Showing results by author "H Beam Piper" in All Categories

Sci Fi Shorts is a collection of classic science fiction stories from the golden age of space stories. This group of five unabridged short stories by various authors covers such adventures as space-going disasters, culture-shocked Martians, minds being stolen, alien flying cities and ancient artefacts being discovered in the far future.

In this story a galactic empire of thousands of planets has been at peace for hundreds of years. Production all across the empire is regulated to keep markets and economies stable. With this kind of system in place, why is there suddenly a plot to overthrow the current emperor, and who is behind it?

The Edge of the Knife, by H Beam Piper is one of the pivotal not felt was by Piper in his "Terra-Human Future History". Piper wrote this novella in 1957 at the height of the Cold War between the Soviet Union, and the United States of America, and seeing into the future could get you locked up in the sanitarium for dissolution all thinking. The protagonist, Charmers, a modern history professor has just such a problem.

"There are incredible things still undiscovered; most of the important installations were built in duplicate as a precaution against space attack. I know where all of them are. But I could find nothing, not one single word, about any giant strategic planning computer called Merlin!" Nevertheless the leading men of the planet didn't believe him. They couldn't - the search for Merlin had become an abiding worldwide obsession. Merlin meant everything to them: power, pleasures and profits unlimited.

In this volume of the short story series, we present five more exciting classic science fiction tales. World wide pandemics, missing battleships, super scientists, spies, and the settling of a new world. The stories are: 'A Question of Courage' by J. F. Bone, 'Genesis' by H. Beam Piper, 'Pandemic' by J. F. Bone, 'The Mercenaries' by H. Beam Piper, and 'The Misplaced Battleship' by Harry Harrison.

Dr. Martha Dane is the linguist in an archeological expedition of an ancient Martian city. She is dedicated to the monumental task of understanding the meaning of the wall writings, despite the discouragement of the other team members. With nothing solid to refer to, finding a "key" is paramount to the success of her mission. When the team uncovers an ancient university building, they discover more than just a Martian Rosetta stone.

Benson is the leader of the secretive military unit Benson's Butchers, and is leading the group behind enemy lines. Having planted the explosives and destroyed the ammunition dump, his team disperses and attempts to get back to the United Nations lines and safety. When a strange blue mist envelopes Benson it's the start of a strange adventure that will change his life for ever.

Poictesme is known as the junkyard planet. A poor, sparse population ekes out a meager existence by scavenging the remains of abandoned military bases left behind after the last interstellar war. Young Conn Maxwell returns from school on Terra with the news that Merlin, a military super-computer, may be among the spoils, which they think might be their ticket out of poverty. But is Merlin just a myth? And if they find it, will it make them rich, or tear them apart?

Henry Beam Piper was an American science fiction author who wrote many classic short stories and several novels during the "Golden Age" of science fiction in the USA. In this story, a soldier of the future, wounded badly in battle during World War III, loses consciousness. When he opens his eyes again he findsthat he is back in his boyhood past but with all the memories of his adult life intact!

There has always been strong sympathy for the poor, meek, downtrodden slave - the kindly little man, oppressed by cruel and overbearing masters. Could it possibly have been misplaced? A classic science fiction novelette by H. Beam Piper, first published in Analog Science Fact-Science Fiction in 1962.

In this volume of the series of short science fiction stories we discover assassins, the dangers of centralisation, escapes through time, evolving AI’s and the depths of reality. The stories in this collection were written by J. F. Bone, H Beam Piper, Fritz Leiber and Fitz-James O’Brien.

H. Beam Piper's "Time Crime" is part of his series of alternate history stories which concern the Paratime Police, a law enforcement outfit from a parallel world which has learned how to move between timelines. They jealously guard the secret, even as they mine other worlds for their resources. Notably, it appears that humans are in fact Martian refugees who escaped a calamity on their home planet and migrated to Earth!

In the far future the ruler of the world is losing as the rebels fight their way into his palace. He retreats upwards to the room where his newly developed time machine sits waiting. His plan is to jump back in time to recruit an unstoppable army which he’ll use to take back the entire world. Of course, plans don’t always come off without a hitch.

In this volume of the series of short science fiction stories we discover robot lawmen, psionic aliens, evil scientists and alien super weapons. The stories are: 'Arm of the Law' by Harry Harrison, 'Graveyard of Dreams' by H Beam Piper, 'Survival Type' by JF Bone, 'The Black Lamp' by SP Meek, 'The Bluff of the Hawk' by Anthony Gilmore and 'Third Planet' by Murray Leinster.

Verkan Vall and behind him the entire Paratime Police organisation work to keep the other time lines safe from contamination while at the same time allowing resources to be extracted back to the home time line. One of the time lines has a problem: a Venusian Nighthound has been taken back by someone who should have known better, to a time line in the 1940s. Worse, it's escaped to cause havoc amongst the farm stock. Verkan Vall has to drop onto that line and eliminate this terrible beast before its discovery corrupts the time line.

FNH Audio present an unabridged reading of The Keeper. Raud is the Keeper, the holder of a sacred duty that has passed to him down through the generations since the sky was filled with starships. When men from a distant planet come to visit Raud, his life changes forever, and his duty calls him to take up his rifle and hunt his fellow man.

A wounded soldier is transported back in time to the days of his childhood. Based on a story by H. Beam Piper, this episode of Dimension X originally aired on July 12, 1951.

"Naudsonce" is a science fiction classic about the first contact between humans and non-humans. Here, it's not really violence or weapons that will decide things - its communication, plain and not so simple! The work is written by H. Beam Piper, published in 1962.

The planet Fenris has an extremely slow rotation rate, causing days and nights lasting 1000 hours each! This makes its population live underground but for sunrise and sunset. The story unfolds around a conflict between corrupt local politicians and the equivalent of earthly whale hunters. A robust and action-packed sci-fi tale by H. Beam Piper, published in 1961.

X Minus One premiered in April 1955 on NBC and ran until January 1958. Like its predecessor series, Dimension X, X Minus One featured stories by the greatest names in modern science fiction: Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Clifford Simak, Robert Bloch, and many more.