ALBATROSSAUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION
This is another of the basic science-fiction themes that have become a challenge, since a new departure is hard to come by. The idea is, the first extraterrestrial comes to Earth. What happens? Yes, yes, I know, he says to the first passerby, “Take me to your leader.” But that’s already been done. You’ve got to have a new gimmick, and the editors are mighty touchy about this theme —they’ve seen it too often before. It first appeared in Imagination in 1955.
—Mack Reynolds
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We were in a hurry to be airborne but I couldn’t allow that to keep me from the care that meant the difference between getting back to where we started or blowing the ultra-hot F4IOB we were flying. While Jack Casey climbed into the ship, I hustled around it checking to make sure
