Science Fiction Adventures, August 1957

Science Fiction Adventures, August 1957 This issue contains three complete science fiction novels by established genre writers. "This World Must Die!" by Ivor Jorgenson presents a military scenario where Earth's Central computer predicts that Lurion, in the Betelgeuse system with three billion inhabitants, will attack and destroy Earth in sixty-seven years. Security Chief Karnes assigns Gardner to lead a five-person team tasked with destroying Lurion preemptively. Gardner struggles with the moral implications—whether to trust the computer's prediction and commit genocide in advance. The narrative follows Gardner's arrival on Lurion as a jewel merchant, carrying a sonic generator disguised as a testing device, the first of five coordinated weapons needed to destroy the planet. Also featured: "Alien Night" by Thomas N. Scortia, involving Kenneth Huber facing imminent death who encounters alien spacecraft, and "Forbidden Cargo" by Harlan Ellison, concerning cargo pilot Fargo Jeffers transporting war casualties back to Earth. The issue includes editor's and readers' columns, illustrated by Bowman, Emsh, and Engle.