Search Worlds Without End

The Centran Empire was both benevolent and complacent. Benevolent, even as it overwhelmed every new inhabited planet it encountered with its military might--but once the planet was pacified, its inhabitants were uplifted to Centran standards of living and the benefits of membership in the Empire. Complacent, because the Empire had long been expanding without encountering more than minor obstacles. And then they came across Pandora's Planet, that is, Earth....

In spite of the Centran superiority in technology, the conquest of Earth took over three months, when the invaders were used to wrapping things up in less than two weeks. But "conquest" might be too optimistic a term to use, since the locals were still waging guerrilla warfare and sabotage, and the Centrans were hanging on by their equivalent of fingernails. And then the Centran scientists tested a group of humans and found that the humans were more intelligent than the Centrans.

One Centran leader had an idea that might save the Centrans from being ignominiously kicked off the planet again. Since the humans were good at war, why not put together teams of humans to go out to the fringes of Centran space and handle planets that were proving difficult The teams performed magnificently--but back in the heart of the Empire, humans and their weird new ideas were spreading like wildfire, and if something weren't done soon, the humans would end up running the former Centran Empire....

Contents

• Pandora's Planet
• Able Hunter
• Pandora's Envoy
• Pandora's Unlocked Box
• The Toughest Opponent
• Contagious Earthitis
• Trap
• Pandora's Galaxy
• Sweet Reason
• Afterword (Pandora's Legions) - essay by Eric Flint

The day the machines stopped began in an ordinary way. There was little warning of the impending disaster.

Suddenly, all electrical energy was destroyed on the earth. Planes, cars, rockets, machinery of all kinds became useless.

By week's end, total chaos enveloped the world as the wheels of civilization ground to a halt. Then ruthless leaders began to emerge, seeking a way to gain control of the almost helpless population.

Only a handful of scientists remained to fight the inexplicable phenomenon--until they were captured and forced to use their knowledge to help the ruthless power combine take the world back to the Dark Ages.

Two hundred years previously, the USA and the Soviet Union had bombarded each other with nuclear weapons. In addition, the USA had created another weapon in orbit that is still active.

Humans on the space frontiers may have enough problems with befuddled bureaucrats, rules that don't fit the realities of very dangerous situations, and general rear-echelon incompetence without bringing in unfriendly aliens, but it's that kind of universe. On the other hand, as master satirist Christopher Anvil makes clear, the aliens are anything but omnipotent and have plenty of problems of their own.

Here for the first time the stories and short novels of the war with the Outs are collected into a novel-length chronicle. The Outs had mental powers they could use to make humans see illusions and convince them to change sides. Obviously, they were unbeatable-until some troublesome humans found their Achille's heel.

Contents:

• The Prisoner - [The War with the Outs - 1] - (1956) - novelette
• Seller's Market - [The War with the Outs - 2] - (1958) - short story
• Top Rung - [The War with the Outs - 3] - (1958) - short story
• Symbols - [The War with the Outs - 4] - (1966) - short story
• Foghead - [The War with the Outs - 5] - (1958) - novelette
• The Ghost Fleet - [The War with the Outs - 6] - (1961) - short story
• Cargo for Colony 6 - [The War with the Outs - 7] - (1958) - novelette
• Achilles's Heel - [The War with the Outs - 8] - (2006) - short story (variant of Achilles' Heel 1958)
• Of Enemies and Allies - [The War with the Outs - 9] - (2006) - novelette
• The Kindly Invasion - (1966) - short story
• Mission of Ignorance - (1968) - short story
• Brains Isn't Everything - (1976) - short story
• The Captive Djinn - (1965) - short story
• The Uninvited Guest - (1967) - short story
• Sabotage - (1966) - novelette
• Mind Partner - (1960) - novelette
• A Question of Identity - (1995) - novelette
• Advance Agent - [Dan Redman] - (1957) - novelette

Humans - there's no understanding them,

And no dealing with them either. Or even their planet. Pity the poor aliens, whose shape-changing ability should let them take over the planet Earth before the humans even know they're there-if it weren't for all that omnipresent pollution.

Or consider another set of invaders, from a planet where the weather is always mild and the changing of the seasons is hardly noticeable. They land in force and their weapons are more powerful than those of the primitive humans-but they've never before had to deal with below-zero temperatures, flash floods or tornados-not to mention volcanoes.

