Back Aa

Badge of Infamy (version 2)

<h3>Decision</h3> Two days was never enough time for a miracle. Doc decided as he packed his notes into a small bag and put it beside his bundle of personal belongings. He glanced around the room for the last time, and managed a grin at Jake's gloomy expression. "Maybe I can bluff them, or maybe they'll string along for a while," he said. "Anyhow, now that they've agreed to take me and my notes in place of the cure we're fresh out of, I've got to be on that shuttle when it goes back to their men at orbital station." Jake nodded. "I don't like selling friends down the river, Doc. But it wouldn't do you any more good to blow up with the planet, I reckon. They won't call off the war rockets when they do get you, of course. But maybe they won't use them, except as a threat to put the Lobbies back in, stronger than ever." He stuck out one of his awkwardly shaped hands, clapped the aspirator over his face and hurried out. Doc picked up his bags and went toward the little tractor where Lou was waiting to drive him and Chris back toward Southport and the shuttle rocket that would be landing for them. They hadn't mentioned Chris in their demands, but her father must expect her to return. After they had him, he'd be on his own. His best course was probably to insist on talking only to Ryan at Medical Lobby, and then being completely honest.[Pg 114] The room here would be kept sealed, in case the Lobby wanted to investigate where he had failed. And his notes were honest, which was something that could usually be determined. Chris could testify to that, anyhow, since she'd kept a lot of them for him. At best, there would be a chance for some compromise and perhaps some clue for them that might eventually end the plague. They had enough men to work on it, and billions in equipment. At worst, he should gain a little time. "Cheer up, Chris," he told her as he climbed through the little airlock. "Maybe Harkness will turn up the cure before our negotiations break down. He has the whole of Northport Hospital to play with. They haven't tried to chase him out of there yet. After all, we almost found something with no equipment except wild imaginations." She shook her head as the tractor began moving. "Shut up! I've got enough trouble without your coming down with logorrhea. Don't be a fool." "Why change now?" he asked her. "Everything I've done has been because I am a fool. I guess my luck lasted longer than I could expect. And I'm still fool enough to think that the solution has to turn up eventually. We know it has to be in that room. Damn it, we must know it—if we could only think straight now." She reached over and touched his hand, but made no comment. They had been over that statement of desperation too many times already. But it kept nagging at him—something in the room, something in the room! Something so common that nobody noticed it! They passed a crowd chasing down a runner. Something in that room could have saved the unlucky man. It could have saved Mars, perhaps.[Pg 115] He growled for the hundredth time, cursing his fatigue-numbed mind. Too little sleep, too much coffee and bracky.... He reached for the package of weed, realizing that he would miss it on Earth, if he ever got there. Like everything here on the planet, he'd begun by detesting it and wound up finding it the thing he wanted to keep forever. He lighted the bracky and sat smoking, watching Lou drive. When the first was finished, he lighted another from the butt. She put out a hand and took it away. "Please, Dan. I can stand the stuff, but I'll never like it, and the tractor's stuffy enough already. I've taken enough of it. And it keeps reminding me of our test—the three of you stinking up the place, puffing and blowing that out, while I couldn't even get a breath of air...." She was getting logorrhea herself now and— The answer finally hit him! He jerked around, making a grab for Lou's shoulder, motioning for the man to head back. "Bracky—it has to be! Chris, that's it. Jake picked out the second group of men from his friends—and they are all cronies because they hang around so much in their so-called smoking room. The first time, it killed the bugs for all of us who smoked—and it didn't work for you because you never learned the habit." Lou had the tractor turned and the rheostat all the way to the floor. She was sitting up now, but she wasn't fully satisfied. "The percentage of immunes seems about right. But why do some of the smokers get the disease while some don't?" "Why not? It depends on whether they pick up the habit before or after the disease gets started. Tom must[Pg 116] have got his while he was in Northport. They wouldn't let him smoke there—if he had the habit before, for that matter." She found no fault with that. He twisted it back and forth in his mind, trying to find a fault. There seemed to be none. The only trouble was that they couldn't send a message that bracky was the cure and hope that Earth would prove it true. No polite note of apology would do after that. They had to be sure. Too many other ideas had proved wrong already. Jake saw them coming and came running toward the laboratory, but Lou stopped the tractor before it reached the building and let the older man in. "Get me a dozen men who have the plague. I want the worst cases you have, and ones that Harkness tested himself," Doc ordered. "And then start praying that the cure we've got works fast." Chris was at the electron mike at once, but one of her hands reached out for the weed. She began puffing valiantly, making sick faces. Now other men began coming in, their faces struggling to find hope, but not daring to believe yet. Jake followed them. "We'll test at ten-minute intervals. That will be about two hours for the last from the group," Doc decided. One of the doctors Harkness had brought to the villages was busy cutting tiny sections from the lumps on the men's necks, while Chris ran them through the microscope to make sure the bugs were still alive. The regular optical mike was strong enough for that. Doc handed each man a bracky weed, with instructions to keep smoking, no matter how sick it made him. There were no results at the end of ten minutes when the first