Search Worlds Without End

Originally appeared in Ace Double H-27 (1967) and later in Ace Doube #89301 (1973). Published in 1968 as Gath, thereafter as The Winds of Gath.

This is the tale of Earl Dumarest. Space-wanderer, gladiator-for-hire, seeker of Man's forgotten home. Dumarest's search begins on the ghost-world of Gath, where he becomes unwilling champion of the Matriarch of Kund, and must undergo a fight-to-the-death at stormtime. Victory could give Dumarest his first clue to the whereabouts of the planet he fled from as a child - an obscure world scarred by ancient wars, which lies countless light years from the thickly populated centre of the galaxy; a world no-one else in the inhabited universe believed exists. Earth, the birthplace of Man.

Originally appeared in Ace Double H-77 (1968), with The Singing Stones by Juanita Coulson, and later in Ace Doube #89301 (1973).

Still driven by his search for Man's fabled birthplace, Earl Dumrest accepts a commission to guard the Lady Derai, heiress to the proud House of Caldor, on the feudal world of Hive. On Derai's home planet, Dumarest had hoped to meet a living witness to Earth. But instead he finds himself in the lists of the deadly Contest on Folgone - with the Lady of Caldor as prize. And on Folgone, for the first time, Dumarest confronts the Cybers: ruthless, emotionless tools of a great Gestalt which holds the mighty of the universe in its grip - a power which may yet provide him with the key to his quest for Earth.

First published as Ace Double #23140 with Fear That Man by Dean R Koontz.

Space-wanderer Earl Dumarest is on the planet Toy to consult the giant computer which may contain information on the whereabouts of Earth, his lost home-world. But soon he realises Toy is a place that gives away nothing for free. Before Dumarest can gain the information he needs, he must take part in the Toy Games - must fight like a tin soldier in a vast nursery. And there is nothing playful about the Games on Toy. The pain is real enough; the wounds, the blood - and death. (First published 1969)

First published as an Ace Double #42800 (1969) with The Bane of Kanthos by Alex Dain.

Many times, Dumarest's dream of Earth has almost cost him his life. As he journeys from world to world, restlessly moving outwards towards the edge of the galaxy where his goal lies, Dumarest must be alert, watchful. For there are new dangers - forces more powerful than man - which threaten his dream. On a planet where violence and superstition hold sway, Dumarest forges a bond with the prophetess Kalin. And now, more than ever, he needs her. Kalin. The mutant girl whose mysterious talent for seeing into the future has already saved him from Bloodtime on Logis, from space-disaster, from slavery on desolate Chron. Kalin. Who can foretell the terrors yet to come.

First published as an Ace Double #81610 (1970) with To Venus! To Venus! by David Grinnell

Scar: a harsh, inhospitable world with a vicious and shifting population of prospectors, drawn from every corner of the galaxy by rumours of a miraculous golden spore. To this violent planet come two more travellers, ready to try their luck among its lethal jungles: the cruel, mocking Lord of Jest - and Dumarest, driven by destiny on his endless search for Lost Earth...

First published as Ace Double #71082 (1971) with Recoil by Claude and Rhoda Nunes.

Dumarest continues his restless wandering - combing the spaceways for an ancient and almost forgotten planet called Earth. Then, on a primitive world, he fights a giant mutant for the life of the lovely psychic Lallia - and wins a vital clue that could lead him to the end of his quest...

First published as Ace Double #79975 (1972) with Tubb's own collection A Scatter of Stardust.

Dumarest has traced the lost planet of Earth to one remote corner of the galaxy, but he still lacks its precise co-ordinates. Somewhere on the cyber-dominated police-world of Technos lives the mysterious woman who can help him. And the only way to find her is to become a slave...

Earl Dumarest, trans-galactic soldier of fortune, is still seeking his birthplace, the fabled planet Earth. On the distant, decadent planet Dradea, he meets the mysterious, mutant woman Veruchia. She selected him from the gladiators' arena to become her servant... and more. Soon, Dumarest discovers that she too is engaged in a quest - and that the fate of her planet hangs in the balance. Fascinated, compelled, he agrees to help her. But then he must face bizarre perils which make the gladiatorial arena seem a haven of safety...

