Galactic Cluster

Description

Superb stories of outer space where the unexpected is an everyday occurrence, the unforeseen an ever-present danger. Two men alone on a space station--an over-zealous colonel and the civilian who tries to talk him out of dropping three hydrogen bombs on Washington, D.C.; A seductive actress signs up for the maiden flight of a space ship so that she can track down the husband who jilted her.; A fiendishly clever agent infiltrates a top-secret government project and threatens the very existence of Earth.; Imagine a galaxy of super worms bound together through telepathy and a planet whose inhabitants consider the human brain to be a cancerous tumor!; Imagine an incredible journey to Alpha Centauri that takes ten months for a man's body and 6000 years for his mind!; Imagine refugees of the ultimate germ warfare cowering beneath the crust of the planet. To remain in hiding means mass psychosis -- but to flee to the surface is certain death! GALACTIC CLUSTER Nine stories, most of them longer ones, demonstrating Blish-in-the-Fifties. CONTENTS: . Tomb Tapper [Astounding, 1956] . King of the Hill [Infinity, 1955] . Common Time [SF Quarterly, August 1953] . A Work of Art [SF Stories, July 1956] . To Pay the Piper [IF, 1956] . Nor Iron Bars [Infinity, 1956-7] . BEEP [Galaxy, 1954] . This Earth of Hours [F&SF, June 1959]