In the near-future the Earth is a well-controlled Utopia. Edward Wehling was a young 56 years in a time when the average age was one hundred and twenty-nine. Now he is waiting for his wife to give birth to triplets. The catch is that for everyone that is born, someone must volunteer to die.

Two youth have caged two strange creatures in the barn. While they scheme about joining the circus with their new “animals”, their fathers are waiting for two otherworldly travelers with whom they plan a trade deal for precious elements. The alien merchants are late and when the fathers learn the youth have been feeding some animals in the barn, they put two and tow together. They run towards the barn…

Two youth have caged two strange creatures in the barn. While they scheme about joining the circus with their new “animals”, their fathers are waiting for two otherworldly travelers with whom they plan a trade deal for precious elements. The alien merchants are late and when the fathers learn the youth have been feeding some animals in the barn, they put two and tow together. They run towards the barn…

Retief, The Consul for the Terrestrial States finds himself newly appointed to Groac. His determination to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the formation of the new Graocan government gets him into trouble. Will he find out what happened to the Terran prisoners. What happened to the missing spaceship? His ways are unorthodox.Will it be enough to help him get the answers?

Science fiction classic character Retief is back in this sci fi short story by Keith Laumer. Retief is caught in the middle of competing mining claims on the planet 95739-A. He wants to side with the underdog.

One minute Herrell McCray was on the spaceship circling Betelgeuse Nine and the next he was in darkness and utter silence. McCray had no idea where he was to how he got there. To Hatcher, he was a specimen from Earth.

Yan left. Everything changed and with no money, no status and severed from her family, Marigold was at the mercy of the state. She filled out a form for protection and one for availability. She felt like a slave posting for an auction. She was Abandoned.

"Rig ship for the snowbank orbit! Snowbank orbit with stinger! Mr. Grunfeld, raise the fleet."Grunfiled saw two viridian flares flashing with a bright green ring like a mist halo. "Ambush," he said. "At least two cruisers."They were approaching Uranus with the faint hope there were survivors from the First Uranus Expedition. What will they find if they can get past the Enemy?

The Kali and Grimnal had been fighting on Aqua for years. Captain John Ward, God Helper, is tasked with helping the Kali fight, but they are tired of his orders to wait. They want to fight and question why he is holding them back.

Science fiction classic character Retief is back in this sci fi short story by Keith Laumer. Retief is caught in the middle of competing mining claims on the planet 95739-A. He wants to side with the underdog.

They called it “the basketball” because of it’s shape. It was a sort of mechanical embryo and men entered to test their limits.Normal human beings can take a couple of hours of it usually. They like it. Every human being to some extent likes to return to the womb. But after a couple of hours most human beings start going to pieces, short-circuiting. Except Barton...

They called it “the basketball” because of it’s shape. It was a sort of mechanical embryo and men entered to test their limits.Normal human beings can take a couple of hours of it usually. They like it. Every human being to some extent likes to return to the womb. But after a couple of hours most human beings start going to pieces, short-circuiting. Except Barton...