
In a shattered post‑war America where daily life blends neon juke‑box culture with the lingering haze of atomic fallout, the story follows Jorj Helmuth, a senior scientist at the secretive Thinkers’ Foundation. He awakens each day in a high‑tech bedroom, his mind honed by “somno‑thought” techniques that let him solve equations and devise strategies while half‑asleep. Amid sterile corridors, polished titanium doors, and mutant oaks lining Decontamination Avenue, Helmholtz contends with a world that feels both familiar and eerily altered.
Helmuth receives a cryptic message about a new project that could shape humanity’s destiny among the stars. As he prepares to mobilize his “Rocket Physicist” persona, he wrestles with unsettling questions about morality in a society that has lost its compass. The opening sets a vivid, unsettling stage—mixing sleek futurism with the lingering scars of nuclear conflict—inviting listeners to explore a future where scientific ambition collides with the fragile remnants of human conscience.
Language
en
Duration
~59 minutes (56K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2016-02-08
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1910–1992
A master of fantasy, horror, and science fiction, this Chicago-born writer helped shape modern sword-and-sorcery while bringing wit, intelligence, and a touch of the eerie to almost everything he wrote. His stories still feel lively and inventive, whether they follow daring adventurers or explore stranger corners of the mind.
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