Legions of Space

BEYOND THE FARTHEST STAR . . .

Two complete novels, and four shorter works by the master of science fiction adventure.

• A Trace of Memory: A drifter named Legion is hired by a millionaire who claims to be centuries old, but has nearly complete amnesia, able only to remember that something is hunting for him. Legion gets more than he bargained for when he finds himself and his employer on a prehistoric starship hurtling into the unknown.

• Planet Run: Laumer joins forces with SF legend Gordon R. Dickson in a novel of two ancient heroes who are going to risk their lives for the chance to solve the mystery of an unexplored planet.

• Plus four more yarns of exciting interstellar action and adventure

Publisher's Note: A Trace of Memory and Planet Run have previously appeared as separate novels. This is their first publication in one volume.

Praise for Keith Laumer:

“Spare, clean prose style and muscular storytelling technique . . . when the final word is read, the reader comes away with both a sense of completion and a desire for the tale to go on . . . forever, if possible.” —David Weber

“You're about to have fun.” —David Drake

“Laumer is a master . . .” —Seattle Times

“Tautly written and endless suspense . . . excellent. . . .” —VOYA

Cover Art by Jeff Easley

Paperback

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First printing, October 2004

Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Production by Windhaven Press, Auburn, NH (www.windhaven.com)
Printed in the United States of America

ISBN-13: 978-0-7434-8855-6
ISBN-10: 0-7434-8855-5

Copyright © 2004 to Baen Books.
A Trace of Memory was first published as a serialized story in Amazing magazine (July–September 1962) and then reissued as a novel by Berkley in 1963. Planet Run was first published in 1967 by Doubleday. "The Choice" was first published in Analog in July, 1969. "Three Blind Mice" was first published in The Many Worlds of Science Fiction (Ben Bova, ed.), E.P. Dutton, 1971. "Mind Out of Time" was first published as "The Mind Out of Time" in The Farthest Reaches (Joseph Elder, ed.), Trident 1968. "Message to an Alien" was first published in Analog in June, 1970.

A Baen Books Original
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Electronic version by WebWrights
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Baen Books by Keith Laumer

edited by Eric Flint:

Retief!
Odyssey
Keith Laumer: The Lighter Side
A Plague of Demons & Other Stories
Future Imperfect
Legions of Space

The Bolo Series:

The Compleat Bolo by Keith Laumer

Created by Keith Laumer:

The Honor of the Regiment
The Unconquerable
The Triumphant by David Weber & Linda Evans
Last Stand
Old Guard
Cold Steel
Bolo Brigade by William H. Keith, Jr.
Bolo Rising by William H. Keith, Jr.
Bolo Strike by William H. Keith, Jr.

ALL ABOARD!

"And now," I said, "we're a couple of hundred feet under Stonehenge, and you're telling me you'll be nine hundred on your next birthday."

"Remember the entry in the journal, Legion?" Foster said. "'I came to the place of the Hunters, and it was a place I knew of old, and there was no hive, but a Pit built by men of the Two Worlds . . ."

I glanced at the screen. "Here's another big number for you. That object on the screen is at an altitude—give or take a few percent—of thirty thousand miles." A pattern of dots flashed across the screen, faded, flashed again. . . . Foster watched the screen, saying nothing.

"I don't like that thing blinking at us," I said. I looked at the big red button beside the screen. Without waiting to think it over, I jabbed at it. On the screen, the red blip separated, a smaller blip moving off at right angles to the main mass.

"It looks like I've launched a bomb from the ship overhead," I said in a strained voice.

The climb back up the tunnel took three hours, and every foot of the way I was listening to a refrain in my head: This may be it; this may be it; this may be . . .

I crawled out of the tunnel mouth, then grabbed Foster's arm and pointed overhead. "What's that?"

Foster looked up. A brilliant point of blue light, brighter than a star, grew perceptibly as we watched. "That's no bomb," he said. "It's coming down slowly . . . like a—"

We watched as the vessel settled into place dead center on the ancient ring of stones. A slit of yellow light appeared on the side of the hull, then it widened to a square. A ladder extended itself, dropping down to touch the ground.

"If somebody with tentacles starts down that ladder," I said, in an unnaturally shrill voice, "I'm getting out of here."

"No one will emerge," Foster said quietly. "I think we'll find, Legion, that this ship of space is at our disposal."