Freshly graduated and commissioned Planeteer Lt. Rip Foster is tasked with retrieving an asteroid made of pure thorium from the asteroid belt and bringing it to Earth for use as fissionable material. But the totalitarian Connies have their own plans for the asteroid...
After eleven years in space, the Argo landed on the dangerous, unknown planet Lucifer. The crew faced an untamed world of huge, carnivorous birds with wolverine heads and flashing black teeth; furred, ten-foot-tall men; and red-skinned, man-eating pygmies. They fought for mere survival. But their duty was to colonize and populate the planet... with four men and only two women!
The Throg task force struck the Terran survey camp a few minutes after dawn, without warning, and with a deadly precision which argued that the aliens had fully reconnoitered and prepared that attack. Eye-searing lances of energy lashed back and forth across the base with methodical accuracy. And a single cowering witness, flattened on a ledge in the heights above, knew that when the last of those yellow-red bolts fell, nothing human would be left alive down there.
So the Ulleran challenge begins, with the rantings of a prophet and a seemingly incidental street riot. Only when a dose of poison lands in the governor-general's whiskey does it become clear that the "geeks" have had it up to their double-lidded eyeballs with the imperialist Terran Federation's Chartered Uller Company. Then, overnight, war is everywhere.
The story is described as a "duel of the cosmic magicians." It involves two witch doctors who conjure up ghosts and demons against each other and might appear to be fantasy. But Norton bases the wizards' magic on the use of mildly hallucinogenic drugs, psychological manipulation and latent telepathy, which place the story within the realm of science fiction.
A story in the Damsels In Distress Universe
Al Adams makes his first visit to Chaos as a Hero. However, he must first prepare for the trip. A rescue is chosen, and plans made. But the plans must change to suit the developing situation he meets on the ground. He does push ahead in establishing himself on Chaos.
David Innes, a man with a remarkable story to tell, is a mining heir who finances an experimental "iron mole," an excavating vehicle designed by his elderly inventor friend Abner Perry. In a test, they discover the vehicle cannot be turned. It burrows 500 miles into the Earth, emerging into the unknown interior world of Pellucidar.
Lured by exotic gems and valuable oils, the crew of the space trader Solar Queen landed on the newly discovered planet Sargol, only to find their most ruthless competitor there ahead of them. Still they tried for fair trade, even according to the sly rules of the feline natives-- whose beauty and grace were equalled only by their determination to drive a hard bargain.
Conan the Barbarian is employed by one of the civilized countries to help in it's push to claim lands from the primitive Picts. The Picts are not excited about the idea however. Old gods and mythical creatures are called up by the Pict witches to contest the invading army and Conan finds himself battling for his life amid the blood thirsty hordes that include saber-toothed tigers, 40 foot long venomous snakes and a demon from another dimension who is intent on crushing him.