A lone alien scientist slips down to Earth on a scouting mission, hoping to prove that this planet is the answer to his dying race’s prayers. Everything goes smoothly until his first steps out among the locals, when things start going very wrong in ways he can’t begin to understand. It’s a sharp little twist on the classic alien-invasion tale, best enjoyed without knowing where it lands.
Alfred Coppel (1921–2004) was a fighter pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II before becoming one of the most prolific pulp writers of the 1950s and 60s, working across science fiction, action thrillers, and suspense. He also wrote young adult space operas as Robert Cham Gilman, and “The Invader” first appeared in Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy in February 1953.
","author_name":"Keith Conrad / Darren Marlar"}