When freemen shall stand

An ominous veil has fallen over the world: the alien forces from Venus have seized the planet, turning once‑familiar cities into shadows of their former selves. In the ruins of America, the carved faces of Mt. Rushmore inexplicably awaken as symbols of defiance, their stony gazes promising a spark of resistance for the battered human race. The story opens in a cramped, humming laboratory where two men—Stephen Duane, a quick‑tempered chemist, and his steady assistant Chuck Lafferty—are on the brink of testing a mysterious gas they hope could shift the war’s balance. Their tense banter masks the urgency of a secret project that might finally turn the tide against the occupying forces.

When a guard bursts in with an urgent warning of a mock gas drill, the room’s fragile calm shatters. An unexpected intruder, the cold‑faced spy Eric von Rath, forces a deadly game of bluff and bravery, demanding the volatile vial that could decide millions of lives. As Duane and Chuck weigh their options under the threat of a rifle barrel, the fate of their experiment—and perhaps the world—hangs on a single, trembling breath.