COPYRIGHT INFO
The Second Mack Reynolds Megapack is copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.
* * * *
Author’s Introductions originally published in The Best of Mack Reynolds. Copyright © 1976 by Mack Reynolds.
“Come In, Spaceport” originally appeared in Go: Reading in the Content Areas. Copyright © 1974 by Scholastic Magazine.
“Compounded Interest” originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Aug 1956. Copyright © 1956 by Mack Reynolds. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.
“The Business, As Usual” originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, June 1952. Copyright © 1952 by Mercury Press. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.
“Good Indian” originally appeared in Analog, Sept 1962. Copyright © 1962 by Conde Nast Publications. Copyright renewed 1990 by Mack Reynolds. Renewal B00000987665. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.
“No Return from Elba” originally appeared in Fantastic Stories, September-October 1953. Copyright © 1953 by Mack Reynolds. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.
“Pacifist” originally appeared in The Magazine of fantasy & science fiction, Jan. 1964. Copyright © 1964 by Mercury Press.
“Earthlings Go Home!” originally appeared in Rogue, August 1962. Copyright © 1962 by Mack Reynolds. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.
“Albatross” originally appeared in Imagination, April 1955. Copyright © 1955 by Mack Reynolds. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.
“The Enemy Within” originally appeared in Analog, April 1967. Copyright © 1967 by Conde Nast Publications.
“Survivor” originally appeared in Analog, July 1966. Copyright © 1966 by Conde Nast Publications.
“Fad” originally appeared in Analog, April 1965. Copyright © 1965 by Conde Nast Publications.
“Spaceman on a Spree” originally appeared in Worlds of Tomorrow, June 1963. Copyright © 1963 by Mack Reynolds. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.
“The Adventure of the Extraterrestrial” originally appeared in Analog, July 1965. Copyright © 1965 by Conde Nast Publications.
“Utopian” originally appeared in The Year 2000. Copyright © 1970 by Mack Reynolds.
“Prone” originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, September 1954. Copyright © 1954 by Mercury Press. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.
“Down the River” originally appeared in Startling Stories, September 1950. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.
“Second Advent” originally appeared in Worlds of If, May-June 1974. Copyright © 1974 by UPD Publishing Corp.
“Romp” originally appeared in Analog, Oct 1966. Copyright © 1966 by Conde Nast Publications.
“Fido” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, May 1950. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.
“Isolationist” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, April 1950. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.
“Not in the Rules” originally appeared in Imagination, April 1951. Copyright © 1951 by Mack Reynolds. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.
“Romp” originally appeared in Analog, October 1966. Copyright © 1966 by Conde Nast Publications.
“Fido” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, May 1950. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.
“Not in the Rules” originally appeared in Imagination, April 1951. Edited version copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press LLC.
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
Welcome to The Second Mack Reynolds Megapack, continuing our Mack Reynolds reprint program. When Wildside Press purchased Mack Reynolds’ literary estate from his son, Emil, in 2013, we were far more familiar with his novels than his short stories. That’s undoubtedly because many of those short stories have been undeservedly locked away in dusty old magazines for generations. In fact, as far as we can tell, only one collection of Mack’s shorter works was published in his lifetime—The Best of Mack Reynolds, in 1976 (Pocket Books). [And decidedly not to be confused with another, unauthorized collection of random public domain short stories published under the same title many years later and which we are trying to get renamed to avoid confusion among readers.)
Anyway, the Pocket Books edition was the source for most of this volume. I have kept Mack’s original introductions, too, which I think add a lot to the stories. I removed several fantasy stories as well as stories which appeared in our first Mack Reynolds Megapack to avoid duplication and to focus this volume more on science fiction. (Don’t worry, those fantasy stories will appear in other Megapacks. Wildside Press wastes no stories!)
And if after reading the first two Mack Reynolds Megapacks and want still more after reading The Mack Reynolds Megapack and The Second Mack Reynolds Megapack, I refer you to the latest issue of my fanzine, Adventure Tales #7, which is a Special Mack Reynolds issue and contains 6 more stories plus 2 essays by Mack (plus work by a lot of other great pulp writers). It should be in the same ebook store where you purchased this volume.
Enjoy!
—John Betancourt
Publisher, Wildside Press LLC
www.wildsidepress.com
ABOUT THE MEGAPACKS
Over the last few years, our “Megapack” series of ebook anthologies has grown to be among our most popular endeavors. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, “Who’s the editor?”
The Megapacks (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt (me), Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Bonner Menking, Colin Azariah-Kribbs, A.E. Warren, and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!)
A NOTE FOR KINDLE READERS
The Kindle versions of our Megapacks employ active tables of contents for easy navigation…please look for one before writing reviews on Amazon that complain about the lack! (They are sometimes at the ends of ebooks, depending on your reader.)
RECOMMEND A FAVORITE STORY?
