Alan E. Nourse

The Secretary of State has died and Tom Shandor discovers that the Secretary requested that he put together his official biography for national consumption. Shandor has no idea why he's been chosen for the project, nor what shocking secrets he'll find once he starts the project. There's more riding on the choices he will make than he could possibly have imagined.

When Roger Strang found that someone was killing his son—killing him horribly and often—he started investigating. He wasn't prepared for the results, nor was he prepared for the results of another investigation—this one about his own life.

(Note: The following excerpts from Amy BAlantine's journal have never actually been written down at any time before. Her account of impressions and events has been kept in organized fashion in her mind for at least nine years (even she is not certain when she started), but it must be understood that certain inaccuracies in transcription could not possibly have been avoided in the excerpting attempted here. The Editor.)

What was the mystery of this great ship from the dark, deep reaches of space? For, within its death-filled chambers was the avenue of life! Will the crew bring the ship home, or perhaps use it to free mankind?

In the jungle the vicious man-killer is king, but what chance would a tiger have in the Times Square traffic? Alan E. Nourse was a prolific golden age science fiction author.

Four men set out to prove their mettle by crossing the bright side of Mercury when it is closest to the sun. A feat which no one has ever done and survived. The odds are against them and they will need all of their expertise and courage if they are to succeed. Even that might not be enough.

An indestructible alien had found its way aboard the hospital ship. Their orders were simple: destroy it. But how do you destroy an indestructible being? And even if you can figure out how, should you?

It was nearly sundown when Ravdin eased the ship down into the last slow arc toward the Earth's surface. Stretching his arms and legs, he tried to relax and ease the tension in his tired muscles. Carefully, he tightened the seat belt for landing; below him he could see the vast, tangled expanse of Jungle-land spreading out to the horizon. Miles ahead was the bright circle of the landing field and the sparkling glow of the city beyond. Ravdin peered to the north of the city, hoping to catch...

All Flicker wanted was a chance to make the aliens understand. All the aliens wanted was a chance to kill him while they could. But there were things about Flicker that they hadn't counted on…

Welcome to the future, an impossible future where by some miracle the workers have managed to get a majority of the stock and are calling the shots. This, of course, leads to the management being placed into subservient roles and the corporations going bankrupt. So what's a poor management team supposed to do when their employees are their bosses?

Explore a Venus that never was. This is Venus as science fiction imagined it, as it might have been. Explore the hot, humid, muddy planet and meet the aliens that populate it.

Tam returns home to Earth after years of working in space. But Tam is a Sharkie, and on Earth Sharkies need not apply. Refused service in restaurants and other establishments, and unable to find employment, he takes the only desperate measure he can to survive.

He was just dozing off when the fat lady up the aisle let out a scream. A huge reptilian head had materialized out of nowhere and was hanging in air, peering about uncertainly. A scaly green body followed, four feet away, complete with long razor talons, heavy hind legs, and a whiplash tail with a needle at the end. For a moment the creature floated upside down, legs thrashing. Then the head and body joined, executed a horizontal pirouette, and settled gently to the floor like an eight-foot...

Zeckler was a con-man, a human con-man. But he had no idea what he was up against when he decided to try to outwit the Altairians, an alien race that believes telling the truth is a weakness. Really he never had a chance.

It was nearly winter when the ship arrived. Pete Farnam never knew if the timing had been planned that way or not. It might have been coincidence that it came just when the colony was predicting its first real bumper crop of all time. When it was all over, Pete, Mario and the rest tried to figure it out, but none of them ever knew for sure just what had happened back on Earth, or when it had actually happened. There was too little information to go on, and practically none that they could trust....

It was a proud day when Dr. Chauncey Patrick Coffin announced that he had discovered a cure for the common cold. But in the end, would the cure be worse than the affliction?

Being two men rolled out of one would solve my problems—but which one would I be?