Astounding Stories #9

In "Prisoner in the Atom," a scientist desperate to escape the chaos of the world invents a shrinking formula, only to discover that at the atomic level, the same conflicts and struggles he fled still persist—trapped not just in scale, but in the same relentless cycle.

Greg and Laura Armstrong, a husband-and-wife team of anthropologists exploring a cave in Java, stumble through a hidden passage into a primeval world where they encounter a wounded prehistoric creature named Marok. When the couple chooses compassion over fear and tends to his injuries, they set in motion a series of harrowing encounters with ancient beasts that will test whether their act of kindness was wisdom or folly. What unfolds is a thrilling adventure that challenges everything they believed about the nature of their brutal ancestors.

Bill Weston is the bookkeeper nobody respects—a timid, bullied pushover at Ajax Rockets, Inc., until a chance moment at a press conference accidentally sends him hurtling alone into deep space aboard an untested rocket bound for the unexplored planet Lomara. Stranded and seemingly doomed, Bill must find the courage within himself to survive the unknown dangers that await him on an alien world.

Ed Lambert's financial desperation drives him into a moral abyss when he discovers a fortune hidden in an abandoned swamp house—money that's not his to take. As greed, guilt, and the relentless pursuit of those who want the cash close in on him, Ed finds himself tangled in a nightmare of his own making, hunted through treacherous terrain with no way out. "Experience in a Swamp" is a cautionary tale about how a single moment of weakness can unravel an entire life.

In 14th-century England, a mysterious healer named Meniades saves countless plague victims with his miraculous treatments—until envious physicians brand him a sorcerer and turn the mob against him. Centuries later, during the French Revolution, the same strange figure reappears in Paris, once again risking everything to rescue the innocent from bloodshed and terror. "On Wings of Fire" by Ace Aquila and Tom Hickey traces the legend of a man who seems to transcend time itself, defying those who would silence him.

Frank Lockhart, a ruthless fortune hunter, discovers a legendary hidden city rumored to hold fabulous wealth—but finds himself trapped in a realm where invisible forces control every move, from the gates that spring open beneath his feet to the unseen hands that guide him through streets of gold. As greed drives him deeper into the mystery, Lockhart realizes the city's true nature may be far more sinister than any material treasure.

A skeptical government operative arrives in Gila Gulch, Texas to investigate an illegal smuggling operation along the Rio Grande—but the locals keep warning him about the ghosts of Marshal Dan Pierce and his deputies, lawmen who died decades ago. When Jerome discovers a possible secret route through the mountains that patrols have somehow missed, he begins to wonder if the old stories about the town's supernatural guardians might have more truth to them than he bargained for. Armed with old maps and mounting evidence, Jerome is about to learn that some cases require believing in more than just facts.