test was made. The second, at the end of twenty minutes, was still infected with live bugs. At[Pg 117] the half-hour, Chris frowned. "I can't be sure—take a look, Dan." He bent over, moving the slide to examine another spot. "I think so. The next one should tell." There was no doubt about the fourth test. The bugs were dead, without a single exception that they could find. One by one, the men were tested and went storming out, shouting the news. For a minute, the gathering crowd was skeptical, remembering the other failures. Then, abruptly, men were screaming, crying and fighting for the precious bracky, like the legions of the damned grabbing for lottery tickets when the prize was a passport to paradise. Jake swore as he moved toward the door. "We're low on bracky here. Have to get a supply from Edison, I guess, and cart it to the shuttle. Enough for a sample, and to make them want more. It'll be tough, but we'll get it there in time—by the time the shuttle should be picking you up. Doc, you've won our war! From now on, if Earth wants to keep her population up, we'll be a free planet!" Chris turned slowly from the microscope, holding a slide in her hands. "My bugs," she said unbelievingly. "Dan, they're dead!" Jake patted her shoulder. "That makes it perfect, girl. Now come on. We've got to start celebrating a victory!" <hr style='width: 45%;' /> It was the general feeling of most of the heads of the villages when they met the next day in Southport, using the courtroom that had been presided over so long by Judge Ben Wilson. It was victory, and to the victor belonged the spoils. The bracky had gone out to Earth[Pg 118] on a converted war rocket that could make the trip in less than two weeks, and one packet had been specially labeled for Captain Everts. But Earth had already confirmed the cure. The small amounts of the herb found in the botanical collections had been enough to satisfy all doubts. Harkness, Chris and Doc had been fighting against the desire to rob Earth blind that filled most of the men here for hours now. Now they had the backing of Jake and Ben Wilson. And now finally they leaned back, sensing that the argument had been won. Bargaining was all right in its place, but it had no place in affairs of life and death such as this. They had to see that Earth received all the bracky she needed. It was only right to charge a fair price for it, but they couldn't restrict it by withholding or overcharging. And they could still gain their ends without blackmail. Martian alkaloids were tricky things, and bracky smoke contained a number of them. It would take Earth at least ten years to discover and synthesize the right one—and it would still probably cost more than it would to import the weed from Mars. As long as the source of that weed was here, and in the hands of the colonials, there would be no danger of Earth's bombing the planet. Harkness got up to underscore a point Wilson had made. "The plague lived a million years, and it won't disappear now. The jumping headache, or <ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's Note: Original had 'Selnick's'.">Selznick's</ins> migraine, is unpleasant enough to make us reasonably sure that there will be a steady consumption of the weed. Our problem will be to keep the children from using too much of it, probably." He pulled a weed out and lighted it, puckering his face as the smoke bit his[Pg 119] tongue. "I'm told that this gets to be an enjoyable habit. If I can believe that, surely you can believe me when I say we don't have to bargain with lives." The village men were human, and most of them could remember the strain they had been under when they expected those they loved to die at any hour. It had made them crave vengeance, but now as they had a chance to reexamine it, they began to find it harder to impose the horror of any such threat on others. The final vote was almost unanimous. Doc listened as they wrangled over the wording of the message to Earth, feeling disconnected from it. He passed Chris a bracky and lighted it for her. She took it automatically, smiling as the smoke hit her lungs. It was one thing they had in common now, at least. Ben Wilson finally read the message. "To the people of Earth, greetings! "On behalf of the free people of Mars, I have the honor to announce that this planet hereby declares itself a sovereign and independent world. We shall continue to regard Earth as our mother, and to consider the health and welfare of her people in no way second to our own in matters which affect both planets. We trust that Earth will share this feeling of mutual friendship. We trust that all strains of hostility will be ended. The advantages to each from peaceful commerce make any course other than the most cordial of relations unthinkable. "We shall consider proof of such friendship an order by Earth to all rockets circling this planet that they shall deliver themselves safely into our hands, in order that we may begin converting them to peaceful purposes for the trade that is to come. In turn, we pledge that all efforts will be made to ensure a prompt de[Pg 120]livery of those products most in demand, including the curative bracky plant." He turned to Doc then. "You want to sign it, Dr. Feldman? Make it as acting president or something, until we can get around to voting you into permanent office." "You and Jake fight over the job," Doc told him. "No, Ben, I mean it." He got up and moved out into the outer room, where he could avoid the stares of amazement that were turned to him. He'd never asked for the honor, and he didn't want it. Chris came with him. Her face was shocked and something was slowly draining out of it as he looked at her. "Forget it, Chris," he said. "You're going back to Earth. There is nothing for you here." She hadn't quite given up. "There could be, Dan. You know that." "No. No, Chris, I don't think there ever can be. You can't find a man strong enough to rule who'll be weak enough to let you rule in his place. It didn't work on Earth, and it won't work here. Forget the dreams you had of what could be done with a new planet. Those are the dreams that made a mess of the old one." "I'll be back," she told him. "Some day I'll be back." He shook