A Matter of Matter

When it comes to big dreams and schemes, Chuck's biggest dream of all is really out of this world. Because he's got his eyes on a prize in the sky. Chuck wants to buy a planet of his own…. Madman Murphy, the King of Planetary Realtors, is more than happy to oblige. He's got a whole galaxy of planets for sale. All Chuck needs is money … and a lot of it. Eleven years later, saving every penny he can scrape up, Chuck’s dream comes true. He takes possession and takes off for Planet 19453X. One problem: Madman Murphy has sold Chuck a world of trouble. Because on Planet 19453X the water is undrinkable, the air is unbreathable, and the laws of physics don't apply. Has Chuck’s dream turned into a nightmare? Not quite. As he's about to discover, sometimes, to fulfill your true desire, it's simply a matter of digging a little deeper…. Also includes the science fiction adventures, "The Conroy Diary," in which the man who opens up the universe to mankind also opens himself to charges of fraud and tax evasion; "The Obsolete Weapon," the story of an American GI involved in the 1943 invasion of Italy who slips back in time and finds himself fighting a different kind of battle — as a gladiator in ancient Rome; and "The Planet Makers," in which a great deal is at stake for the engineers who make planets habitable, but one of them has a surprising plan all his own. CONTENTS Foreword: Stories from Pulp Fiction's Golden Age (by Kevin J. Anderson) 1. A Matter of Matter (1949) 2. The Conroy Diary (1949) 3. The Obsolete Weapon (1948) 4. The Planet Makers (1949) * Story Preview: Greed Glossary L. Ron Hubbard and American Pulp Fiction The stories from the Golden Age [list of stories from all volumes in the series]