Off Course

by Mack Reynolds

First on the scene were Larry Dermott and Tim Casey of the State Highway Patrol. They assumed they were witnessing the crash of a new type of Air Force plane and slipped and skidded desperately across the field to within thirty feet of the strange craft, only to discover that the landing had been made without accident. Patrolman Dermott shook his head. "They're gettin' queerer looking every year. Get a load of it -- no wheels, no propeller, no cockpit." They left the car and made their way toward the strange egg-shaped vessel. Tim Casey loosened his .38 in its holster and said, "Sure, and I'm beginning to wonder if it's one of ours. No insignia and --" A circular door slid open at that point and Dameri Tass stepped out, yawning. He spotted them, smiled and said, "Glork." They gaped at him. "Glork is right," Dermott swallowed.

Genres: Science Fiction

24 pages, Paperback

First published March 26, 2008

About the author

Dallas McCord "Mack" Reynolds was an American science fiction writer. His pen names included Clark Collins, Mark Mallory, Guy McCord, Dallas Ross and Maxine Reynolds. Many of his stories were published in "Galaxy Magazine" and "Worlds of If Magazine". He was quite popular in the 1960s, but most of his work subsequently went out of print.

He was an active supporter of the Socialist Labor Party; his father, Verne Reynolds, was twice the SLP's Presidential candidate, in 1928 and 1932. Many of MR's stories use SLP jargon such as 'Industrial Feudalism' and most deal with economic issues in some way

Many of Reynolds' stories took place in Utopian societies, and many of which fulfilled L. L. Zamenhof's dream of Esperanto used worldwide as a universal second language. His novels predicted much that has come to pass, including pocket computers and a world-wide computer network with information available at one's fingertips.

Many of his novels were written within the context of a highly mobile society in which few people maintained a fixed residence, leading to "mobile voting" laws which allowed someone living out of the equivalent of a motor home to vote when and where they chose.

Reviews

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining listening 🎶🔰

Another will written fantasy space Sci-Fi adventure thriller short story by Mack Reynolds about the first visitor from space and what happens. I would recommend this very quick read.Enjoy your day reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do all kinds of novels 🔰 and books 📚. 2022

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Accidental alien visit.

A sci fi short. A colorful alien accidentally lands on earth. Loves the wildlife. Realizes the mistake and takes off.

[Cornel Diaconu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny idea... and short enough to not be annoying.
Sounds a bit like Asimov's short ones.

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good.

[Forked Radish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humans are so conceited. They think this world is about them.

[Tara Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I never said that my reading tastes weren't eclectic. This volume, in conjunction with two others, was offered as a free E-Book with an I-Phone download through I-Tunes applications.

Since I have a great interest in all things medical, I sincerely enjoyed this text, although I have to say that the E-book does lack the pictures that I've seen with the text in other formats.