his head again. "No. You wouldn't like what you find here. Freedom is heady stuff, but you have to have a taste for it. You can't acquire a fondness for it secondhand. And for a while, there's going to be freedom here. Besides, once you get back to Earth, you'll forget what happened here." She sighed at last. For the first time since he had known her, she seemed to give in completely. And for[Pg 121] that brief moment, he loved what she could have been, but never would be. "All right, Dan," she said quietly. "I can't fight you. I never could, I see now. I'll take the rocket back. What are you going to do?" He hadn't bothered to think, but he knew the answer. "Research. What else?" There would be a lot of research done here. It had been suppressed too long, and had piled up a back-pressure that would have to be relieved. And from that research, he suspected, would come the end of the stable oligarchy of Earth. It could never stand against the changes that would be pouring out of Mars. She put her hands on his shoulders and moved forward to kiss him. He bent down to meet her, and found her eyes were wet. Maybe his were, too. Then she broke free. "You're a fool, Dan Feldman," she whispered, and began moving down the hallway and out of the council hall of Mars. Doc Feldman nodded slowly as he let her go. He was a fool. He had always been a fool, and always would be. And that was why he could never take over leadership here. Fools and idealists should never govern a world. It took practical men such as Jake to do that. But the practical men needed the foolish idealists, too. And maybe for a time here on Mars their kind of men and his kind of fools could make one more stab at the ancient puzzle of freedom. Outside the war rockets of Earth began landing quietly on the free soil of Mars. <hr style='width: 65%;' /> <h2>ANDRE NORTON</h2> <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td align='left'>051615</td><td align='left'>Beast Master 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>092668</td><td align='left'>Catseye 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>123117</td><td align='left'>The Crossroads of Time 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>137950</td><td align='left'>Dark Piper 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>139923</td><td align='left'>Daybreak, 2250 A.D. 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>142323</td><td align='left'>Defiant Agents 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>166694</td><td align='left'>Dread Companion 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>223651</td><td align='left'>Exiles of the Stars 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>272260</td><td align='left'>Galactic Derelict 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>337014</td><td align='left'>High Sorcery 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>354217</td><td align='left'>Huon of the Horn 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>358408</td><td align='left'>Ice Crown 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>415513</td><td align='left'>Judgment on Janus 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>436725</td><td align='left'>Key Out of Time 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>471615</td><td align='left'>The Last Planet 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>492363</td><td align='left'>Lord of Thunder 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>541011</td><td align='left'>Moon of Three Rings 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>577510</td><td align='left'>Night of Masks 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>634105</td><td align='left'>Operation Time Search 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>638213</td><td align='left'>Ordeal In Otherwhere 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>668319</td><td align='left'>Plague Ship 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>675553</td><td align='left'>Postmarked the Stars 75c</td></tr> </table></div> Available wherever paperbacks are sold or use this coupon. <hr style='width: 45%;' /> ace books, (Dept. MM) Box 576, Times Square Station New York, N.Y. 10036 Please send me titles checked above. I enclose $__________________Add 15¢ handling fee per copy. Name_________________________________________________ Address______________________________________________ City____________________State_____________Zip________ Please allow 4 weeks for delivery. 24C <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ANDRE NORTON</h2> <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td align='left'>696823</td><td align='left'>Quest Crosstime 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>749812</td><td align='left'>Sargasso of Space 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>756957</td><td align='left'>Sea Siege 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>758318</td><td align='left'>Secret of the Lost Race 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>759910</td><td align='left'>Shadow Hawk 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>768010</td><td align='left'>The Sioux Spaceman 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>775510</td><td align='left'>Sorceress of Witch World 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>780114</td><td align='left'>Star Born 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>780718</td><td align='left'>Star Gate 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>781914</td><td align='left'>Star Hunter & Voodoo Planet 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>784314</td><td align='left'>The Stars Are Ours 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>787416</td><td align='left'>Storm over Warlock 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>808014</td><td align='left'>Three Against the Witch World 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>812511</td><td align='left'>The Time Traders 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>840009</td><td align='left'>Unchartered Stars 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>873190</td><td align='left'>Warlock of the Witch World 