Armchair Fiction presents classic science fiction double novels with original illustrations. Veteran science fiction author Arthur J. Burk’s “Survival” is the lead off tale in this double novel. Was the last of mankind rushing blindly toward its destruction? As the opening of the cave closed behind them, the last human remnants of a once powerful and dominating country were plunged into unending darkness. With only their senses to guide them, they would feel their way through the darkened catacombs of the mountain—a mountain in which they would try to rebuild the country they had lost. This small group of twelve hundred men, women, and children were all that remained of the hundred and fifty million citizens that had once populated the seemingly unconquerable United States of America. The rest had been slain swiftly and easily by the hordes of the Mongolian Army. So with death nipping at their heels, the stalwart leader of the last of the Americans, David Haslup, led the retreat into the vast caverns of the Rocky Mountains. He knew this was the one place left where they might find sanctuary—or, if anything, their tomb! The second tale in this great double novel is “Double Identity” penned by one of the better science fiction authors of the 20th Century, Raymond Z. Gallun. While humans enjoyed all that life on Earth had to offer, the creatures of the moon were struggling to survive with the precious little oxygen they had left. As the moon’s atmosphere dwindled, so did the moon’s population. With feelings of dread dominating their minds, the Lunarians felt a growing sense of fear toward the many technological advancements on Earth. However, Earth knew nothing of the moon’s civilization, and many Lunarians felt that should their dying race be discovered, they would be easy prey for the more aggressive creatures who populated their mother world. It was a fear fed by paranoia, but it was a real fear nevertheless. So in what was perceived as a pre-emptive strike against the moon’s future Earthly foes, the great Lunarian scientist, T’Chack, created a mind and body transference process that he hoped would someday bring the Earth to its knees.
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