Author: Leonard J. Garrett

1Brain Twister

By Randall Garrett and Laurence M. Janifer

"Mark Phillips" is, or are, two writers: Randall Garrett and Laurence M. Janifer. Their joint pen-name, derived from their middle names (Philip and Mark), was coined soon after their original meeting, at a science-fiction convention. Both men were drunk at the time, which explains a good deal, and only one has ever sobered up. A matter for constant contention between the collaborators is which one.<br /><br />Originally published as That Sweet Little Old Lady, Brain Twister follows the adventures of FBI agent Kenneth J. Malone as he attempts to unravel the machinations of a telepathic spy. His first problem: how do you find a telepath to catch the first telepath?<br /><br />The novella was nominated for the Hugo Award in 1960. (Summary from the text and Catharine Eastman)

2Highest Treason

By Randall Garrett

Set in a future in which humanity’s dream of total equality is fully realized and poverty in terms of material wealth has been eliminated, humanity has straight-jacketed itself into the only social system which could make this possible. Class differentiation is entirely horizontal rather than vertical and no matter what one’s chosen field, all advancement is based solely on seniority rather than ability. What is an intelligent and ambitious man to do when enslaved by a culture that forbids him from utilizing his God-given talents? If he’s a military officer in time of war, he might just decide to switch sides. If said officer is a true believer in the principles that enslave him and every bit as loyal as he is ambitious, that’s tantamount to breaking a universal law of physics, but Colonel Sebastian MacMaine has what it takes to meet the challenge. (Summary by Lee)

3Judas Valley

By Randall Garrett and Robert Silverberg

Why did everybody step off the ship in this strange valley and promptly drop dead? How could a well-equipped corps of tough spacemen become a field of rotting skeletons in this quiet world of peace and contentment? It was a mystery Peter and Sherri had to solve. If they could live long enough! [from the Judas Valley] Originally published in Amazing Stories October 1956.

4Spaceship Named McGuire

By Randall Garrett

Can a spaceship go crazy? Well, yes it can if it has a brain. And the new MG (magnetogravitic drive) experimental robot space ship does indeed have a 'brain'. Completely bewildered as to why the first six models of their supposedly perfect new ship model, the MG-YR, nicknamed the McGuire, have gone totally bonkers after activation and before they could ever be used, the company has called in the services of Daniel Oak. They suspect sabotage of course. Daniel Oak is the hard boiled private investigator with nerves of steel and a mind of the same substance. He is extremely expensive to hire but gets results; and he knows his way around crime, space ships and especially women. What he finds out is surprising! (Summary by Phil Chenevert)</p>

5Nor Iron Bars A Cage ...

By Randall Garrett

Iron bars do not confine a Man—only his body. There are more subtle, and more confining bindings, however....Police methods of the future will naturally use complex new technology but police will still need to deal with the same old sad human nature, forever doing horrible deeds. The night stick may be replaced by the hypo-gun but is prison the only solution? Listen to this neat story by Randall Garrett and see.

6Anything You Can Do...

By Randall Garrett

An alien crash lands on Earth, and for ten years terrorizes the planet, hiding, periodically killing and eating people and stealing materials for some unknown purpose. The only hope is Bart Stanton, a medically-engineered superman, designed for the sole purpose of confronting the “Nipe”. (Summary by Mark Nelson)

7That Sweet Little Old Lady

By Randall Garrett

Randall Garrett had this story first published in Astounding Science Fiction September and October of 1959. His twisted sense of humor and gift for the bizarre situation with believable characters shines here. In the not too distant future, Ken Malone, young but promising FBI agent , is given the most important and difficult assignment of his career: find a spy who is stealing information from the Ultra Top Absolute Secret project to develop a non-rocket space ship at Yucca Flats Labs in Nevada. But this is not a normal spy, this spy laughs at the FBI and all attempts to find him or her because they use an unknown new method to steal the information directly from the minds of the scientists. And then of course, there is the Sweet Little Old Lady who is immortal and the stunning nurse and the Las Vegas gangsters and ... well, you had better listen to the story to find out the details. (Summary by Phil Chenevert)

