A world had collapsed around this man--a world that would never shout his praises again. The burned-out cities were still and dead, the twisted bodies and twisted souls giving him their last salute in death. And now he was alone, alone surrounded by memories, alone and waiting.
Foraminifera 9-Hart Bailey's Beam is bored. He relieves that boredom by traveling back in time to sometime before the high radiation levels and after the invention of anesthesia-you know, in case of accidents. He's read of the Mafia in New York City of the 1950s. He think that might be a place to start. He finds five you men, all dressed in same color jacket, and asks directions to the recruiting office of the "dread Camorra." He assures them he has plenty of money in his carry-all...
In a future in which individuals have no name, no independence, and no values. Equality 7-2521 lives in the dark ages of the future where all decisions are made by committee, all people live in collectives, and all traces of individualism have been wiped out. Despite such a restrictive environment, Equality 7-2521 dares to stand apart from the herd--to think and choose for himself, to discover electricity, and to love the woman of his choice.
"Nothing could be done. The thing was universal and beyond our human knowledge or control. It was death for young and old, for weak and strong, for rich and poor, without hope or possibility of escape." Must Professor George Challenger and friends, barricaded in a room, see Earth die? As globe passes through a belt of poisonous ether, terror sweeps mankind; cities riot; communications cease