Venus Probe! and Other Stories
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1. In the Beginning!: A young spaceman goes on liberty on a water planet where life has not yet originated. He leaves his mark on the planet to show he was there. 2. China Syndrome Two: A school teacher puts on a demonstration for his students to emphasize to them that they should not believe all they hear or see or read. 3. Her Day in Court!: A young woman has her day in court in a most unusual and startling way. 4. A Dirty Old Man: A young girl accuses an old man of molesting her. He is taken to jail and appears in court where his guilt or innocence will be decided! 5. The Missing Link Safari: A young man and a young woman go back in time to find the missing link. What they find changes the world forever. 6. Mint Condition!: A young printer decides to counterfeit money for himself. He pays for his crime in a most unusual way! 7. The Pool of Life! The young man and young woman who went back in time in the story, The Missing Link Safari, goes back in time again to seek out the origin of life. And once again, what they find changes the world forever! 8. The Rape Victims! A young man is accused of raping a woman in his night school class. Despite his protests of innocence he is taken to jail then to court. The question is: who's the victim?! 9. The Long and the Short of it! Two scientists find each other and discover the long and the short of it! 10. The Fastest Gun in Space!: The fastest gun in space invades earth seeking the fastest gun on earth? They will have a shoot out to decide whether the fastest gun in space and his men invade and conquer earth! The fate of the world hangs on the speed of the draw! 11. Venus Probe!: Earth sends rockets to Venus to get rid of its clouds. Earth's success is electrifying to say the least! 12. The Worth of a Man!: What is the worth of a man (or woman)? A man goes to court to find out! 13. Dream Bike! A young bike rider dreams of his dream bike! 14. No Hands!: A war veteran finds out that life isn't so bad after all! 15. Fiddlin' Fool!: A high school student, taking violin lessons, gets an idea on how he can make a violin that is easier to play so he goes to see Krong and asks him if he can make the new violin he has dreamed up. Krong says he can and agrees to make it for the boy, and when it is finished the boy plays it at school and big trouble starts! 16. Cagey Brown. Cagey Brown, a middle aged con artist, tied of living on the thin edge of the law and lawlessness, makes a deal with the devil so he can live it up in his golden years, and his life is changed forever!
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About the Book
Venus Probe! and Other Stories
Mr. Warner wrote these stories over the past several years whenever he thought of them. They cover a rather wide range of science-fiction-fantasy; space travel; humor; time travel; speculations; Fiddlin' Fool is a Krong the Watcher story; wonderings; crime; and a confrontation with the devil!
Below is a list of the stories, which will give the reader some idea of each plot. Keep your wits about you, Mr. Warner is a prose magician!
1. In the Beginning!
2. China Syndrome Two
3. Her Day in Court!
4. A Dirty Old Man
5. The Missing Link Safari.
6. Mint Condition!
7. The Pool of Life!
8. The Rape Victims!
9. The Long and the Short of it!
10. The Fastest Gun in Space!
11. Venus Probe!
12. The Worth of a Man!
13. Dream Bike!
14. No Hands!
15. Fiddlin' Fool!
16. Cagey Brown
About the Author
Robert James Warner was born and raised in Long Beach, California. He went to the local schools. He was drafted in to the Navy on March 9th, 1944, during the 2nd World War as soon as he finished his last semester in High School. He was discharged from the Navy on June 16, 1946. Mr. Warner went back to school at Long Beach City College on the GI Bill, taking Mechanical Engineering and then switching to journalism. After about a year and a half at City College, he quit. Mr. Warner had always been interested in writing, but he had huge handicaps to overcome: he couldn't spell (he still can't); and grammar was then and is now a mystery to him. Mr. Warner first began to write when he was about 20. During the next few years he wrote some songs, poetry, and a few short stories, but his output was quite low. From 1947, after Mr. Warner left City College, to 1950, he had a number of different inconsequential jobs, the longest at Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach where he worked in the blueprint department for eight months before quitting to loaf awhile. In 1950, he enlisted in the Active Naval Reserve as a Weekend Warrior, so he could learn seamanship and get paid doing it. He has had a life-long love affair with boats (building his own) and fishing. About three months later, the Korean War started and Mr. Warner was called back to active duty in the Navy Aircorp for a year, getting discharged in August 1951, serving on three aircraft carriers, operating off of Korea in the China Sea, bombing and strafing the communists! After Korea, Mr. Warner went back to City College for awhile, then got a job on a freighter as a deckhand and made two trips to the Hawaiian Islands, about 30 days round trip, hauling bulk sugar for C&H Sugar in Crocket California on the Sacramento River. Leaving the ship in Crocket he went to Santa Rosa, California, where he washed dishes in some restaurants and got a poem published in the local newspaper, a big day in his life. Next, he went to Yosemite and washed some more dishes, then he went home. Mr. Warner has cleaned chicken dung from under the pens; he owned and operated his own auto wrecking yard; owned his own 2nd Store; was half owner of a Yacht Landing; speculated in Real Estate; and worked at some other odd jobs, going to work for the Long Beach Fire Department in 1953 for the next 26 years, retiring in October 1979. Mr. Warner got married in 1961, had his son in 1963, and then got divorced in 1973. In 1974, Mr. Warner and his son, Jeff, drove to Alaska during the summer. On his return, Mr. Warner wrote his first novel. Since 1974, Mr. Warner has written 31 novels, about 125 short stories, two Civil War books, and two poetry collections.