
On the harsh world of Saaar, endless plains of cracked green are scarred by the ruins of forgotten cities and haunted by massive, green‑crested saurians that move like a living tide. Besan Wur, an Earthman altered to survive among the native Garros, hides in a secret colony where survival depends on a strange, foul odor that repels the beasts. The planet’s landscape is a maze of metal‑clad tunnels and towering hills, offering the only chance of escape from the relentless herd.
When a sudden surge of denars breaches the protective mesh, Besan and his companion Nard Rost race through a gigantic tube, their massive wheeled carriage careening toward a thin line of trees that might shield them. The crew’s only defense is the Garro scent that fills the cabin, a chemical barrier that the monsters cannot tolerate. As the thundering mass closes in, the desperate dash through the tunnel becomes a frantic fight for a fleeting moment of safety among the forest’s edge.
Language
en
Duration
~35 minutes (33K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2021-01-20
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
1912–2003
A lively pulp-era storyteller, this American author moved easily between science fiction, fantasy, westerns, and detective fiction. His tales first appeared in magazines in 1940, and he became especially associated with adventurous stories for classic genre pulps like Planet Stories.
View all books