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>878710</td><td align='left'>Web of the Witch World 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>897017</td><td align='left'>Witch World 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>925511</td><td align='left'>The X Factor 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>942516</td><td align='left'>Year of the Unicorn 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>959619</td><td align='left'>The Zero Stone 75c</td></tr> </table></div> Available wherever paperbacks are sold or use this coupon. <hr style='width: 45%;' /> ace books, (Dept. MM) Box 576, Times Square Station New York, N.Y. 10036 Please send me titles checked above. I enclose $__________________Add 15¢ handling fee per copy. Name_________________________________________________ Address______________________________________________ City____________________State_____________Zip________ Please allow 4 weeks for delivery. 25B <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h3>Don't miss these exciting adventures of</h3> <h2>PERRY RHODAN</h2> Just 75c Each <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td align='left'>659938 Perry Rhodan #1</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Enterprise Stardust Scheer & Ernsting</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>659946 Perry Rhodan #2</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>The Radiant Dome Scheer & Ernsting</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>659953 Perry Rhodan #3</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Galactic Alarm Mahr & Shols</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>659961 Perry Rhodan #4</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Invasion from Space Ernsting & Mahr</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>659979 Perry Rhodan #5</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>The Vega Sector Scheer & Mahr</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>659987 Perry Rhodan #6</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Secret of the Time Vault Darlton</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>659995 Perry Rhodan #7</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Fortress of the Six Moons Scheer</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>660001 Perry Rhodan #8</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>The Galactic Riddle Darlton</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>659789 Perry Rhodan #9</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Quest through Space and Time Darlton</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>660027 Perry Rhodan #10</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>The Ghosts of Gol Mahr</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>659805 Perry Rhodan #11</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Planet of the Dying Sun Mahr</td></tr> </table></div> Available wherever paperbacks are sold or use this coupon. <hr style='width: 45%;' /> ace books, (Dept. MM) Box 576, Times Square Station New York, N.Y. 10036 Please send me titles checked above. I enclose $__________________Add 15¢ handling fee per copy. Name_________________________________________________ Address______________________________________________ City____________________State_____________Zip________ Please allow 4 weeks for delivery. 32A <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h3>Don't miss these exciting adventures of</h3> <h2>PERRY RHODAN</h2> Just 75c Each <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td align='left'>659813 Perry Rhodan #12</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Rebels of Tuglan Darlton</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>659821 Perry Rhodan #13</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>The Immortal Unknown Darlton</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>659839 Perry Rhodan #14</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Venus in Danger Mahr</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>659847 Perry Rhodan #15</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Escape To Venus Mahr</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>659862 Perry Rhodan #16</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Secret Barrier X Shols</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>659870 Perry Rhodan #17</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>The Venus Trap Mahr</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>659888 Perry Rhodan #18</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Menace of the Mutant Master Mahr</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>659904 Perry Rhodan #19</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Mutants vs. Mutants Darlton</td></tr> </table></div> Available wherever paperbacks are sold or use this coupon. <hr style='width: 45%;' /> ace books, (Dept. MM) Box 576, Times Square Station New York, N.Y. 10036 Please send me titles checked above. I enclose $__________________Add 15¢ handling fee per copy. Name_________________________________________________ Address______________________________________________ City____________________State_____________Zip________ Please allow 4 weeks for delivery. 31B <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>Great Science Fiction Collections</h2> <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td align='left'>054551 The Best from Fantasy and SF 16th Series 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>054569 The Best from Fantasy and SF 17th Series 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>054577 The Best from Fantasy and SF 18th Series 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>206706 England Swings SF $1.25</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>363317 The Second "If" Reader 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>572701 New Worlds of Fantasy 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>572719 New Worlds of Fantasy 2 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>572727 New Worlds of Fantasy 3 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>629402 On Our Way to the Future 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>806992 