COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
The Thedore R. Cogswell Megapack (also published as The Third Eye) is copyright © 1968 by Theodore R. Cogswell. All rights reserved. Cover art copyright © Diversipixel / Fotolia.
Published by arrangement with the Estate of Theodore Cogswell. For more information, contact Wildside Press LLC.
* * * *
“Deconditioned Response” (under the title “No Gun to the Victor”) originally appeared in Imagination, Oct. 1955. Copyright © 1955 by Greenleaf Publishing Company. Copyright renewed 1983 (Renewal # RE0000163159.)
“Mr. Hoskin’s Heel” originally appeared in Fantastic Universe. Copyright 1954 by King-Size Publications, Inc.
“The Cabbage Patch” originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, December 1957. Copyright © 1952 by Fantasy House, Inc. Copyright renewed 1984 (Renewal # RE0000212874.)
“Limiting Factor” originally appeared in Galaxy Science Fiction, Apr. 1954. Copyright © 1954 by Galaxy Publishing Company. Copyright renewed 1982 (renewal # RE0000128787).
“Disassemply Line” originally appeared in Beyond Fantasy Fiction. Copyright © 1954 by Galaxy Publishing Company. Copyright renewed 1982 (renewal # RE0000128787).
“A Spudget for Thwilbert” originally appeared in Fantastic Universe, Apr. 1958. Copyright © 1958 by King-Size Publishing Company. Copyright renewed 1986 (renewal # RE0000281120).
“Training Device” originally appeared in Imagination, March 1955. Copyright © 1955 by 1955 by Greenleaf Publishing Company.
“Impact with the Devil” originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Nov. 1956. Copyright © 1956 Fantasy House, Inc. Copyright renewed 1984 (renewal # RE0000212874).
“Machine Record” (with Walter Tevis) originally appeared in Science Fiction Adventures, No. 20, May 1961. Copyright © 1961 by Nova Publications, Inc.
“One to a Customer” originally appeared in Super Science Fiction, June 1958. Copyright © 1958 by Headline Publications, Inc. Copyright renewed 1986 (renewal # RE0000281120).
“The Man Who Knew Grodnik” originally appeared in Science Fantasy, June 1962. Copyright © 1962 by Nova Publications, Inc.
“Lover Boy” originally appeared in Beyond Fantasy Fiction. Copyright © 1954 by Galaxy Publishing Company. Copyright renewed 1982 (renewal # RE0000128787).
“The Other Cheek” Science Fiction Adventures, May 1953. Copyright © 1953 by Science Fiction Adventures. Copyright renewed 1981 (renewal # RE0000121265).
“Minimum Sentence” originally appeared in Galaxy science fiction, Aug. 1953. Copyright © 1953 by Galaxy Publishing Company. Copyright renewed 1981 (renewal # RE0000121265).
“The Short Count” originally appeared in Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader, Jan. 1953. Copyright © 1953 by Avon Novels, Inc.
“Conventional Ending” originally appeared in Future Science Fiction, Oct. 1954. Copyright © 1954 by Columbia Publications, Inc. Copyright renewed 1982 (renewal # RE0000128787).
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
Theodore Rose Cogswell, (March 10, 1918 – February 3, 1987), was an American science fiction author. His first published story, “The Spectre General” in the magazine Astounding (June 1952), was a humorous tale in which a long-forgotten maintenance brigade of the Imperial Space Marines holds the promise of reinvigorating a declining Galactic empire.
(It’s a short novel and can be found in the same ebook store where you purchased this volume. I cannot recommend it highly enough—if you enjoy classic SF, check it out!)
Cogswell wrote nearly 40 science fiction stories, most in the same lighthearted vein as his first, and was co-author of a novel in the Star Trek franchise. He also published two collections of short stories. (This volume originally appeared as one of them, The Third Eye. I retitled it to fit into the Megapack series.)
Cogswell was also the editor of the long-running “fanzine for pros”, Proceedings of the Institute for Twenty-First Century Studies, a collection of which was published in 1993. In this, writers and editors discussed their and each other’s works.
