Dwellers of the Deep / Gather in the Hall of the Planets - Paperback

by Barry N. Malzberg (Author)

DWELLERS OF THE DEEP

Izzinius Fox is a particularly avid collector of Tremendous Science Fiction magazine. He is also in regular contact with the Rhelm, who repeatedly zap him instantaneously up to their ship and try to convince him to part with a highly collectible edition of Tremendous, the May 1950 issue to be exact. This issue has a non-fiction article by Cupboard called "Engineering and Science of the Mind" and the aliens need it. But Fox is a stubborn man. He knows that as reasonable as the Arch-Leader is, the aliens' ultimate plan is to take over mankind, and he simply won't be a party to that. Can a science fiction collector really save mankind? Well, maybe...

GATHER IN THE HALL OF THE PLANETS

The aliens have disguised one of themselves and will be at the world science fiction convention in New York. All Kvass has to do to prevent the destruction of mankind is locate the alien-who will look just like someone he knows-and shout "Unmask!" And humanity will be saved. Kvass, a science fiction writer currently suffering writer's block, feel like he's encountered this plot before. But he figures, "If a group of aliens comes into your room in the strange hours of the night and talks to you about large issues seriously, it makes sense to deal with them on their own terms." Which is precisely what he does.