The Twisted Men

The Twisted Men collects three Van Vogt stories from SF magazines around 1950. They are "The Twisted Men", first published as "Rogue Ship" in the March 1950 Super Science Stories; "The Star-Saint", first published in the March 1951 Planet Stories, and "The Earth Killers", first published in the April 1949 Super Science Stories.

The Twisted Men

A scientist who believes the Sun is a variable star, and a sort of mini-nova will destroy life on Earth in a few years. The only hope is to send an colony expedition to Alpha Centauri. He is dismissed as a crackpot, but still manages to build a ship and send it off, with an odd mix of volunteers. He stays home on Earth and is shocked when the ship returns early. But it doesn't stop ...

The Star-Saint

A new colony has been mysterious wiped out, on what seems to be an empty planet. The title character learns to communicate with the planet, which is sentient and has been sending rocks to attack the colonists. He negotiates an agreement for mutual benefit.

The Earth Killers

The US is nearly destroyed by a nuclear attack. But no other country seems to have sent the bombs. And the hero, an Air Force pilot, had been testing a new plane at the time of the attack and he witness a bomb, which he thought was coming in nearly vertically, as if the attack was from space. But he is not believed, and it is assumed he is concealing the actual villain country. So he goes to prison, but escapes to try to find the real villains, whom he assumes are on a base on the moon.