24 chapters
4 hour read
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24 chapters
SOMETHING WAS WRONG
SOMETHING WAS WRONG
It began when a pedestrian got hit by a cab in New York City. No doubt it was the only motor mishap in the history of creation that reached out among the stars—for far out in space a signal was registered: Something has gone wrong.... And something had gone wrong, for the doctors discovered their accident patient had two hearts. It was the beginning of the discovery that the Earth had been invaded by 10 such creatures from Outer Space. Every effort was made to learn their purpose. An orbital fli
43 minute read
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AUTHOR'S PROFILE
AUTHOR'S PROFILE
Ivar Jorgensen is the pen name of a former topflight magazine editor who is now devoting his full time to free-lance writing. He was born in St. Louis and spent most of his early years in the Midwest. Before getting into the publishing field he held a number of jobs, including those of elevator operator and theater usher. Mr. Jorgensen has written numerous science-fiction short stories as well as several contemporary and suspense novels. TEN FROM INFINITY is his first full-length science-fiction
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Cover Painting by Ralph Brillhart
Cover Painting by Ralph Brillhart
Published in January, 1963 Copyright © 1963 by Ivar Jorgensen Monarch Books are published by MONARCH BOOKS, INC., Capital Building, Derby, Connecticut, and represent the works of outstanding novelists and writers of non-fiction especially chosen for their literary merit and reading entertainment. Printed in the United States of America All Rights Reserved...
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1
1
It began when a pedestrian got hit by a cab at the corner of 59th Street and Park Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.A. No doubt it was the first motor mishap in the history of creation that reached out among the stars. The pedestrian was walking south on Park Avenue, toward Grand Central Station. He was looking at the upper skeleton of the vast new Pan Am Building which blocked out the sky in that direction. But he should have been watching traffic because a yellow cab tagged him neatly and
14 minute read
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2
2
Those in the know in Washington, D.C., upon seeing Brent Taber rush to a taxi or dodge a pedestrian on Pennsylvania Avenue, could well say, "There walks power." But there were few indeed who possessed enough knowledge of the Washington inner structure to be able to make this observation. Brent looked more like a coal heaver than a public servant with a well-oiled escalator into the White House. He appeared more able to direct a gang of dock workers than to jockey a delicate issue through the blo
24 minute read
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LOCAL POLITICIAN DISAPPEARS
LOCAL POLITICIAN DISAPPEARS
The clipping was from the Kenton, New York, Chronicle , an upstate weekly, and the news story told how Judge Sam Baker had vanished on a fishing trip to a nearby lake. Accidental drowning had been the verdict but, as yet, the body had not been recovered. Les King stared at the clipping. The body, as he remembered it, never was recovered, either, but the drowning verdict stood intact and the judge had been gradually forgotten. Les King's interest in the affair had been financial. He'd gone to Ken
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SENATOR CRANE STUNS CONGRESS AND THE NATION WITH HIS REVELATIONS
SENATOR CRANE STUNS CONGRESS AND THE NATION WITH HIS REVELATIONS
Crane had dropped back into his chair. His eyes had closed, the better to visualize a grateful nation expending their plaudits. And because he was a man who used a great deal of energy in pursuing an objective, he tired at times. He became drowsy now.... ... And went gently to sleep....
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5
5
"Doctor Corson. Calling Doctor Corson. Please come to the second-floor reception room." Frank Corson got the call as he was leaving the maternity ward. He took the elevator down and found a rather sloppily dressed, middle-aged man sitting on a lounge beside a weather-beaten camera that tended to mark his profession. "I'm Les King, a free-lance news photographer. You're Doctor Corson?" Frank Corson's reaction was slightly hostile. He wondered why. "I'm Doctor Corson." "I'm on the trail of a patie
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6
6
Brent Taber was drawn to Doctor Entman. He found, in the ugly little scientist, a rapport that seemed to exist nowhere else. At the moment, Entman was having a fine, stimulating time dissecting the cadaver of the android. His ugly little eyes were bright. "It's a miracle, my friend! A positive miracle. The thing these people have been able to do!" "People? You've used that word before." Entman waved an impatient hand. "Oh, don't quibble! Why, the creation of an artificial digestive system alone
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7
7
"If you've changed your mind about anything—about us, maybe—just say so. I'll understand." Frank Corson felt he had to make this point—at this particular time. There was something inevitable in the need to do so. "You're being ridiculous. The old thing about money again," Rhoda parried. "There's nothing old about money. The problem is ever new. It's always with us." Rhoda Kane wanted to cry. She sat on the floor beside the sofa on which Frank Corson lay, his hands behind his head, his eyes stari
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8
8
Brent Taber stood in front of the desk of Authority and said, "Mr. Porter, I don't think you people realize the gravity of this situation." Porter's eyes were frosty. "And just what gives you that idea?" "The fact that I'm being hamstrung at every turn. Men I assigned to search out the last android have been taken off the job, transferred away from me without notice." "You speak of being hamstrung ." Porter pronounced the term with an inflection of disgust, as though it were a vulgarism no gentl
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9
9
The man had sallow skin; the look of a consumptive. He sat in a chair beside Crane's desk and dropped the ash from his cigar on Crane's wall-to-wall carpeting. Crane scowled, but let it pass. "All right. Dorfman, what have you got to show for the money I've paid you?" Dorfman, an old hand at confidential snooping, refused to quail before the much-publicized senatorial scowl. "It's tough putting on a hunt when you're not quite sure what you're after." "I told you what I wanted. I wanted you to wa
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10
10
The doorbell rang. Rhoda Kane sprang up from the sofa and almost spilled her drink. She was halfway across the room before she realized she was almost running. She stopped. The hand that held the cocktail glass shook. Resolutely, she steadied, crossed to the liquor cabinet, put down the glass, and went calmly to the door. He stood there looking at her through those oddly empty eyes which, through some contradiction of all probability, warmed her. He came in and closed the door, saying nothing. A
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11
11
As with Rhoda Kane's mind, Les King's seemed to be divided into two sections. One of these kept him in a state of perpetual uneasiness at what the other was forcing him to do. He realized that venting your frustrations against bureaucrats was one thing, but actively engaging in dangerous snooping was quite another. In the moments of uncertainty after John Dennis sent him to Washington, D.C. with orders to get his hands on certain data, Les King bolstered his courage by telling himself that, what
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SENATOR CRANE WARNS OF SPACE INVASION
SENATOR CRANE WARNS OF SPACE INVASION
Crane tossed the paper aside listlessly and picked up the second one:...