Do you know a great classic science fiction story, or have a favorite author whom you believe is perfect for the Megapack series? We’d love your suggestions! You can post them on our message board at http://movies.ning.com/forum (there is an area for Wildside Press comments).
Note: we only consider stories that have already been professionally published. This is not a market for new works.
TYPOS
Unfortunately, as hard as we try, a few typos do slip through. We update our ebooks periodically, so make sure you have the current version (or download a fresh copy if it’s been sitting in your ebook reader for months.) It may have already been updated.
If you spot a new typo, please let us know. We’ll fix it for everyone. You can email the publisher at wildsidepress@yahoo.com or use the message boards above.
THE MEGAPACK SERIES
MYSTERY
The Achmed Abdullah Megapack
The Bulldog Drummond Megapack*
The Charlie Chan Megapack*
The Craig Kennedy Scientific Detective Megapack
The Detective Megapack
The Father Brown Megapack
The Girl Detective Megapack
The Second Girl Detective Megapack
The First R. Austin Freeman Megapack
The Second R. Austin Freeman Megapack*
The Third R. Austin Freeman Megapack*
The Jacques Futrelle Meg
apack
The Anna Katharine Green Mystery Megapack
The First Mystery Megapack
The Second Mystery Megapack
The Penny Parker Megapack
The Philo Vance Megapack*
The Pulp Fiction Megapack
The Raffles Megapack
The Sherlock Holmes Megapack
The Victorian Mystery Megapack
The Wilkie Collins Megapack
GENERAL INTEREST
The Adventure Megapack
The Baseball Megapack
The Cat Story Megapack
The Second Cat Story Megapack
The Third Cat Story Megapack
The Third Cat Story Megapack
The Christmas Megapack
The Second Christmas Megapack
The Classic American Short Stories Megapack, Vol. 1.
The Classic Humor Megapack
The Dog Story Megapack
The Doll Story Megapack
The Horse Story Megapack
The Military Megapack
The Pirate Story Megapack
The Sea-Story Megapack
THE GOLDEN AGE OF SCIENCE FICTION MEGAPACKS
1. Winston K. Marks
2. Mark Clifton
3. Poul Anderson
4. Clifford D. Simak
SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
The Edward Bellamy Megapack
The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack
The Fredric Brown Megapack
The Ray Cummings Megapack
The Philip K. Dick Megapack
The Dragon Megapack
The Randall Garrett Megapack
The Second Randall Garrett Megapack
The Edmond Hamilton Megapack
The C.J. Henderson Megapack
The Murray Leinster Megapack
The Second Murray Leinster Megapack
The Jack London Science Fiction Megapack
The Martian Megapack
The A. Merritt Megapack*
The E. Nesbit Megapack
The Andre Norton Megapack
The H. Beam Piper Megapack
The Pulp Fiction Megapack
The Mack Reynolds Megapack
The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack
The Science-Fantasy Megapack
The First Science Fiction Megapack
The Second Science Fiction Megapack
The Third Science Fiction Megapack
The Fourth Science Fiction Megapack
The Fifth Science Fiction Megapack
The Sixth Science Fiction Megapack
The Seventh Science Fiction Megapack
The Eighth Science Fiction Megapack
The Robert Sheckley Megapack
The Space Opera Megapack
The Steampunk Megapack
The Time Travel Megapack
The William Hope Hodgson Megapack
The Wizard of Oz Megapack
HORROR
The Achmed Abdullah Megapack
The Second Achmed Abdullah Megapack
The E.F. Benson Megapack
The Second E.F. Benson Megapack
The Algernon Blackwood Megapack
The Second Algernon Blackwood Megapack
The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack
The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack
The Ghost Story Megapack
The Second Ghost Story Megapack
The Third Ghost Story Megapack
The Haunts & Horrors Megapack
The Horror Megapack
The Lon Williams Weird Western Megapack
The M.R. James Megapack
The Macabre Megapack
The Second Macabre Megapack
The Third Macabre Megapack
The Arthur Machen Megapack**
The Mummy Megapack
The Occult Detective Megapack
The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack
The Vampire Megapack
The Weird Fiction Megapack
The Werewolf Megapack
The William Hope Hodgson Megapack
WESTERNS
The B.M. Bower Megapack
The Max Brand Megapack
The Buffalo Bill Megapack
The Cowboy Megapack
The Zane Grey Megapack
The Lon Williams Weird Western Megapack
The Western Megapack
The Second Western Megapack
YOUNG ADULT
The Boys’ Adventure Megapack
The Dan Carter, Cub Scout Megapack
The Dare Boys Megapack
The Doll Story Megapack
The G.A. Henty Megapack
The Girl Detectives Megapack
The E. Nesbit Megapack
The Penny Parker Megapack
The Pinocchio Megapack
The Rover Boys Megapack
The Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Megapack
The Tom Swift Megapack
The Wizard of Oz Megapack
AUTHOR MEGAPACKS
The Achmed Abdullah Megapack
The H. Bedford-Jones Pulp Fiction Megapack
The Edward Bellamy Megapack
The B.M. Bower Megapack
The E.F. Benson Megapack
The Second E.F. Benson Megapack
The Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Megapack
