The Ninth Science Fiction Megapack Read online

  Contents

  COPYRIGHT INFO

  A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

  THE MEGAPACK SERIES

  INTERVIEW: DAN SIMMONS, conducted by Darrell Schweitzer

  THE SPIRES OF DENON, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

  OVER THE TOP, by Lester del Rey

  AIN’T NOTHIN’ BUT A HOUND DOG, by Brenda W. Clough

  FOR I AM A JEALOUS PEOPLE! by Lester del Rey

  LUVVER, by Mack Reynolds

  FROG LEVEL, by Bud Webster

  CAPTAINS CONSPIRING AT THEIR MUTINIES, by Jay Lake

  SHIFTING SEAS, by Stanley G. Weinbaum

  THROUGH TIME AND SPACE WITH FERDINAND FEGHOOT: 8, by Grendel Briarton

  ROCK GARDEN, by Kevin O’Donnell, Jr.

  THE GENOA PASSAGE, by George Zebrowski

  EIGHT O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING, by Ray Faraday Nelson

  WHEN THEY COME FROM SPACE, by Mark Clifton

  THE SEALED SKY, by Cynthia Ward

  METEOR STRIKE! by Donald E. Westlake

  WAITING FOR THE COIN TO DROP, by Dean Wesley Smith

  BEYOND THE DARKNESS, by S. J. Byrne

  THE SMALLEST GOD, by Lester del Rey

  THE SCIENCE FICTION ALPHABET, by Allen Glasser

  CANAL, by Carl Jacobi

  THE LOCH MOOSE MONSTER, by Janet Kagan

  MY FAIR PLANET, by Evelyn E. Smith

  BEFORE EDEN, by Arthur C. Clarke

  SEQUENCE, by Carl Jacobi

  PREFERRED RISK, by Frederik Pohl and Lester del Rey

  INTEVIEW: FREDERIK POHL, conducted by Darrell Schweitzer

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  COPYRIGHT INFO

  The Ninth Science Fiction Megapack is copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC. All rights reserved. For more information, contact the publisher.

  * * * *

  Special thanks to Steven H. Silver for help scanning the Lester del Rey stories and to Michael Willis for proofreading.

  * * * *

  “Interview: Dan Simmons,” conducted by Darrell Schweitzer, originally appeared (in partial format) in Science Fiction Review #9, April 1992, and (partial) in Cemetery Dance #13, 1992. It appearsed complete for the first time in Speaking of the Fantastic. Copyright © 2002 by Darrell Schweitzer. Reprinted by permission of Darrell Schweitzer.

  “The Spires of Denon,” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, originally appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, April/May 2009. Copyright © 2009 by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Over the Top,” by Lester del Rey, originally appeared in Astounding, November 1949. Copyright © 1949 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc. Copyright renewed in 1977 by Conde Nast Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the author’s estate.

  “Ain’t Nothin’ but a Hound Dog,” by Brenda W. Clough, originally appeared in Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone Magazine, June 1988. Copyright © 1988 by B. W. Clough. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “For I Am a Jealous People!” by Lester del Rey, originally appeared in Star Short Novels. Copyright © 1952 by Lester del Rey. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.

  “Luvver,” by Mack Reynolds, originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, June 1950. Copyright © 1950 by Mack Reynolds. This version, edited by John Betancourt, is copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC. Published by permission of the Estate of Mack Reynolds.

  “Captains Conspiring at Their Mutinies, by Jay Lake, originally appeared, as “To Raise a Mutiny Betwixt Yourselves” in The New Space Opera 2. Copyright © 2009 by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Shifting Seas,” by Stanley G. Weinbaum, originally appeared in Amazing Stories, April 1937. No record of copyright renewal.

  “Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot: 8,” by Grendel Briarton, is taken from The Collected Feghoot. Copyright © 1992 by Reginald Bretnor. Reprinted by permission of the author’s estate.

  “Rock Garden,” by Kevin O’Donnell, Jr., originally appeared in Omni magazine, July 1986. Copyright © 1986 by Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. Reprinted by permission of the author’s estate.

