THE NEXT TIME WE DIE

Episode #507 · Written by Robert Moore Williams · Narrated by Scott Miller

Two humans lie pinned in the open on a hostile desert world, their shelter nothing more than a shallow scrape in the sand. Around them, unseen tribesmen wield deadly weapons salvaged from a civilization that once rose high and fell hard. The air is thin. The sun is merciless. Every movement risks drawing a beam that can tear flesh in an instant.

What makes this story burn is not just the firefight. It is the argument unfolding between bursts of gunfire. One clings to the idea that humanity never truly loses—that every setback is temporary if there is another chance to try again. The other carries quieter hopes, interrupted by the hard fact that survival may last only minutes. In the middle of violence, they speak of what might come after this life, and what they would do differently if given another shot.

The ruined city in the distance stands as proof that progress can collapse. The tribes attacking them are heirs to both knowledge and regression. Yet even as traps close and escape narrows to a desperate sprint, a promise forms that refuses to die. The question is not whether they can win this fight. It is whether the human drive to return can ever be extinguished.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert Moore Williams was a regular contributor to magazines such as Planet Stories, Amazing Stories, and Thrilling Wonder Stories during the 1940s and 1950s. He wrote fast-moving planetary fiction and adventure novels including the long-running Jongor series, along with dozens of short stories that placed Earth-born characters in stark extraterrestrial landscapes. His fiction often blended frontier toughness with speculative ideas about evolution and humanity’s long future among the stars. The Next Time We Die reflects that blend perfectly: intimate in scale, fierce in action, and anchored in an unshakable belief that mankind will always come back for another attempt.

LISTEN TO THE STORY

Listen to The Next Time We Die by Robert Moore Williams — a gripping vintage science fiction tale of Mars, reincarnation, and an unbroken human vow.

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The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast is the most listened-to vintage science fiction podcast in the world. Ranked the #1 Science Fiction Podcast in 34 countries and heard in more than 190 countries, the show has surpassed 3.8 million listens.

Each episode features carefully selected stories from the Golden Age of science fiction, professionally narrated. Timeless storytelling the way it was meant to be heard.

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