Smothered Seas

This is a classic science fiction short story by Stanley G. Weinbaum and Ralph Milne Farley. According to Weinbaum's widow, he wrote the first half of the story and Farley the second half. It focuses on a war, set in the year 2000, between the Asiatic Union and the United States. The States control the seas but the Union has greater man power on land, thus resulting in a stalemate. However, an enormous increase in algae makes the oceans un-passable in places and military scientist Lt. Richard Lester is sent in to investigate. Lester is madly in love with Sally Amber, a suspected spy, who is at risk of being uncovered by an American agent. When he gets captured by the Asiatics to be questioned, Sally has a choice to make.

This work is part of our Vintage Sci-Fi Classics Series, a series in which we are republishing some of the best stories in the genre by some of its most acclaimed authors, such as Isaac Asimov, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Robert Sheckley. Each publication is complete with a short introduction to the history of science fiction.