This Side of Infinity 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>846006 Universe 1 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>846014 Universe 2 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>913533 World's Best 1st Series 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>913541 World's Best 2nd Series 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>913558 World's Best 3rd Series 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>913566 World's Best 4th Series 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>913525 World's Best Science Fiction 1969 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>913574 World's Best Science Fiction 1970 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>913582 World's Best Science Fiction 1971 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>913590 Best Science Fiction for 1972 95c</td></tr> </table></div> Available wherever paperbacks are sold or use this coupon. <hr style="width: 45%;" /> ace books, (Dept. MM) Box 576, Times Square Station New York, N.Y. 10036 Please send me titles checked above. I enclose $__________________Add 15¢ handling fee per copy. Name_________________________________________________ Address______________________________________________ City____________________State_____________Zip________ Please allow 4 weeks for delivery. 12-72-34A <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>Frank Herbert</h2> <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td align='left'>172619 Dune $1.25</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>302612 Green Brain 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>909267 The Worlds of Frank Herbert 95c</td></tr> </table></div> <h2>URSULA LEGUIN</h2> <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td align='left'>107011 City of Illusion 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>478008 Left Hand of Darkness 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>732917 Rocannon's World 75c</td></tr> </table></div> <h2>Samuel R. Delany</h2> <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td align='left'>045914 Babel 17 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>047225 Ballad of Beta 2 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>196816 Einstein Intersection 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>226415 Fall of the Towers $1.25</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>390211 Jewels of Aptor 75c</td></tr> </table></div> Available wherever paperbacks are sold or use this coupon. <hr style='width: 45%;' /> ace books, (Dept. MM) Box 576, Times Square Station New York, N.Y. 10036 Please send me titles checked above. I enclose $__________________Add 15¢ handling fee per copy. Name_________________________________________________ Address______________________________________________ City____________________State_____________Zip________ Please allow 4 weeks for delivery. 12-72-35B <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>A. E. Van Vogt</h2> <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td align='left'>048603 The Battle of Forever 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>104109 Children of Tomorrow 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>137984 Darkness on Diamondia 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>228114 The Far Out Worlds of A. E. Van Vogt 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>697003 Quest For the Future 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>765008 The Silkie 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>871814 The War Against the Rulls $1.25</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>878553 The Weapon Shops of Isher 60c</td></tr> </table></div> <h2>JOHN BRUNNER</h2> <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td align='left'>033001 The Atlantic Abomination 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>166686 Dramaturges of Yan 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>381210 Jagged Orbit $1.25</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>524009 Meeting at Infinity 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>812701 Times Without Number 60c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>822106 Traveler in Black 75c</td></tr> </table></div> Available wherever paperbacks are sold or use this coupon. <hr style='width: 45%;' /> ace books, (Dept. MM) Box 576, Times Square Station New York, N.Y. 10036 Please send me titles checked above. I enclose $__________________Add 15¢ handling fee per copy. Name_________________________________________________ Address______________________________________________ City____________________State_____________Zip________ Please allow 4 weeks for delivery. 36A <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>11 NOVELS BY ROBERT A. HEINLEIN</h2> <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td align='left'>055004 Between Planets 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>106005 Citizen of the Galaxy 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>318006 Have Space Suit Will Travel 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>711408 Red Planet 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>733303 Rocket Ship Galileo 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>734400 The Rolling Stones 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>777300 Space Cadet 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>780007 The Star Beast 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>811257 Time for the Stars 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>826602 Tunnel in the Sky 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>915025 The Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein 95c</td></tr> </table></div> Available wherever paperbacks are sold or use this coupon. <hr style='width: 45%;' /> ace books, (Dept. MM) Box 576, Times Square Station New York, N.Y. 10036 Please send me titles checked above. I enclose $__________________Add 15¢ handling fee per copy. Name_________________________________________________ Address______________________________________________ City____________________State_____________Zip________ Please allow 4 weeks for delivery. 