A Plague of Demons

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. Copyright © 2003 by Baen Books.

A Plague of Demons was first serialized as The Hounds of Hell in If magazine (Nov-Dec., 1964) and reissued as a novel in 1965 by Berkley. "Thunderhead" was first published in Galaxy in April, 1967. "End as a Hero" was first published in Galaxy in June, 1963. "Doorstep" was first published in Galaxy in February, 1961. "Test to Destruction" was first published in Dangerous Visions (Harlan Ellison, editor), Doubleday 1967. "The Star-Sent Knaves" (aka: "Time Thieves") was first published in Worlds of Tomorrow in June, 1963. "Greylorn" was first published in Amazing in April, 1959. "Of Death What Dreams" was first published in Worlds of Tomorrow #24 (1970) and then reissued in Five Fates, published by Doubleday, 1970. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form. A Baen Books Original Baen Publishing Enterprises P.O. Box 1403 Riverdale, NY 10471 www.baen.com

ISBN: 0-7434-3588-5

Cover art by Richard Martin First printing, February 2003 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Laumer, Keith, 1925-1993

A plague of demons and other stories / by Keith Laumer. p. cm. ISBN 0-7434-3588-5 (pbk.) 1. Human-alien encounters-Fiction. 2. Science fiction, American. I. Title: Plague of demons and other stories. II. Title.