Then there were the aliens who noticed how belligerent humans were, and gave them the "gift" of TV-like devices which would show anything anywhere on Earth, which was sure to lead to war. Imagine how surprised the aliens were when the humans took the gadgets apart, improved them, and started spying on everything the aliens were up to, all over the galaxy. Humans don't make sense, they don't fight fair, and they're making aliens throughout interstellar space think seriously about pulling up stakes and moving to another galaxy!

Contents:

• We from Arcturus - (1964) - short story
• The Underhandler - (1990) - novelette
• Duel to the Death - (1965) - novelette
• Shotgun Wedding - (1960) - short story
• The Law Breakers - (1959) - novelette
• Compensation - (1957) - short story
• Merry Christmas from Outer Space - (1964) - novelette
• The Plateau - (1965) - novella
• Captive Leaven - (1959) - short story
• Sinful City - (1957) - short story
• Behind the Sandrat Hoax - (1968) - novelette
• Nerves - (1958) - short story
• The Gentle Earth - (1957) - novella

A few good con men...

The starship crew was stuck on a planet where the well-meaning schemes of ivory tower social engineers had created a nightmare of battling gangs. So they pretended to be the "Royal Legions" from a distant star kingdom in hot pursuit of an unspeakably evil and nearly all-powerful villain who was hiding somewhere on the planet.

Things went even better than they had hoped, and the planet was rapidly becoming civilized... and then the real Royal Flagship showed up. They thought they were doomed, but instead the new arrivals (who also weren't quite what they claimed to be) thought the crew had shown just the sort of initiative and ingenuity that the Interstellar Patrol was looking for. So they were inducted into the Patrol.

And that was just the beginning...

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by David Weber
• Editor's Preface - essay by Eric Flint
• Strangers to Paradise (1966) - novelette
• The Dukes of Desire (1967) - novelette
• The King's Legions (1967) - novelette
• A Question of Attitude (1967) - short story
• The Royal Road (1968) - novella
• The Nitrocellulose Doormat (1969) - novelette
• Basic (1969) - short story
• Test Ultimate (1969) - short story
• Compound Interest (1967) - short story
• Experts In the Field (1967) - short story
• The Hunch (1961) - short story
• Star Tiger (1960) - novelette
• Revolt! (1958) - novelette
• Stranglehold (1966) - short story
• Afterword - essay by Eric Flint

Vaughan Roberts and his two companions had been trapped on a crime-ridden, chaotic planet until they bamboozled the population with a gigantic hoax - which brought them to the attention of the Interstellar Patrol, who were looking for a few good con men, capable of ingenious improvisation and adept at playing dirty tricks on the bad guys. The new recruits acquitted themselves admirably, so they naturally were given more tough nuts to crack, including:

• Flummoxing an alien empire which has taken a number of human prisoners as reconnaisance for an invasion. This has a personal aspect, since the prisoners are from the planet which Roberts tricked into reforming...
• Stopping a plan by not-so-good Samaritans who are pretending to cure a planetary plague - which they introduced to the planet - with a ''miracle'' drug which creates an addiction to the same drug, which the schemers will be glad to continue supplying for ever-increasing sums...
• Not only rescuing some Patrol personnel taken hostage by fanatics who plan to execute them one at a time until their leader is released, but convincing other fanatics throughout the galaxy that the consequences of threatening anyone in the Patrol are too terrible even to think about...
• Making sure that the rightful heir to a planet's throne escapes from captivity and overthrows the usurper. This time there's a complication: Roberts may be falling for the ruler's beautiful sister...

And much more...

Table of Contents:

• The Claw and the Clock (1971) - novelette
• "Riddle Me This ... " (1972) - novelette
• The Unknown (1972) - novelette
• The Throne and the Usurper (1970) - novelette
• The Trojan Hostage (1990) - novelette
• Warlord's World (1975) - novel
• Goliath and the Beanstalk (1958) - short story
• Facts to Fit the Theory (1966) - novelette
• Cantor's War (1974) - short story
• Uplift the Savage (1968) - short story
• Odds (1977) - novelette
• The Troublemaker (1960) - short story
• Bill for Delivery (1964) - short story
• Untropy (1966) - novelette
• The Low Road (1970) - short story
• Trial by Silk (1970) - novelette
• The Operator (1971) - novelette
• While the North Wind Blows (1978) - novelette
• Leverage (1959) - short story
• The Sieve (1959) - short story
• Mating Problems (1959) - short story
• Hunger (1964) - short story
• Contrast (1964) - short story
• Afterword - essay by Eric Flint