17B <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS</h2> Just 75c each <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td align='left'>033218 At the Earth's Core</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>046326 Back to the Stone Age</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>056523 Beyond the Farthest Star</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>218024 Eternal Savages</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>469973 Land of Terror</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>470120 Land of Hidden Men</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>514026 The Mad King</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>535880 Monster Men</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>645101 Outlaw of Torn</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>658526 Pellucidar</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>659425 People That Time Forgot</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>751321 Savage Pellucidar</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>797928 Tanar of Pellucidar</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>901918 The Wizard of Venus</td></tr> </table></div> Available wherever paperbacks are sold or use this coupon. <hr style='width: 45%;' /> ace books, (Dept. MM) Box 576, Times Square Station New York, N.Y. 10036 Please send me titles checked above. I enclose $__________________Add 15¢ handling fee per copy. Name_________________________________________________ Address______________________________________________ City____________________State_____________Zip________ Please allow 4 weeks for delivery. 15A <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>The World's Best Award-Winning Science Fiction Comes from Ace</h2> <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td align='left'>029363 Armageddon 2419 A.D. Nowlan 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>061770 The Big Show Laumer 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>067017 The Black Star Passes Campbell 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>371005 Interplanetary Hunter Barnes 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>516559 Falling Astronauts Malzberg 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>531517 The Mightiest Machine Campbell 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>535708 The Missionaries Compton 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>623801 The Omega Point Zebrowski 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>642405 Other Days, Other Eyes Shaw 95c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>734384 Roller Coaster World Bulmer 75c</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>951467 You're All Alone Leiber 95c</td></tr> </table></div> Available wherever paperbacks are sold or use this coupon. <hr style='width: 45%;' /> ace books, (Dept. MM) Box 576, Times Square Station New York, N.Y. 10036 Please send me titles checked above. I enclose $__________________Add 15¢ handling fee per copy. Name_________________________________________________ Address______________________________________________ City____________________State_____________Zip________ Please allow 4 weeks for delivery. 11-72-14C <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>ACE SCIENCE FICTION DOUBLES</h2> <h3>Two books back-to-back</h3> Just 95c each <div class='center'> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td align='left'>009902 Against Arcturus Putney</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Time Thieves Koontz</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>066126 Blackman's Burden Reynolds</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Border, Breed Nor Birth Reynolds</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>102939 The Chariots of Ra Bulmer</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Earth Strings Rackham</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>114512 In the Alternate Universe Chandler</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Into the Coils of Time Chandler</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>775254 Son of the Tree Vance</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>House of Iszm Vance</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>156976 The Unteleported Man Dick</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Dr. Futurity Dick</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>158907 Door Through Space Bradley</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Rendezvous on a Lost World Chandler</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>166405 Dragon Master</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Five Gold Bands Vance</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>317552 The Hard Way Up Chandler</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Veiled World Lory</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>337105 Highwood Barrett</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Annihilation Factor Bayley</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>370627 The Inheritors Chandler</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>The Gateway to Never Chandler</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>665257 Pirates of Zan Leinster</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Mutant Weapon Leinster</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>799759 Technos</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>A Scatter of Sardust Tubb</td></tr> </table></div> Available wherever paperbacks are sold or use this coupon. <hr style='width: 45%;' /> ace books, (Dept. MM) Box 576, Times Square Station New York, N.Y. 10036 Please send me titles checked above. I enclose $__________________Add 15¢ handling fee per copy. Name_________________________________________________ Address______________________________________________ City____________________State_____________Zip________ Please allow 4 weeks for delivery. 12-72-8C <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

1 of 2

2 of 2

Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.