During the Spanish Civil War, he served as an ambulance driver on the Republican side in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.
I am working with Mr. Cogswell’s daughter to resurrect and republish her father’s classic work. 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!)
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
THE GOLDEN AGE OF SCIENCE FICTION MEGAPACKS
1. Winston K. Marks
2. Mark Clifton
3. Poul Anderson
4. Clifford D. Simak
5. Lester del Rey
6. Charles L. Fontenay
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 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 Meg
apack
The William Hope Hodgson Megapack
The Wizard of Oz Megapack
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 Megapack
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
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 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
NO GUN TO THE VICTOR
CON-SUM-ER (KON-SUM-ER}, n., 1. A person who destroys, uses up, or wastes industrial production in order to control the size of the population and make possible the full employment that is necessary for a healthy economy. 2. One who has not yet achieved producer status. 3. Any person under twenty-one. 4. (Obs.) A person who uses goods or services to satisfy his needs rather than to resell them or to produce other goods with them.—The Authorized Dictionary (New Washington, Kansas: The Federal Printing Office, 3rd ed., 1984)
It was Saturday so Alan had to go out and get the mail. Just as the letter carrier’s tank clanked away, he got his cousin Alf to man the front door turret and went zigzagging down the communication trench that led to the street. As he reached cautiously up to open the small door in the bottom of the armored mail box, there was a sudden crack from across the way and the whine of a near miss sent him tumbling back into the slit trench. A m
oment later there was a coughing stutter as Alf opened up with the fifty and pounded a burst into the tungsten steel shutters of the house across the street. Alan jumped to his feet, dumped the mail out of the box, and then made a quick dive for safety just in case Alf’s fire hadn’t completely discouraged the Higgens kid.
The mail didn’t look particularly exciting. There wasn’t anything for him and aside from a few letters for his uncle, most of what had come consisted of advertisements for sniper-scopes and stuff like that. The only exceptions were two small black boxes. They looked like samples of something, and since, as the only consumer left in the family, samples were Alan’s perquisite, he promptly stuffed them into his worn grenade carrier, and just as promptly forgot about them. Until that evening when the man from Consolidated Munitions stopped by, that is.
Mr. Flugnet was so disturbed that he’d forgotten to take off his white truce hat “We think the promotion crew passed out a batch on this street,” he said as Alan slipped into the room and sat down quietly in the far corner. “But we’re not sure.”
“Why not?” asked Alan’s uncle, a weedy little man with a somewhat nasal voice.
“Because some damn kid dropped a mortar shell on their halftrack while they were on the way back to the warehouse to pick up another load. Got every one of them. Were any samples dropped off here?”
“Alan brought in the mail,” volunteered Alf.
“Was there anything in it that somebody wanted that they didn’t get?” asked Alan in a small voice. They all turned and looked at him, aware of his presence for the first time.
“I’m from Consolidated Munitions,” said Mr. Flugnet.
“Yes, sir?”
“Did you find a small black box in the mail? We’ve been passing out samples of our new concussion grenade and we just discovered today that several…uh…overpowered experimental models had got mixed in with them by mistake. We’re trying to track them down before its…well, before something unfortunate happens.”
Alan was just about to reach into his grenade case and produce the two little cartons when the word “overpowered” registered. He struggled briefly against temptation and lost.
“I dumped all the advertising stuff on the hall table.” He felt suddenly that his grenade case had become transparent and that the little black boxes inside, now grown to quadruple size, were visible to everybody in the room. He knew it couldn’t be, but even so he let his hand drop casually over the carrier just in case there might be a revealing bulge. “I’ll go check.”
Once the door was safely shut behind him, he took the two boxes out, opened them, and examined their contents. There was a little metallic globe in each, but one had a roughly soldered seam that made it look like a hand production job. He gave a little whistle of excitement and stowed it away carefully in his pocket. If he was going to make it through the game with North, he was going to need super power. After replacing the other grenade in his box and putting it back in his carrier, he squatted down on his haunches and listened at the keyhole. He wanted to find out something more about his new weapon.