That night the comet was the only thing in the whole sky. All the stars were smothered by the light of its copper-yellow flame, and, although the sun had set two hours ago, the Earth was lit as with the glow of a thunderous dawn. In Mayfield, Ken Maddox walked slowly along Main Street, avoiding collisions with other people whose eyes were fixed on the object in the sky. Ken had spent scores of hours observing the comet carefully, both by naked eye and with his 12-inch reflecting telescope. Still he could not keep from watching it as he picked his way along the street toward the post office. The comet had been approaching Earth for months, growing steadily to bigger proportions in the sky, but tonight was a very special night, and Mayfield was watching with increased awe and half-dread -- as were hundreds of thousands of other communities around the world. Tonight, the Earth entered the comet's tail, and during the coming winter would be swept continuously by its million-mile spread.

Author Biography

Raymond Fisher Jones (1915 - 1994) was an American science fiction author. He is best known for his 1952 novel This Island Earth, which was adapted into the eponymous 1955 film. Most of Jones' short fiction was published during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, in magazines such as Thrilling Wonder Stories, Astounding Stories and Galaxy. His sixteen novels were published between 1951 and 1978. His short story "Rat Race," first published in the April 1966 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact, was nominated for a Hugo Award. In 1996, "Correspondence Course," first published in the April 1945 edition of Astounding Stories, was nominated for a Retro Hugo award for best short story. Another short story, "The Alien Machine," first published in the June 1949 edition of Thrilling Wonder Stories, was later combined with two other short stories, "The Shroud of Secrecy" and "The Greater Conflict" and expanded into the novel This Island Earth, upon which the movie of the same name was based. Jones also wrote the story upon which a 1952 Tales of Tomorrow television program episode, titled "The Children's Room," was based. Jones short story, "Tools of the Trade," that appeared in the November 1950 issue of Astounding, was the first story dealing with 3D printing, although he called it "Molecular Spray" at the time.