
Part 1
In a sprawling interplanetary system on the brink of annihilation, an alien armada from Andromeda threatens to overwhelm the outer defenses. With Pluto already evacuating and the last hope resting on a mysterious explosive called trionite, the Solar Bureau of Investigation scrambles for a desperate solution. Chief Brian Wargan dispatches his sharp‑witted assistant, Roger Kay, to a remote mining settlement on Ganymede, where a reclusive scientist may hold the key.
Arriving at the dome‑shaped laboratory, Kay meets Ann North, the scientist’s determined daughter, and learns that her father’s frantic work hides a secret buried deep within his own mind. With only half an hour to extract it, Kay must balance rapid scientific improvisation against the ticking clock of an imminent strike. The race against time, the looming alien threat, and the fragile hope of a single breakthrough set the stage for a pulse‑quickening race to save an entire civilization.
Language
en
Duration
~20 minutes (19K 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
2020-11-10
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1908–1999
Best remembered as a longtime literary agent in Milwaukee, he also wrote brisk, imaginative pulp fiction, including science fiction stories that still find readers today. Born in Austria and later settled in the United States, he moved between the worlds of writing and publishing with ease.
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