The Algernon Blackwood Megapack
The Second Algernon Blackwood Megapack
The Max Brand Megapack
The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack
The Fredric Brown Megapack
The Second Fredric Brown Megapack
The Wilkie Collins Megapack
The Stephen Crane Megapack
The Ray Cummings Megapack
The Guy de Maupassant Megapack
The Philip K. Dick Megapack
The Frederick Douglass Megapack
The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack
The F. Scott Fitzgerald Megapack
The First R. Austin Freeman Megapack
The Second R. Austin Freeman Megapack*
The Third R. Austin Freeman Megapack*
The Jacques Futrelle Megapack
The Randall Garrett Megapack
The Second Randall Garrett Megapack
The Anna Katharine Green Megapack
The Zane Grey Megapack
The Edmond Hamilton Megapack
The Dashiell Hammett Megapack
The C.J. Henderson Megapack
The M.R. James Megapack
The Selma Lagerlof Megapack
The Harold Lamb Megapack
The Murray Leinster Megapack***
The Second Murray Leinster Megapack***
The Jonas Lie Megapack
The Arthur Machen Megapack**
The Katherine Mansfield Megapack
The George Barr McCutcheon Megapack
The A. Merritt Megapack*
The Talbot Mundy Megapack
The E. Nesbit Megapack
The Andre Norton Megapack
The H. Beam Piper Megapack
The Mack Reynolds Megapack
The Rafael Sabatini Megapack
The Saki Megapack
The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack
The Robert Sheckley Megapack
The Bram Stoker Megapack
The Lon Williams Weird Western Megapack
The Virginia Woolf Megapack
The William Hope Hodgson Megapack
* Not available in the United States
** Not available in the European Union
***Out of print.
OTHER COLLECTIONS YOU MAY ENJOY
The Great Book of Wonder, by Lord Dunsany (it should have been called “The Lord Dunsany Megapack”)
The Wildside Book of Fantasy
The Wildside Book of Science Fiction
Yondering: The First Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories
To the Stars—And Beyond! The Second Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories
Once Upon a Future: The Third Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories
Whodunit?—The First Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories
More Whodunits—The Second Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories
X is for Xmas: Christmas Mysteries
COME IN, SPACEPORT
AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION
This is a type of story undreamed of a quarter of a century ago. It’s a juvenile and written on order for a child’s textbook, GO: Reading in the Content Areas, edited by Harold L. Herber of Syracuse University. Heavens to Betsy, who would have thought that science fiction would one day be turning up in children’s textbooks? When I was a lad, we fans used to have to hide our magazines from our parents.
—Mack Reynolds
* * * *
Bruce Camaroon was on duty as repeat man for the monitoring computers when the first call came through. There was precious little to do. He just had to be there, in case something did come up. This job was going to go down the drain one of these days; the computers didn’t really need him. He could have handled the duties, home in bed. All he’d have to do was have an alarm, so they could rouse him up, if anything developed.
Radio technician Dick MaGruder was sitting across the desk from him, chewing the rag, and Jill Farnsworth, the secretary, who was just about as useful as Bruce was, was on the other side of the control room, using her voco-typer. She was probably doing personal letters.
One of the computers had evidently picked up something out of the way. His screen clicked.
A rather high-pitched voice said: ‘‘Emergency, emergency. Please come in. This is Jimmy… uh, James Barry. In Lifeboat 2, of Spaceship Promised Land. There are two of us. My sister and me. She’s hurt. We’re all that’s left. They… they’re all dead. Our parents… and everybody. Jane’s burnt bad. Please have an ambulance at the spaceport. Please put me in contact with a doctor, right away. I have to ask him what to do.”
Bruce Camaroon’s eyes were bugging. “The Promised Land! It blew! There were no survivors!”
MaGruder snarled, “Shut up, listen!”
The voice went on. “I smeared all the ointments in the medicine chest on her and bandaged her all up. My father is… my father was, a doctor. I also stuck one, uh, Syrette of, I think, a sedative into her. It said on the tube, Pseudo-Morphine. I don’t know if I should give her any more or not. She’s asleep. She’s not very big. Ten years old. I don’t know if she should have been given a full Syrette or not. Or maybe she even needs another one. She’s burnt pretty bad, all over, almost.”
He took a deep, tear-choked breath, and went on. “Anyway, I’m following the space lifeboat instruction book as good as I can. I think I’m doing all right. I think we’re heading for the Northern Hemisphere. The book says there are four spaceports there. So I’m calling New Denver Spaceport. Calling New Denver Spaceport, for landing instructions. Please come in, New Denver Spaceport. Uh, over and out.”