  “The Genoa Passage,” by George Zebrowski, originally appeared in Interzone, January-February 1913. Copyright © 2013 by George Zebrowski. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Smallest God,” by Lester del Rey, originally appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, January 1940. Copyright © 1940 by Street & Smith publications; copyright renewed (renewal #R400175) by Conde Nast Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the author’s estate.

  “Eight O’clock in the Morning,” by Ray Faraday Nelson, originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November 1963. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “When They Come from Space,” by Mark Clifton, originally appeared in 1962. Copyright © 1962 by Mark Clifton. No record of copyright renewal found.

  “The Sealed Sky,” by Cynthia Ward, originally appeared in The Age of Wonders. Copyright © 2000 by Cynthia Ward. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Meteor Strike!” by Donald E. Westlake, originally appeared in Amazing Stories, November 1961. Copyright ©1961 by Ziff-David Publishing Co. No record of copyright renewal found.

  “Waiting for the Coin to Drop,” by Dean Wesley Smith, originally appeared in Fiction River: Timestreams. Copyright © 2013 by Dean Wesley Smith. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Beyond the Darkness,” by S. J. Byrne, originally appeared in Other Worlds #12, June-July 1951.

  “The Science Fiction Alphabet,” by Allen Glasser, originally appeared in The Fantasy Fan, Sept. and Oct. 1933.

  “The Loch Moose Monster,” by Janet Kagan, originally appeared in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, March 1989.

  “My Fair Planet,” by Evelyn E. Smith, originally appeared in Galaxy magazine, March 1958.

  Preferred Risk, by Frederik Pohl and Lester del Rey, originally appeared as a 4-part serial in Galaxy magazine, June through September, 1955. Copyright © 1955 by Galaxy Publishing Corporation. Reprinted by permission of the Estate of Lester del Rey.

  “Interview: Frederik Pohl,” conducted by Darrell Schweitzer, originally appeared in Science Fiction Chronicle #210, March 2001. Copyright © 2001 by DNA Publications. Reprinted by permission of Darrell Schweitzer.

  A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

  Welcome to The Ninth Science Fiction Megapack #9! When we started, I never dreamed we would make it this far—and the Megapack series now extends well beyond science fiction, into Mystery, Horror, Westerns, Young Adult, and many other genres.

  This volume has been especially fun to work on. I have been a sucker for generation-ship stories since reading Robert A. Heinlein’s Orphans of the Sky as a teenager, and I’m pleased to include one here: S.J. Byrne’s “Beyond the Darkness”—a hefty novella at 30,000 words. But that’s not the longest story—Kris Rush also has a 30,000-word tale. And included is the magazine version of Frederik Pohl and Lester del Rey’s novel, Preferred Risk, which easily tops both!

  Darrell Schweitzer provides two more interviews this time: Fred Pohl and Dan Simmons.

  *

  On a sadder note, I must mention the passing of one of our authors: Jay Lake died June 1, 2014 from cancer. He was a great writer and an even better guy, and we will all miss him. We still have several of his short stories in inventory, and I am including one in this volume.

  Wildside Press continues to add the estates of old-time authors to our stable. We now own the copyrights to all works by Lester del Rey, Mack Reynolds, H
.B. Fyfe, Carl Jacobi, Arthur Leo Zagat, Reginald Bretnor, Janet Fox, George H. Scithers, and several others. Horace B. Fyfe (1918-1997) left behind about 50 unpublished short stories (!) and a lot of poems, which we have yet to read and catalog. (Long-time SF readers may recall his “Bureau of Slick Tricks” series from Astounding in the 1940s and 1950s.) And we have recently picked up Everil Worrell’s unpublished fantasy and science fiction stories—she published quite a few short stories in Weird Tales during its original run. Lots of fun stuff! Keep watching for new Wildside Press Megapacks.

  —John Betancourt

  Publisher, Wildside Press LLC

  www.wildsidepress.com

  ABOUT THE MEGAPACKS

  Over the last few years, our “Megapack” series of ebook anthologies has proved to be one of our most popular endeavors. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, “Who’s the editor?”

