Flight From Tomorrow
by H. Beam Piper (1904–1964)
- Free to read
- 35 min read
- 4 chapters
- Reading level: 8th & 9th grade
"Flight From Tomorrow" by H. Beam Piper is a complete novelet written in the early 1950s. This science fiction narrative explores themes of time travel, tyranny, and survival. The story centers around a dictator who, after being overthrown, attempts to escape into the past using a time machine but finds himself stranded in a dangerous and unfamiliar time. The plot follows Hradzka, a dictator who escapes from a rebellion by traveling back in time only to have his machine sabotaged, leaving him in the First Century of the Atomic Era. Stripped of his resources and knowledge, he navigates this savage landscape, posing as a deaf-mute to blend in with the locals. However, his presence inadvertently carries deadly pathogens from his time, leading to an outbreak among the innocent inhabitants. As he tries to seize power and coordinate his return to dominance, those in power in the First Century begin to realize he is the source of their troubles, leading to a climactic struggle for survival. The narrative illustrates the consequences of power and the perils of meddling with time.
- Science fiction
- Time travel
Read the opening
Chapter 1
But yesterday, a whole planet had shouted: Hail Hradzka! Hail the Leader! Today, they were screaming: Death to Hradzka! Kill the tyrant!
The Palace, where Hradzka, surrounded by his sycophants and guards, had lorded it over a solar system, was now an inferno. Those who had been too closely identified with the dictator's rule to hope for forgiveness were fighting to the last, seeking only a quick death in combat; one by one, their isolated points of resistance were being wiped out. The corridors and chambers of the huge palace were thronged with rebels, loud with their shouts, and with the rasping hiss of heat-beams and the crash of blasters, reeking with the stench of scorched plastic and burned flesh, of hot metal and charred fabric. The living quarters were overrun; the mob smashed down walls and tore up floors in search of secret hiding-places. They found strange things—the space-ship that had been built under one of the domes, in readiness for flight to the still-loyal colonies on Mars or the Asteroid Belt, for instance—but Hradzka himself they could not find.
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About this edition
This free edition of Flight From Tomorrow by H. Beam Piper comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #18460, released 2006-05-27. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Science-Fiction & Fantasy, Novels.
Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).
