The Mercurian

By Dirk Wylie

For ages Mankind labelled Mercury a dead world—a red-hot, seething outpost of hell. Too late Rawley learned of the hideous life that molten, steaming planet spawned!

Frank Belknap Long was best known for his horror and science fiction short stories, including early contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos. He received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement, and the First Fandom Hall of Fame Award (1977).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wilder Publications, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781515446804

Book preview

The Mercurian

by Frank Belknap Long

©2020 Positronic Publishing

The Mercurian is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, locales or institutions is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission except for brief quotations for review purposes only.

E-book ISBN 13: 978-1-5154-4680-4

The Mercurian

For ages Mankind labelled Mercury a dead world—a red-hot, seething outpost of hell. Too late Rawley learned of the hideous life that molten,

steaming planet spawned!

We stood before the airlock, the old man and I, and watched them go out. Ellison was a granite man and I was just the lad who threw the switches.

I was new at it. They had sent me out with a pat on the back and a commission, but I didn’t feel like a Mercury run officer. Mining uranium on the Sun’s firstling was no job for a green kid of twenty-two. Outside were lakes of molten zinc and a temperature of 790 degrees Fahr.

No part of that temperature seeped into us, but just knowing it was out