Strange Relations (omnibus)

The Lovers 1961Flesh 1968Strange Relations 1960NOT YOUR USUAL STARSHIP CAPTAIN . . .The Sunhero was magnificently built in every respect. Though he wassitting on the shoulders of two members of the Elk lodge, he obviouslywas very tall. His face could have been that of a good-lookingheavyweight champion. But at this moment, it bore a look that could onlybe described as "possessed." That was exactly the term anybody in the cityof Washington of the nation of Deecee would have used. Out of his longred-gold hair, just above the forehead and the hairline, sprouted a pair ofantlers.These were not the artificial antlers that the Elk frat wore. They wereliving organs. They stood twelve inches above his head and measuredsixteen inches from the outer tip of one to the outer tip of the other. Theywere covered with a pale shiny skin, shot through with blue blood vessels.It was obvious that they had been grafted onto the man's head veryrecently. There was dried blood at the base of the antlers.Now the crowd carried him down the broad steps and out onto thegreat porch of the White House. At his appearance a tremendous shoutrose from the mob in the street. Drums thundered; bugles blared likeGabriel's trumpet. The antlered man was rushed down the sidewalk, outthrough the iron gates and onto the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue. Herehe was seated on the back of a wild-eyed black stag.The stag lurched forward with its rider. The man on its back had to berestrained from climbing down and joining the teen-aged girls who linedthe street. They were shouting suggestions that would have made a sailorblush, and he was shouting back at them in kind.The crowd broke into a mighty roar, "Virginia! Virginia!" The highpriestess of Washington had appeared from the shadows of the columns ofthe immense porch that ran around the Capitol. Her long slim white armbeckoned to the Sunhero. He tore loose from the many hands holding himand ran up the steps. Behind him the many throats rose to an... The Lovers: One of the most controversial and groundbreaking novels in science fiction. Sent by the religious tyranny of a future Earth to the planet Ozagen, Hal Yarrow met Jeanette, an apparently human fugitive, hiding in ancient ruins built by a long-vanished race. Unconsecrated contact with any female was forbidden to Yarrow-and love for an alien female was an unspeakable sin. But Yarrow's lifelong conditioning was no match for his strange attraction to Jeanette. Flesh: The starship captain had made the mistake of landing on a forgotten planet colonized centuries ago by believers in ancient pagan rituals. Unless he could escape, he would be made part of a fertility rite which would conclude with his very unpleasant death. Strange Relations: Five novelettes of unbounded imagination telling of strange encounters between man and alien. Previously published as separate books, these three works are published here together for the first time. Collects three science fiction works into one volume. The lovers: Hal Yarrow visits the planet Ozagen, where he falls in love with a humanoid alien female whose alcoholism he tries to cure without realizing that alcohol prevents pregnancy. Flesh: A starship captain lands on a forgotten planet colonized centuries ago by believers in ancient pagan rituals. Unless he can escape, he will be made part of a fertility rite which would conclude with his very unpleasant death. Strange relations: Five novelettes telling of strange encounters between man and alien