Paul A. Torak

“ Bradbury chuckled to himself happily on thinking of the many women he had known in his fifty years.
He looked around the plane. No passengers, except for a pleasant looking young man sitting across the aisle from him, a young man thoroughly engrossed in a small, paper-bound book, the title of which Mr. Bradbury could not discern.
He wished he had his glasses, for he was getting a slight headache. The lawyer leaned back in the soft seat and closed his eyes. Well, headache or no headache, life was good, and he was glad he was alive. Then Mr. Bradbury fell asleep. ”

“ Just then the airliner gave a sickening lurch to the right and something big and luminous roared past the plane. Mr. Bradbury bellowed. "Roughest damned trip I've ever had."
"It makes me nervous, too," said Oswald.
"Now another thing," said the lawyer. "This business about men from Mars."
He looked uneasily out his window.
Oswald smiled. "No truth in it?"
"None! Anyone with even a token knowledge of science knows that the Earth is the only planet that can support human life."
"But," answered Oswald, "suppose that planets could be inhabited by something other than human life. ”

“ Mr. Tarkas stifled a yawn, rose from his seat, and stepped over to the girl. He reached out and twisted her ear. Her voice stopped and her back slid open like a secret panel, revealing a maze of whirring, clicking machinery. ”