Super Science Stories, Vol. 5, No. 2

Super Science Stories, April 1949 This issue features two complete novels. "Death Quotient" by John D. MacDonald concerns Second Lieutenant Martin Rhode, stationed in an underground cave during an ongoing three-year planetary war. After atomic destruction devastated industrial centers and killing millions, the conflict has settled into static trench-like operations. Rhode oversees convoy loading of small arms ammunition and plans a brief visit with Alice, stationed at a hospital, before returning before daylight. The backdrop involves competing nuclear powers—an invader holding beachheads in New England, Brazil, and Southeast Asia—locked in a grinding stalemate where decentralization of facilities and underground networks have rendered atomic weapons impractical compared to guided missiles and conventional combat. The second novel is "The Earth Killers" by A. E. van Vogt, featuring a character named Morlake confronting Earth's "most terrible destroyer" and becoming branded a traitor through absorbed knowledge. Also included are two novelettes: "Remember?" by Wilfred Owen Morley and Jacques De Forest Erman, concerning destiny and racial survival, and "Son of the Stars" by F. Orlin Tremaine, featuring a mysterious Door opening onto a valley constituting an entire universe. Short stories include Ray Bradbury's "I, Mars," "All Our Yesterdays" by John Wade Farrell, "Darkside Destiny" by James MacCreigh, and "Delusion Drive" by Peter Reed.