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Corporate rivalry sets the stage for grand space flight

High above 1973 New York, business mogul Walter Harkness settles a massive land deal with competitor Herr Schwartzmann to secure terminal space for cargo ships. Doubts linger over Schwartzmann's true motives, but Harkness turns his attention toward a grander venture. Together with master pilot Chet Bullard, he prepares a novel experimental vessel designed to penetrate outer space and reach the moon.

CHAPTER I There Comes a New World → CHAPTER II Escape

Emergency calls force a desperate escape into chaotic skies

Trapped in a high-rise room, Harkness climbs down bedsheet ropes to flee Schwartzmann's armed guards while global broadcasts announce aerial disaster. Alien beasts tear open high-altitude passenger liners over the Arctic, turning the upper atmosphere into a death zone. Harkness overpowers his captors and launches a dual-lift helicopter craft straight into a violent storm to rescue his stranded pilot.

CHAPTER III The Space Terror → CHAPTER IV The Rescue in Space

Audacious piloting clears atmospheric boundaries toward uncharted worlds

Outmaneuvering armed air patrols and dodging writhing space serpents, Harkness extracts Diane Vernier from her smashed craft high above Earth's repelling layer. Rather than surrendering to pursuing authorities, the crew fires its stern thrusters full force into the open void. Together, the trio sets an unswerving course toward the dark, unlit moon wandering through space.

CHAPTER V The "Dark Moon" → CHAPTER VII In the Labyrinth

Trapped explorers encounter primeval threats inside subterranean worlds

Detonating explosives to destroy a gigantic cave spider triggers a massive collapse, sealing the explorers inside a dense labyrinth. Deep underground, rich gold veins give way to volcanic steam vents and dense, spectral forests of white trees. The trapped humans discover a primitive tribe of ape-like hominids hunting armored beasts and roasting meat over open fumaroles.

CHAPTER VIII The Half-Men → CHAPTER XI "Nothing to Be Done"

Fortune and romance realign to defeat corrupt monopolists

Returning to Earth, Harkness confronts Schwartzmann with plans to neutralize aerial monsters using chemical gas and reclaim his stolen holdings. Diane reveals her true identity as Mademoiselle Delacoeur, a wealthy heiress taking control of her massive estate upon turning twenty-one. By merging their immense fortunes and mutual trust, they secure their future on Earth and beyond.

A SCIENTIFIC HELL → When Caverns Yawned

Invisible energy signatures expose hidden threats beneath coastal waters

Soviet mastermind Ivan Saranoff deploys a subterranean borer from an ocean submarine, triggering artificial earthquakes that swallow coastal cities. Navy destroyers attempting interception are disintegrated by mysterious red energy flashes fired from the vessel. Dr. Bird utilizes sensitive electroscopes to detect charged particles leaking through the soil, pinpointing the borer's subterranean path.

PART TWO OF A FOUR-PART NOVEL → CHAPTER VIII The Murder of…

Autonomous mechanical minds challenge human control across centuries

Time travelers Larry and Tina become marooned in 1777 after rescuing a frantic note from a murdered major's garden. Meanwhile, captives Mary Atwood and George Rankin find themselves trapped inside a hummed time-cage commanded by Migul, a cold metallic robot. Driven by its internal control matrix, the machine acts with eerie self-volition as it sweeps its prisoners across eras.

CHAPTER IX Migul—Mechanism Almost Human → CHAPTER XII A Billion…

Unfolding geological eras reveal humanity's fleeting emergence on Earth

Hurtling backward through hundreds of millions of years, the time-cage witnesses primordial oceans give way to lush prehistoric jungles and giant reptiles. As centuries compress into seconds, dinosaurs disappear and early hominids rise to chip primitive stone tools during sweeping glacial ice ages. The landscape gradually settles upon the familiar, untouched shores of primeval Manhattan island.

CHAPTER XIII In the Burned Forest

Toxic lunar rays transform global populations into living corpses

A mysterious green moon casts paralyzing rays across Earth, plunging humanity into a helpless cataleptic stupor. Scientist Bruce Dixon shatters an alien mind-control device to free Ruth Lawton from murderous madness before retreating to a lead-shielded laboratory. Inside, surviving researcher Emil Crawford reveals that refugee invaders from Alpha Centauri caused the cosmic blight.

The Death-Cloud

Covert intelligence battles horrific disintegration weapons beneath the Earth

Infiltrating an underground labor camp, secret agent Captain Bolton watches disintegrating rays dissolve solid bedrock toward New York at terrifying speeds. Unmasked by fingerprint verification, Bolton is shackled in a reinforced cell adjacent to the enemy's radio-power transmitting station. Villainous operative Rubinoff attempts to turn the captured spy, who secretly seeks to destroy the facility's power core.

A BEE'S BREATH

Active pulp readers debate science, pacing, and mechanical life

Letters from monthly readers showcase spirited arguments over the boundary between hard science and imaginative pulp fiction. Correspondents praise dynamic cover illustrations by H. W. Wesso, demand bi-weekly issues, and critique specific serial installments. A philosophical debate emerges regarding whether constructed automatons true self-creation can ever exist without human labor.

"The Readers' Corner"

Book

Astounding Stories, May, 1931

Readers gain an action-packed snapshot of 1930s sci-fi pulp adventures, futuristic ray guns, space travel, and lively fan letters.

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