  The Megapacks (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt, Mary Wickizer Burgess, Sam Cooper, Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Bonner Menking, Colin Azariah-Kribbs, Robert Reginald. A. E. Warren, and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!).

  A NOTE FOR KINDLE READERS

  The Kindle versions of our Megapacks employ active tables of contents for easy navigation…please look for one before writing reviews on Amazon that complain about the lack! (They are sometimes at the ends of ebooks, depending on your reader.)

  RECOMMEND A FAVORITE STORY?

  Do you know a great classic science fiction story, or have a favorite author whom you believe is perfect for the Megapack series? We’d love your suggestions! You can post them on our message board at http://movies.ning.com/forum (there is an area for Wildside Press comments).

  Note: we only consider stories that have already been professionally published. This is not a market for new works.

  TYPOS

  Unfortunately, as hard as we try, a few typos do slip through. We update our ebooks periodically, so make sure you have the current version (or download a fresh copy if it’s been sitting in your ebook reader for months.) It may have already been updated.

  If you spot a new typo, please let us know. We’ll fix it for everyone. You can email the publisher at [email protected] or use the message boards above.

  THE MEGAPACK SERIES

  MYSTERY

  The First Mystery Megapack

  The Second Mystery Megapack

  The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

  The Bulldog Drummond Megapack*

  The Carolyn Wells Mystery Megapack

  The Charlie Chan Megapack*

  The Craig Kennedy Scientific Detective Megapack

  The Detective Megapack

  The Father Brown Megapack

  The Girl Detective Megapack

  The Second Girl Detective Megapack

  The First R. Austin Freeman Megapack

  The Second R. Austin Freeman Megapack*

  The Third R. Austin Freeman Megapack*

  The Jacques Futrelle Megapack

  The Anna Katharine Green Mystery Megapack

  The Penny Parker Megapack

  The Philo Vance Megapack*

  The Pulp Fiction Megapack

  The Raffles Megapack

  The Red Finger Pulp Mystery Megapack, by Arthur Leo Zagat*

  The Sherlock Holmes Megapack

  The Victorian Mystery Megapack

  The Wilkie Collins Megapack

  GENERAL INTEREST

  The Adventure Megapack

  The Baseball Megapack

  The Cat Story Megapack

  The Second Cat Story Megapack

  The Third Cat Story Megapack

  The Third Cat Story Megapack

  The Christmas Megapack

  The Second Christmas Megapack

  The Classic American Short Stories Megapack, Vol. 1.