Earl Dumarest still seeks the mythical planet Earth... still roams alien and violent worlds. With him goes Mayenne, whose songs create joy and passion - or forgetfulness. Together they are cast up on Tormyle, a planet from another galaxy; a planet unique throughout the Universe. For Tormyle is sentient - the most powerful intelligence in the Cosmos, constantly recreating itself. Tormyle can be Paradise or Hell. Tormyle can manifest as a dragon or a knight on horseback, faceless behind the helmet. Tormyle understands nothing of humanity, of men and women, of emotion. And Tormyle will let no-one escape who cannot answer the unanswerable.

'Earth is real,' Dumarest insisted. 'A world old and scarred by ancient wars. The stars are few and there is a great single moon which hangs like a pale sun in the night sky.' In the quest for his legendary birthplace, Earl Dumarest has traversed galaxies. Now, at least, he reaches Ourelle, a planet close to Earth - out along a far arm of the Milky Way. There he finds Jondelle, a boy who may hold the key to Earl's search. But then Jondelle is kidnapped. And Dumarest's pursuit of the imperilled boy leads him to a city of paranoiac killers - madmen whose terrible violence is always on a hair-trigger!

Earl Dumarest's quest for his homeland - the legendary planet Earth - had been long and dangerous. Trekking across the galactic wastelands of the Milky Way, he had been pursued and hindered at every step by the deadly Cyclan. Now, just as his search seems to be nearing its close, Dumarest is once again side-tracked - forced to lead an army for Zenya in the deadly feuds of the alien planet of Paiyar . . .

Cyber Prime surveyed the domains of his vast scattered empire with trepidation. Central Intelligence had ruled the empire in the past. Now he knew that this gigantic computer was degenerating, breaking up after years of use. Only one man could save them: Earl Dumarest, a lonely space traveller engaged on a long quest to find his birth planet, Earth. The Cybers must find and intercept him. But before the Cybers discover Dumarest, they encounter Eloise, a beautiful seductress who drives logic from their minds . . .

In the course of a continuing quest for his legendary birthplace, Earl Dumarest befriends a young man who says his home world was called Nerth.

New Earth, perhaps? Or even the original planet Dumarest seeks? He must find out.

And so Dumarest comes to Nerth - to discover that the Cyclan, his prime enemy in the cosmos, is already there... together with mysteries and terror that defy the imagination!

Earl Dumarest continues his desperate search for his birthplace, and seems to be coming close to the mythical planet Earth.

But his attention is temporarily diverted, as he is unexpectedly involved in a hunt for a nebulous ghost world in another galaxy.

It is rumoured that in this fabulous land lies the mysterious Castle of Heart's Desire, where every wish is fulfilled. If Dumarest can find it, then maybe - just maybe - he will be able to return to the planet of his birth.

Earl Dumarest, now a vanquished and captive mercenary, is offered the choice of surrender to the fearsome Cyclan or the chance of freedom by the beautiful and ruthless Lady Delphine. The risks are terrifying - but has Dumarest a choice?

Intent on finding the legendary world of Terra - Earth - the planet of his birth; pursued by the brilliant and ruthless megalomaniac race, the Cyclan, whose secret key to Galactic domination only he possesses; trapped on a plague ship hurtling through a universe determined to destroy it, and captained by a madman - Earl Dumarest is tempted by the irresistible but fatal promise of Delphine.

The choice is simple - to abandon his dreams or perish by them, just as they promise fulfilment.

As guardian of the Universe's freedom from the domination by the Cyclan, Earl Dumarest is ruthlessly hunted by their agent, Cyber Broge, as he searches for the fortune necessary to finance his epic quest for Terra - the planet of his birth. Hunter and fugitive, predator and victim, Earl Dumarest lands on the planet Zakym.

ZAKYM - a cadaverous, twin-sunned world where the spectres of the dead daily claim the lives of the living; a decadent world that threatens to explode with the unparalleled violence of civil war and broken taboos.

ZAKYM - home of the beautiful, haunted Lavinia whose soul is claimed and condemned by a power-crazed madman.