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SENATORS VOICE CONCERN FOR SANITY OF COLLEAGUE
SENATORS VOICE CONCERN FOR SANITY OF COLLEAGUE
The third paper featured an internationally syndicated columnist, famous for his biting wit: Senator Crane today launched a one-man campaign to make America space-conscious. If there was any Madison Avenue thinking behind the launching it was certainly lower Madison Avenue. In order to make his point—exactly what this was confused a vast roomful of newspapermen—the Senator invented a race of creatures called androids. These androids, it seems, look exactly like Tom Smith down the block except th
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SENATOR CRANE DELUGED WITH WIRES FROM HOME
SENATOR CRANE DELUGED WITH WIRES FROM HOME
Crane dropped the paper and got up from the desk. That son-of-a-bitch Taber was to blame for this. Shaping up a goddamn hoax and feeding it out piecemeal. By God—! He went to the desk and dialed, and when the answer came he said, "Halliday? Senator Crane here. I want to have a little talk with you about that damned tape. It's pretty obvious now that Taber planted it in a deliberate attempt to ... What's that? An appointment! Why, goddamn it, who the hell do you think you are?.... Fifteen minutes
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OTHER SIGNIFICANT MONARCH BOOKS
OTHER SIGNIFICANT MONARCH BOOKS
Available at all newsstands and bookstores If you are unable to secure these books at your local dealer, you may obtain copies by sending the retail price plus 5¢ for handling each title to Monarch Books, Inc., Mail Order Department, Capital Building, Division Street, Derby, Connecticut....
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Author of ENCOUNTER and THE GREEN PLANET
Author of ENCOUNTER and THE GREEN PLANET
Linc Hosler was sitting in a packed football stadium when the Flying Eyes appeared and cast their hypnotic power over half the crowd. Thousands of people suddenly began marching zombie-like into the woods where they vanished into a black pit. Linc used every resource of the Space Research Lab and the National Guard to destroy the Eyes. But nothing could stop them, for they proved immune to bullets and bombs. In desperation, Linc captured an Eye and found a way to communicate with it through his
42 minute read
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A MONARCH SCIENCE-FICTION CLASSIC
A MONARCH SCIENCE-FICTION CLASSIC
Available at all newsstands and bookstores 35¢ If you are unable to secure this book at your local dealer, you may obtain a copy by sending 35¢ plus 5¢ for handling to Monarch Books, Inc., Mail Order Department, Capital Building, Derby, Connecticut. It came plummeting out of the sky—a soundless, streaking, purple glow, moving faster and faster until it ripped at the trees, crashed through them and struck sickeningly against a hill. Momentarily it flared brightly, then went out. It was not long a
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MONARCH BOOKS, INC.
MONARCH BOOKS, INC.
Available at all newsstands and bookstores 35¢ If you are unable to secure this book at your local dealer, you may obtain a copy by sending 35¢ plus 5¢ for handling to Monarch Books, Inc., Mail Order Division, Capital Building, Derby, Connecticut. "You might call it a fight," Elizabeth said, "but they never actually laid a hand on each other." Dr. Carew stared at her in puzzlement as she went on. "They threw every hard thing in the room at each other, without ever touching anything. It was like
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WITCH HOUSE
WITCH HOUSE
A spine-tingling tale of a group of tormented men and women forced to live in a house saturated with evil. On sale at all newsstands and bookstores 35¢ If you are unable to secure this book at your local dealer, you may obtain a copy by sending 35¢ plus 5¢ for handling to Monarch Books, Inc., Mail Order Department, Capital Building, Derby, Connecticut. When Gail Loring chose Bill Drake to be her husband—in name only—for the duration of the flight to Mars, she didn't know that she had just signed
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THE RED PLANET
THE RED PLANET
A tense novel of violence and intrigue—a million miles in space. On sale at all newsstands and bookstores 35¢ If you are unable to secure this book at your local dealer, you may obtain a copy by sending 35¢ plus 5¢ for handling to Monarch Books, Inc., Mail Order Department, Capital Building, Derby, Connecticut. Flying forty-two miles above Kansas, something phenomenal had happened to Test Pilot Fayburn. A space egg had smashed through the cockpit Plexi-glass and then pierced his pressurized suit
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A MONARCH SCIENCE-FICTION CLASSIC
A MONARCH SCIENCE-FICTION CLASSIC
Available at all newsstands and bookstores 35¢ If you are unable to secure this book at your local dealer, you may obtain a copy by sending 35¢ plus 5¢ for handling to Monarch Books, Inc., Mail Order Department, Capital Building, Derby, Connecticut. Ten men walked Earth—ten men in different cities in the United States. Each one was the exact replica of the other—from the tips of his fingers down to the beating of his twin hearts. Where they came from, they were called androids—synthetic men, con
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