  The Classic Humor Megapack

  The Dog Story Megapack

  The Doll Story Megapack

  The Horse Story Megapack

  The Military Megapack

  The Pirate Story Megapack

  The Sea-Story Megapack

  THE GOLDEN AGE OF SCIENCE FICTION MEGAPACKS

  1. Winston K. Marks

  2. Mark Clifton

  3. Poul Anderson

  4. Clifford D. Simak

  5. Lester del Rey

  6. Charles L. Fontenay

  7. H.B. Fyfe

  8. Milton Lesser (Stephen Marlowe)

  SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

  The First Science Fiction Megapack

  The Second Science Fiction Megapack

  The Third Science Fiction Megapack

  The Fourth Science Fiction Megapack

  The Fifth Science Fiction Megapack

  The Sixth Science Fiction Megapack

  The Seventh Science Fiction Megapack

  The Eighth Science Fiction Megapack

  The Ninth Science Fiction Megapack

  The Edward Bellamy Megapack

  The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack

  The Fredric Brown Megapack

  The First Theodore Cogswell Megapack

  The Ray Cummings Megapack

  The Philip K. Dick Megapack

  The Dragon Megapack

  The Randall Garrett Megapack

  The Second Randall Garrett Megapack

  The Edmond Hamilton Megapack

  The C.J. Henderson Megapack

  The Murray Leinster Megapack

  The Second Murray Leinster Megapack

  The Jack London Science Fiction Megapack

  The Martian Megapack

  The A. Merritt Megapack*

  The E. Nesbit Megapack

  The Andre Norton Megapack

  The H. Beam Piper Megapack

  The Pulp Fiction Megapack

  The Mack Reynolds Megapack

  The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack

  The Science-Fantasy Megapack

  The Robert Sheckley Megapack

  The Space Opera Megapack

  The Steampunk Megapack

  The Time Travel Megapack

  The Second Time Travel Megapack

  The William Hope Hodgson Megapack

  The First Willam P. McGivern Science Fiction Megapack

  The Second Willam P. McGivern Science Fiction Megapack

  The Willam P. McGivern Fantasy Megapack

  The Wizard of Oz Megapack

  HORROR

  The Horror Megapack

  The Second Horror Megapack

  The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

  The Second Achmed Abdullah Megapack

  The E.F. Benson Megapack

  The Second E.F. Benson Megapack

  The Algernon Blackwood Megapack

  The Second Algernon Blackwood Megapack

  The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack

  The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack

  The Ghost Story Megapack

  The Second Ghost Story Megapack

  The Third Ghost Story Megapack

  The Haunts & Horrors Megapack

  The Lon Williams Weird Western Megapack

  The M.R. James Megapack

  The Macabre Megapack

  The Second Macabre Megapack

  The Third Macabre Megapack

  The Arthur Machen Megapack**

  The Mummy Megapack

  The Occult Detective Megapack

  The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack

  The Vampire Megapack

  The Weird Fiction Megapack

  The Werewolf Megapack

  The William Hope Hodgson Megapack

  WESTERNS

  The Western Megapack

  The Second Western Megapack

  The Third Western Megapack

  The B.M. Bower Megapack

  The Max Brand Megapack

  The Buffalo Bill Megapack

  The Cowboy Megapack

  The Zane G
rey Megapack

  The Lon Williams Weird Western Megapack

  YOUNG ADULT

  The Bobbsey Twins Megapack

  The Boys’ Adventure Megapack

  The Dan Carter, Cub Scout Megapack

  The Dare Boys Megapack

  The Doll Story Megapack

  The G.A. Henty Megapack

  The Girl Detectives Megapack

  The E. Nesbit Megapack

  The Penny Parker Megapack

  The Pinocchio Megapack

  The Rover Boys Megapack

  The Second Carolyn Wells Megapack

  The Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Megapack

  The Tom Swift Megapack

  The Wizard of Oz Megapack

  AUTHOR MEGAPACKS

  The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

  The H. Bedford-Jones Pulp Fiction Megapack

  The Edward Bellamy Megapack

  The E.F. Benson Megapack

  The Second E.F. Benson Megapack

  The Henri Bergson Megapack

  The Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Megapack

  The Algernon Blackwood Megapack

  The Second Algernon Blackwood Megapack

  The B.M. Bower Megapack

  The Max Brand Megapack

  The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack

  The Fredric Brown Megapack

  The Second Fredric Brown Megapack

  The Wilkie Collins Megapack

  The Stephen Crane Megapack

  The Ray Cummings Megapack

  The Guy de Maupassant Megapack

  The Philip K. Dick Megapack

  The Frederick Douglass Megapack

  The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack

  The F. Scott Fitzgerald Megapack

  The First R. Austin Freeman Megapack

  The Second R. Austin Freeman Megapack*

  The Third R. Austin Freeman Megapack*

  The Jacques Futrelle Megapack

  The Randall Garrett Megapack

  The Second Randall Garrett Megapack

  The Anna Katharine Green Megapack

  The Zane Grey Megapack

  The Edmond Hamilton Megapack

  The Dashiell Hammett Megapack

  The C.J. Henderson Megapack

  The M.R. James Megapack

  The Selma Lagerlof Megapack

  The Harold Lamb Megapack

  The Murray Leinster Megapack***

  The Second Murray Leinster Megapack***

  The Jonas Lie Megapack

  The Arthur Machen Megapack**

  The Katherine Mansfield Megapack

  The George Barr McCutcheon Megapack

  The William P. McGivern Fantasy Megapack