Both Lavinia and her planet are doomed until a man appears who promises to be their saviour. Dumarest is the only person capable of challenging the terrifying menace of the Cyclan and the terrors of Zakym. But can even he triumph against such foes?

ZAKYM: World of the night-rulers and the day people. A world teetering on the edge of nightmare.

The Cyclan orders were clear - 'Find Dumarest. Find him before war erupts on ZAKYM.' But Zakym could hold the key to Dumarest's search for his lost home planet - and for that he would risk everything.

The Painting was dramatic, passionate, a work of genius. But Earl Dumarest was blind to its power.

For there, in the background, were the features of cratered Luna, satellite of Earth, the fabled planet that Dumarest had sought through countless galaxies.

Dumarest had to find the artist, had to talk to him. His trail led to Ath - and to the ominous forces of the Cyclan.

The Cyclan was the greatest concentration of intelligence in a thousand worlds - and yet Earl Dumarest continued to elude it. For too long.

Bochner was the greatest hunter of a hundred worlds - a man more than wise to the wiles of beasts and men. And now he was on the trail of the most dangerous and most challenging quarry of his career: Earl Dumarest.

While Dumarest searched for lost Terra, the Cyclan and Bochner searched for him. Of all the nightmare worlds of the universe, the hunt this time was to lead to the Quillian Sector.

The Quillian Sector: the place where space goes mad...

There was only one way out of Harge: to find a singing jewel, the greatest prize on that world of sand dunes. But the jewels were hidden deep in the burrows of Harge's most vicious predator.

Earl Dumarest could fight humans, could match wits with the implacable Cyclan. But now, in his galaxy-spanning quest for the lost planet Earth, he must face the WEB OF SAND.

It was touch and go for Earl Dumarest when the slavers of the Matriarchy of Onorldi struck his work camp. Had he not captured the Matriarch herself during the fight, it might have spelled his doom when the slavers triumphed.

Because, even though the odds had turned heavily against him, he was able to strike a bargain. The Matriarch's child daughter Iduna had disappeared into the mind-trap of the Tau. If he could follow, find her, and return with her, he would have his freedom and a chance to locate the lost Earth he sought.

But Dumarest had to outwit her monster playthings, outfight her hideous horrors, and outdream her satanic fantasies...

Only Earl Dumarest himself believed that there was ever a planet called Earth. He had been seeking it a long time - but nobody else at the crowded galactic centre believed in it. During his quest he had acquired some bits of information - a Terrestrial zodiac, and authentic painting of Luna, a general series of hints that he was getting closer.

The he learned of a man on Elysius who knew where Earth was, and who had the special coordinates that would take a starship directly to it. Though the man was dead, his widow knew where the data lay. But she demanded a price from Dumarest - a chore that involved a mining expedition which would bring her back a fortune... and for him the information he sought.

But the Terra Data would not be so easily come by!

Ascelius was an academic world, whose primary business was teaching the knowledge of the thousands of worlds, and housing great universities and colleges, populated by students and scholars from all over the galaxy.

Such a world was surely the place to learn of the legendary planet called Earth. And Dumarest discovered that there had once indeed been a study-group of Earth lore. But to find the remnants of it was not easy. Not when the dreaded Cyber already had a toe-hold on Ascelius - and genetic engineering of man and monster was the latest fad.

But Dumarest was not a quitter. Whatever the tests might demand, he would not give up... although it might mean death for others - or even for himself.

The planet had two unique elements. One was that it produced the galaxy's most desirable hallucinatory drug. The other was that it was a stock broker's paradise.

The world was split into rich men's holdings - and every hour, every minute these were being traded on a continuous stock-market. Up and down went values as men conspired to seize others' properties, to push prices down and costs up. Their money game controlled everything else - the common people, workers, farmers, homes, lives, poverty and luxury...

Earl Dumarest went there to find his next stake. Find the drug-gem or manipulate the market - two possibilities. But behind the scenes stood the advisors of the inhuman Cyclan, determined to fix the odds against Dumarest...

