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The 18th Golden Age of Science Fiction MEGAPACK ™: Jerome Bixby Read online




  Table of Contents

  COPYRIGHT INFO

  A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

  The MEGAPACK™ Ebook Series

  THE HOLES AROUND MARS

  THE CROWDED COLONY

  WHERE THERE'S HOPE

  ZEN

  THE SLIZZERS

  THE DRAW

  UNDERESTIMATION

  CARGO TO CALLISTO

  THE BAD LIFE

  IT'S A GOOD LIFE

  COPYRIGHT INFO

  The Jerome Bixby MEGAPACK™ is copyright © 2015 by Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

  * * * *

  The MINIPACK™ and MEGAPACK™ ebook series names are trademarks of Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

  A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

  Jerome Bixby (1923 - 1998) was an American short story writer, editor, and scriptwriter, best known for his work in science fiction. He also wrote many westerns and used the pseudonyms Jay Lewis Bixby, D. B. Lewis, Harry Neal, Albert Russell, J. Russell, M. St. Vivant, Thornecliff Herrick and Alger Rome (for one collaboration with Algis Budrys). He is most famous for the 1953 story “It’s a Good Life” which was the basis for a 1961 episode of The Twilight Zone and which was included in Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983). He also wrote four episodes for the Star Trek series: “Mirror, Mirror,” “Day of the Dove,” “Requiem for Methuselah,” and “By Any Other Name.” With Otto Klement, he co-wrote the story upon which the classic sci-fi movie Fantastic Voyage (1966), television series, and novel by Isaac Asimov were based (as well the third episode of the The Magic Schoolbus, ‘Inside Relphie’). Bixby’s final work was the screenplay for the 2007 cult sci-fi film The Man From Earth.

  Enjoy!

  —John Betancourt

  Publisher, Wildside Press LLC

  www.wildsidepress.com

  ABOUT THE SERIES

  Over the last few years, our MEGAPACK™ ebook series has grown to be our most popular endeavor. (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 MEGAPACK™ ebook series (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt (me), Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Shawn Garrett, Helen McGee, 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!)

  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™ ebook 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 [email protected] or use the message boards above.

  The MEGAPACK™ Ebook Series

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  The E. Hoffmann Price Spicy Story MEGAPACK™

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  The Raffles MEGAPACK™

  The Red Finger Pulp Mystery MEGAPACK™, by Arthur Leo Zagat*

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  The Richard Hannay Spy MEGAPACK™*, by John Buchan

  The Roy J. Snell Mystery MEGAPACK™

  The Sherlock Holmes MEGAPACK™

  The Singer Batts Mystery MEGAPACK™: The Complete Series, by Thomas B. Deweyy

  The Suspense Novel MEGAPACK™

  The Talmage Powell Crime MEGAPACK™

  The Second Talmage Powell Crime MEGAPACK™

  The Thubway Tham Mystery MEGAPACK™

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  The Second Victorian Mystery MEGAPACK™

  The Victorian Rogues MEGAPACK™

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  GENERAL INTEREST

  The Adventure MEGAPACK™

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  The Baseball MEGAPACK™

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  The Second Christmas MEGAPACK™

  The Charles Dickens Christmas MEGAPACK™

  The Classic American Short Stories MEGAPACK™, Vol. 1.

  The Classic Humor MEGAPACK™

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  The Thanksgiving MEGAPACK™

  The Utopia MEGAPACK™

  The Walt Whitman MEGAPACK™

  THE GOLDEN AGE OF PULP FICTION

  1. George Allan England

  THE GOLDEN AGE OF SCIENCE FICTION

  1. Winston K. Marks

  2. Mark Clifton

  3. Poul Anderson

  4. Clifford D. Simak

  5. Lester del Rey (vol. 1)

  6. Charles L. Fontenay

  7. H.B. Fyfe (vol. 1)


  8. Milton Lesser (Stephen Marlowe)

  9. Dave Dryfoos

  10. Carl Jacobi

  11. F.L. Wallace

  12. David H. Keller, M.D.

  13. Lester del Rey (vol. 2)

  14. Charles De Vet

  15. H.B. Fyfe (vol. 2)

  16. William C. Gault

  17. Alan E. Nourse

  18. Jerome Bixby

  19. Charles De Vet (Vo. 2)

  20. Evelyn E. Smith

  21. Richard Wilson

  22. H. B. Fyfe (vol. 3)

  THE GOLDEN AGE OF WEIRD FICTION

  1. Henry S. Whitehead

  2. George T. Wetzel

  3. Emil Petaja

  4. Nictzin Dyalhis

  5. David H. Keller

  6. Clark Ashton Smith

  SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

  The First Science Fiction MEGAPACK™

  The Second Science Fiction MEGAPACK™

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  The Ninth Science Fiction MEGAPACK™

  The 10th Science Fiction MEGAPACK™

  The A. Merritt MEGAPACK™*

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  The Charles Dickens Christmas MEGAPACK™

  The Darrell Schweitzer MEGAPACK™

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  The Edward Bellamy MEGAPACK™