8Unwise Child

By Randall Garrett

When a super-robot named Snookums discovers how to build his own superbombs, it becomes obvious that Earth is by no means the safest place for him to be. And so Dr. Fitzhugh, his designer, and Leda Crannon, a child psychologist acting as Snookums’ nursemaid, agree to set up Operation Brainchild, a plan to transport the robot to a far distant planet. But the space ship becomes the scene of some frightening events--the medical officer is murdered, and Snookums appears to be the culprit… - Summary by Mark Nelson

9Supermind

By Randall Garrett and Laurence M. Janifer

FBI agent Kenneth Malone lives in a world where psionic powers such as telepathy and teleportation exist. He must cope with them as well as an FBI Director who leaves Malone continually confused about what situation he is being asked to handle and what he is expected to do about it. Someone or something is causing confusion in the U.S. Government, Unions, The Mafia, and other sectors of society and Malone has been given the job of finding the source of the confusion. A good story composed of science fiction and slap stick comedy with a bit of romance thrown into the mix. (Summary by Richard Kilmer)

10Damned If You Don't

By Randall Garrett

We've all heard of the wonderful invention that the Big Corporation or the Utilities suppressed? The one that would revolutionize society with it's simplicity? Well usually, that Wonderful Invention won't work, actually. But what if there really was one or two like that? Would the oil industry, or the power conglomerates, or the auto monopolies actually be nasty enough to suppress something that would help the rest of the world just so they could go on making profits? Well of course they would, silly! But then there is another possibility, one that is explored in the uniquely wonderful way of Randall Garrett. And one that you may not suspect. And one that may even change your opinions just a bit so watch out. Summary by Phil Chenevert

11But, I Don't Think

By Randall Garrett

The title is obscure and a bit unsettling I admit; what could it possible mean? Randall Garrett wrote a story here that had me blissfully going in the wrong direction until he quietly yanked the rug from under my feet and made me fume a bit with irritation and amazement. I loved it and hated it because it did not end the way I wanted it to but the way it obviously should. The society and culture in the galaxy he has presupposed is as fascinating as the story itself and I can only hope he expanded on it in other books somewhere. The publisher quotes another story by R. Phillip Dachboden to indicate what he meant "As every thinking man knows, every slave always yearns for the freedom his master denies him...<br /> But, gentlemen," said the Physician, "I really don't think we can consider any religion which has human sacrifice as an integral part as a humane religion." "At least," added the Painter with a chuckle, "not as far as the victim is concerned." The Philosopher looked irritated. "Bosh! What if the victim likes it that way?"

12Penal Cluster

By Randall Garrett

What do you do with telepaths? Chain them to an asteroid of course and just leave them there ..... but why? Wait a minute ... did I just say that the punishment for being a telepath in the future earth was to be chained to an asteroid 50 million miles from earth and then leave them there, comatose, to spin forever in their lonely orbits? Well, yes, that is what earth's draconian solution was to the sudden emergence of telepath ability. The world wide psychodeviant police had the job of tracking down these terrible deviants and then sending them into space immediately. But are all telepaths evil? Could one of these psychodeviant police be secret telepath himself? Listen to this great story and find out why earth felt so terrified of telepaths. - Summary by philip a chenevert

13His Master's Voice

By Randall Garrett

This is a follow up story to Randal Garrett's original story, A Spaceship Named McGyer. The intrepid protagonist, now that he has become the completely unintended and unwilling master of the robot spaceship McGyer, is called in by the owners, very reluctantly. to see if he can help their experts fix the problem. Since he is the only human McGyer will listen to they must have him there to get the ship to comply with any request at all. But there are rival corporations that wish the ship and the project, robot spaceships, to fail so he is indeed in great danger. But the real question of this story revolves around Asimov's three laws of robotics and the messy problems of how to define a human being. That can get very messy indeed. Enjoy another fascinating story by Randall Garrett. - Summary by Phil chenevert

14Randall Garrett: 3 Science Fiction stories

By Randall Garrett

The irrepressible Science Fiction author Randall Garrett wrote a wide array of short stories for the SF magazines of his day poking fun at many of the then current cherished beliefs, but he had a habit of writing under many different names. These three stories were all published in the 1960's and no matter what the by-line may look like, be assured they were all written by him in his quirky, imaginative and very entertaining style. The three here for your enjoyment are: With No Strings Attached; The Destroyers and In Case of Fire

15Anchorite

By Randall Garrett

Randall Garrett sticks a sharp needle into our government and society in this wonderful story. He projects the current trends towards paternalistic government into the future. Yes, we have attained a world government and everyone is equal whether they want to be or not; everyone is taken care of no matter how incompetent, stupid or sleazy they are and everyone is out to undermine everyone else. The author predicts (sadly only too well) what the trends of today will eventually produce if allowed to continue. But wait! there is hope in the asteroid belt where jerks and incompetents are weeded out by hard physical laws and only those who possess common sense and the ability to actually survive are allowed to govern. But will the Earth government allow this to continue? Of course not. Listen to this great story to have a peek into the future.

