the task, and set out for Zolotoy. Much to their surprise, the natives did not attack them once they landed; in fact, they seemed altogether indifferent to their guests’ presence, though they were required to stay indefinitely. Holbrook knew that the atmosphere and environment weren’t conducive for humans, and sought immediately to escape, but Grushenko insisted on trying to reason with the Zolotoyans no matter what the cost.

From a Science Fiction Grand Master comes ten exciting stories from the 1950s. Over 100,000 words of the future from the past.