Ross Rocklynne's "Interlude" (short story, time travel, free): When a caveman freed an advanced civilization of a dictator

In the 25th century, there is a dictator ruling the earth for a decade. A former scientist who invented a machine to enslave others by making them wear a collar & a "bell shirt", but good enough to give them 3 hours a day to be free & be themselves.

Two of the ruled plot his overthrow. If only they could bring a 20th century uncollared (hence unslaved) man (why of 20th century?) who will overthrow the dictator. Their experimental time machine instead will bring back a caveman from 100,000 years ago. A man who craves to be a tribal chief.

Some unlikely adventures follow & the world is freed of the dictator.

Fact sheet.

First published: Astounding, December 1942.
Download full text as part of the scans of the magazine it originally appeared in.
Rating: B.
Among the stories from Astounding/Analog issues edited by John Campbell.
Related: Stories of Ross Rocklynne.

"Astounding Science Fiction", December 1942 (ed John W Campbell, Jr) (magazine, free): Annotated table of contents

"The Weapon Shop" is among the best known stories of the genre. "Piggy Bank" is among the more pulpish stories of Kuttner/Moore, but features a very curious robot.

Where I have a separate post on a story, link on its title goes there. Link on author's name fetches more fiction of author.

Note: Flash fiction pieces in this issue don't have their individual entries in table of contents, but are bunched together in a single entry called "Probability Zero".

Table of contents.

1. [novelette] A E van Vogt's "The Weapon Shop": "The shop was small--a little place that materialized out of nowhere. Yet, though the old man didn't realize--all the power of a world empire could not break it!"
2. [novelette] Cleve Cartmill's "Some Day We'll Find You" (B): Three groups of capitalists want to fund the commercialization of a certain invention by a broke engineer...
3. [novelette] Henry Kuttner & C L Moore's "Piggy Bank" (as by Lewis Padgett) (B): "The robot was a rabbit--or had that psychology. He had a diamond-studded body, & was trained to be untouchable. Even his owner could not touch him--without giving information that was suicide!"
4. [ss] A E van Vogt & E Mayne Hull's "The Flight That Failed" (as by E M Hull) (C): Making a future happen where Germany loses the WWII!
5. [ss] Ross Rocklynne's "Interlude" (B): When a caveman freed an advanced civilization of a dictator...
6. [ss] Frank Belknap Long's "To Follow Knowledge": "A strange tale of pluralities of worlds, of a theory based on the hypothesis that, in infinity, everything must happen not once, but many times."
7. [ss] Robert Moore Williams' "Johny Had a Gun": "Johny was a gangster, a small-time punk. But Johny showed up with a gun one night, in an alley fight, that was not small-time stuff--"
8. [ff] William M Danner's "True Fidelity".
9. [ff] Stanley Woolston's "The Human Bomb".
10. [ff] Jack Bivins' "Valadusia".
11. [ff] T D Whitenack, Jr's "O'Ryan, the Invincible".
12. [ff] Frank J Smythe's "My Word!".
13. [ff] L M Jensen's "Take-Off".

Fact sheet.

Labeled: Vol XXX No 4.
Download scans as a CBR file. [via David T @pulpscans]
Related: Fiction from Astounding/Analog (only from issues edited by John Campbell) (whole issues only); old pulps; 1940s.

Ross Rocklynne's "Escape through Space" (short story, adventure, free): Riding through solar corona, in a comet's shadow

A communist revolution on Mars, throwing out local royalty, also killed all of royal family, except a teenage princess. Revolutionists want to kill her in a more subtle way.
So they enlist services of Larry Sharon, a visitor from earth, to carry her "safely" to earth; plan is to kill both during their voyage. Story is of the fugitives escaping their interceptors...

Fact sheet.

First published: Amazing Stories, June 1938.
Download full text from Internet Archive. [via Marooned]
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Ross Rocklynne.

Ross Rocklynne's "Quietus" (short story, first contact, free): "who we are creates a bias in how we view the world"

Concept is very similar to Eric Frank Russell's "Dear Devil": A post-apocalypse earth, with few remaining humans turned to primitive existence. Well intentioned aliens have come to help the local sentients.

But what a difference in the way the plot develops & ends!

Story summary.

Tommy, 21 year old, is the sole human remaining in a small green patch on an otherwise dead earth. At least he thinks so, till he learns of a very shy girl too. And there is Blacky - Tommy's pet talking crow! Blacky actually behaves like talking parrots we are familiar with, but author tells us it's a crow.

We have a love story here - both Tommy & girl are attracted to each other. But whenever they're about to meet, Backy's speech scares her away.

On a separate thread, we have two alien visitors: Tark & his mate, Vascar. From a world called Alcon. They see signs of existence of sentients once upon this now dead world, & feel sad. Land on the sole green patch with the intention of locating the local sentients, & helping them get back up their old glory.

The rub is: these visitors are sentient birds. There will be some drama, their near conclusion that Blacky is the sentient & Tommy is his draft animal (Blacky often rides on Tommy's shoulder)!

And sad ending - when Blacky has scared away the girl for umpteenth time & Tommy is in the rage & aliens decide to protect the sentient from his gone berserk beast of burden!

Collected in.

1. David Drake, Jim Baen, & Eric Flint (Ed)'s "The World Turned Upside Down".
2. Raymond J Healy & J Francis McComas (Eds)' "Adventures in Time and Space".

Fact sheet.

First published: Astounding Science Fiction, September 1940.
Rating: A
Download full text.