Zabul was no ordinary world. It was a private religious sanctuary - location secret, visitors unwelcome. It was a world fanatically dedicated to one belief and to one goal. The belief that mankind originated on a single world... the goal was to find it.

To find Earth was a goal that Earl Dumarest shared. But how much did he really have in common with the zealot Terridae, who slept in caskets decorated with the zodiacs and dreamed of soaring towers of crystal and floating cities? And what were their despotic Guardians really after?

The Terridae believed the lost Earth was heaven and utopia combined. In their artificial planet, they moved slowly through the universe in search of it. And in their eyes, the rediscovery of Earth was to be the Event.

Now they said the Event was coming! Earl Dumarest - who was born on Earth and knew the truth - was an unwelcome visitor among them. If they knew of Earth's whereabouts, they were not telling him.

But another Event was already on its way. A Cyclan ship was rapidly approaching the Terridae's world, confident that this time Dumarest would fall into their heartless clutches.

Dumarest was not ready to flee - but if he stayed there would be no Earth for him, only a long, lingering doom.

All the signals seemed set at "go." For Earl Dumarest had found people who believed in the legendary Earth. He had found the coordinates of the Sun and its attendant planets. And he would have the starship with a faithful crew of colonists for whom Earth was the paradise of their dreams.

But before he could reach that ideal moment, Dumarest would have to fight his way out of a demonic Cyclan trap as well as unravel a very tricky web of planetary conspiracy.

Only if he could achieve those desperate goals would he be able to set out on what he hoped would be the final lap of his long galactic trek...

"Welcome to the circus of Chen Wei! A spectacle of marvels culled from a thousand worlds! Things that will fill you with rapture!"

There could be little to surprise Dumarest. But Chen Wei's circus was special. It held Melome - the girl-child whose song could bring back forgotten data from the logs of lost spaceships and true visions of mythical Terra. She was surely the key to Dumarest's next step - but that circus was more than an entertainment. It was a deadly trap...

On Angado's planet, there was a man who knew the whereabouts of the lost Earth. Earl Dumarest, born on Earth, longed to find the way home. Because they were comrades in arms, Angado would help Earl find that man - for a price.

For Angado was returning to a complex of high-tech cunning and high-wealth power... the prodigal son against whom all would plot. The Cyclan, who had put a fabulous price on Dumarest's head, were also closing in. But Dumarest was willing to stay to the bitter end - for the priceless reward of forgotten Terra.

Clues from Angado, clues from the lady Govinda, all leading Dumarest on in his search for the lost Planet Earth. But first they lead him to a collector of ancient wisdom called Tama Chenault.

But Chenault is not all that he seems, and Dumarest is forced to bargain for the information he seeks. In return he must pledge allegiance to Chenault's deadly plan...

In relentless pursuit of Earl Dumarest come the emotionless minions of the Cyclan. Seeking the body-switching formula which would make them masters of the universe, they must seize Dumarest alive to gain his secret.

It all comes together on the world of the Guardians, where in the great temple of their fanatical faith, the true co-ordinates of Earth are listed. There Dumarest will battle the Cyclan... while the fate of all humanity hangs in the balance.

Dumarest had learned in the hard school of experience and he came equipped with certain attributes. He had very fast reflexes, he carried a knife and knew how to use it, he wore travellers garb which, because of the metal mesh buried within the thermal plastic, gave him protection against the lash of a claw, the rip of thorns, the cut and thrust of edged weapons. Most important of all, he had an overriding determination to survive no matter what the cost.

On Gath this wasn't easy...

There should have been soft breezes scented with entrancing perfumes, the soothing warmth of a golden sun, lakes of wine and mountains of grain, trees adorned with fruit and bud and flower, shrubs bearing a profusion of glittering gems. Herbs and spices to provide freedom from pain, a return to youthful zest, an end of aging and decay. Salves and ointments and natural fungi to cure all physical ills. . .

For this was Earth, that planet of legend, the paradise for which all yearned and hungered to find. The world of joy and beauty and riches beyond the wildest dreams.

Instead Earl Dumarest found a landscape of unremitting hostility. Could this really be the fabled home world for which he had spent his entire life searching...?