16Anything You Can Do ... (version 2)

By Randall Garrett

The Alien did not intend to crash land on earth, but he did. The alien tried to communicate with humans, but he could not. The alien did not wish to be captured, and so he wasn't. For over 5 years he roamed, looting and killing as necessary. Why could the combined forces and brains of all the nations on earth not deal with him or it? Well, Earth was faced with a strange problem indeed. They had to have a superman. And there weren't any available. So perhaps one had to be made.... - Summary by preface and phil chenevert

17Pagan Passions

By Randall Garrett and Laurence M. Janifer

'Adult' Science Fiction? Well, why not? Science Fiction deals imaginatively with odd and unsettling subjects, why not sex? In this novel, the The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece and Rome had returned to Earth—with all their awesome powers intact, and Earth was transformed almost overnight. War on any scale was outlawed, along with boom-and-bust economic cycles, and ...er... prudery—no change was more startling than the face of New York, where, for instance, the Empire State Building became the Tower of Zeus! Our hero, William Forrester is an acolyte of Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and therefore a teacher, but Maya Wilson, girl student, was a worshiper of Venus, Goddess of Love and she definitely has different ideas of what to do after class with your professor, especially in a world where prudery has been outlawed. Much dilly-dallying, spooning and downright shenanigans occur I am sad to say but the plot may thicken in the end. - Summary by Phil chenevert and the author

18Man Who Hated Mars

By Randall Garrett

To escape from Mars, all Clayton had to do was the impossible. Break out of a crack-proof exile camp—get onto a ship that couldn't be boarded—smash through an impenetrable wall of steel. Perhaps he could do all these things, but he discovered that Mars did evil things to men; that he wasn't even Clayton any more. He was only—The Man Who Hated Mars. Included in this recording are four more stories by Garrett: Bramblebush, Viewpoint, Time Fuze and Heist Job on Thizar. These are some of Garrett's lesser known short stories. Excitement mounts...... ( Phil Chenevert and the publisher )

19Despoilers of the Golden Empire

By Randall Garrett

A handful of men, and an incredible adventure—a few super-men, led by a fanatic, seeking to conquer a new world! The story appears to be about an expedition through space to a planet inhabited by a civilized but technologically backward people, whom the expedition conquer. However, in the last line it is revealed to be anything but that. [T]he story reads like a pulp magazine yarn mixing space travel and classic swashbuckling themes, to the point where the characters even fight with swords, bringing to mind the adventures of Flash Gordon, or the Barsoom stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs. - Summary by Wikipedia, with excerpt from text

20Impossibles

By Randall Garrett and Laurence M. Janifer

FBI Agent Kenneth Malone is back with another case, this one involving a gang of car thieves that only steal Red 1972 Cadillacs. The only problem is that the thief, or thieves as the case may be, seem to have the ability to make themselves invisible. Of course that’s impossible, isn’t it? But with the help of the usual beautiful girl, Agent Boyd, and Queen Elizabeth I (Rose Thompson), Malone finds himself hot on the trail of the impossible. - Summary by Paul Hampton

21What The Left Hand Was Doing

By Randall Garrett

The Society For Mystical and Metaphysical Research, Inc. ..... It is possible that no more nearly perfect cover, no more misleading front for a secret organization ever existed in the history of man. It possessed two qualities which most other cover-up titles do not have. One, it was so obviously crackpot that no one paid any attention to it except crackpots, and, two, it was perfectly, literally true. The Society is now a part of the government, of course an invisible one, and it can be very useful in solving really perplexing problems. Listen to the story of how it did the impossible here. Just another day at the SMMR. - Summary by the author and phil chenevert