  The First Reginald Bretnor MEGAPACK™

  The First Theodore Cogswell MEGAPACK™

  The Fred M. White Disaster MEGAPACK™

  The Fredric Brown MEGAPACK™

  The H. Beam Piper MEGAPACK™

  The Jack London Science Fiction MEGAPACK™

  The Lloyd Biggle, Jr. MEGAPACK™

  The Lost Worlds MEGAPACK™

  The Mack Reynolds MEGAPACK™

  The Mad Scientist MEGAPACK™

  The Martian MEGAPACK™

  The Milton A. Rothman Science Fiction MEGAPACK™

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  The Second Murray Leinster MEGAPACK™***

  The Philip K. Dick MEGAPACK™

  The Second Philip K. Dick MEGAPACK™

  The Plague, Pestilence, & Apocalypse MEGAPACK™

  The Pulp Fiction MEGAPACK™

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  The Second Randall Garrett MEGAPACK™

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  The Robert Sheckley MEGAPACK™

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  The Space Opera MEGAPACK™

  The Space Patrol MEGAPACK™, by Eando Binder

  The Second Space Patrol MEGAPACK™, by Eando Binder

  The Steampunk MEGAPACK™

  The Stephen Vincent Benét MEGAPACK™

  The Time Travel MEGAPACK™

  The Second Time Travel MEGAPACK™

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  The Utopia MEGAPACK™

  The Willam P. McGivern Fantasy MEGAPACK™

  The First Willam P. McGivern Science Fiction MEGAPACK™

  The Second Willam P. McGivern Science Fiction MEGAPACK™

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  The Zanthodon MEGAPACK™, by Lin Carter

  HORROR

  The 2014 Halloween Horrors MEGAPACK™

  The Horror MEGAPACK™

  The Second Horror MEGAPACK™

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  The Cthulhu Mythos MEGAPACK™

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  The Ghost Story MEGAPACK™

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  The Second Macabre MEGAPACK™

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  The Arthur Machen MEGAPACK™**

  The Monster MEGAPACK™

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  The Occult Detective MEGAPACK™

  The Penny Dreadfuls MEGAPACK™

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  The Uncanny Stories MEGAPACK™**

  The Vampire MEGAPACK™

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  The Weird Fiction MEGAPACK™

  The Werewolf MEGAPACK™

  The William Hope Hodgson MEGAPACK™

  WESTERN

  The Andy Adams Western MEGAPACK™

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  The Max Brand MEGAPACK™

  The Buffalo Bill MEGAPACK™

  The Burt Arthur Western MEGAPACK™

  The Cowboy MEGAPACK™

  The Zane Grey MEGAPACK™

  The George W. Ogden Western MEGAPACK™

  The Charles Alden Seltzer MEGAPACK™

  The Western MEGAPACK™

  The Second Western MEGAPACK™

  The Third Western MEGAPACK™

  The Western Novel MEGAPACK™

  The Second Western Novel MEGAPACK™

  The Third Western Novel MEGAPACK™

  The Fourth Western Novel MEGAPACK™

  The Fifth Western Novel MEGAPACK™

  The Western Romance MEGAPACK™

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  YOUNG ADULT

  The Bobbsey Twins MEGAPACK™

  The Boy Scouts MEGAPACK™

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  The Young Adult Award-Winners MEGAPACK™

  SINGLE-AUTHOR

  The A. Merritt MEGAPACK™*

  The A.R. Morlan MEGAPACK™

>   The Achmed Abdullah MEGAPACK™

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  The Arthur Conan Doyle MEGAPACK™: Beyond Sherlock Holmes

  The Arthur Leo Zagat Science Fiction MEGAPACK™

  The Arthur Machen MEGAPACK™**

  The B.M. Bower MEGAPACK™

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  The Charles Dickens Christmas MEGAPACK™

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  The E. Hoffmann Price Spicy Story MEGAPACK™

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  The Second E.F. Benson MEGAPACK™

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  The Erckmann-Chatrian MEGAPACK™

  The F. Scott Fitzgerald MEGAPACK™

  The First R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK™

  The First Reginald Bretnor MEGAPACK™

  The First William P. McGivern Science Fiction MEGAPACK™

  The Fred M. White Disaster MEGAPACK™

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  The Second Fredric Brown MEGAPACK™

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  The H. Beam Piper MEGAPACK™

  The H. Bedford-Jones Pulp Fiction MEGAPACK™

  The Harold Lamb MEGAPACK™

  The Henri Bergson MEGAPACK™

  The Jacques Futrelle MEGAPACK™

  The Johnston McCulley Mystery MEGAPACK™

  The Jonas Lie MEGAPACK™

  The Katherine Mansfield MEGAPACK™

  The Lloyd Biggle, Jr. MEGAPACK™

  The Lon Williams Weird Western MEGAPACK™

  The M.R. James MEGAPACK™

  The Mack Reynolds MEGAPACK™

  The Mary Fortune Mystery & Suspense MEGAPACK™

  The Max Brand MEGAPACK™

  The Murray Leinster MEGAPACK™***

  The Second Murray Leinster MEGAPACK™***

  The Philip K. Dick MEGAPACK™