The Cosmic Cloud

In the far future, the Federation of Suns faces a nightmare: thousands of starships have vanished into a vast cosmic cloud of absolute darkness near the galaxy's center, and Chief Lacq Larus summons three Patrol officers—Dur Nal of Earth, Jhul Din of Spica, and Korus Kan of Antares—to uncover the cause before trade routes collapse. Their cruiser is soon seized by an unseen force and dragged into the black void, where light fails and ordinary science offers no help. Then unknown beings board the ship, overpower the crew, and reveal a terrible advantage: they can hunt and fight in darkness using pain-inducing weapons that strike the nervous system itself. Taken to a hidden world at the cloud's heart, the narrator discovers a city of eyeless, flute-voiced creatures preparing captured ships for invasion. He meets Zat Zanat, a scientist from Deneb who has survived there for years using ultraviolet disks that reveal the world in violet light. Zat explains the invaders' plan to turn darkness into a weapon and unleash a conquest of the galaxy. With the enemy already loading its fleet, the only hope is a desperate rescue and escape before the black armada sets out. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.