Poisoned Air
by Sterner St. Paul Meek
Reviewed date: 2010 Apr 20
Reviewed date: 2010 Apr 20
There's nothing to like about this old science fiction short story. A mysterious cloud of poison fog kills some soldiers at the Aberdeen Proving Ground. Upon investigation, it turns out the poison gas is some kind of super-sized crystalline oxygen. When it contacts the lungs, the crystal breaks and the pure oxygen damages the lungs. Who can be behind it?
An evil Russian, of course. Who else? This Russian, Ivan Saranoff, has developed a microbe which creates the deadly oxygen crystals. We're not told who he is or why he is killing American soldiers with poison gas. But our hero, Dr. Bird, and his assistant the lovely Miss Andrews, foil Saranoff's plan and save the world. It's not a very good story.