Ten From Infinity

In Short

When a pedestrian struck by a taxicab is found to have two hearts, government investigator Brent Taber uncovers an insidious extraterrestrial plot. Ten identical synthetic men—androids created by an unseen alien civilization—have been placed in cities across the United States. They serve as advance scouts to test human physiology and prepare the planet for conquest. As Taber struggles against bureaucratic interference, political self-interest, and media ridicule, the androids begin to malfunction, telepathically manipulate citizens, and murder one another, leaving Earth's defenders in a desperate race to understand the alien threat before total invasion.

The Story

The story opens at the corner of 59th Street and Park Avenue in New York City, where a pedestrian walking toward Grand Central Station is struck by a yellow cab. Taken to Park Hill Hospital, the dazed patient is examined by Frank Corson, an impoverished intern. Using a stethoscope, Corson makes a baffling discovery: the man possesses two hearts. Seeking to leverage this strange medical anomaly to improve his career and sustain his high-society relationship with his wealthy girlfriend, Rhoda Kane, Corson collaborates with Les King, an opportunistic free-lance news photographer.

The incident registers as a signal far out in space, alerting the alien creators that something has gone wrong with their Earth operation. Intelligence operative Brent Taber is assigned to a secret project to investigate the threat. Working alongside scientific researcher Doctor Entman, Taber discovers that the hospital patient was not an isolated case. Ten identical synthetic men—androids—have been dispatched to major American cities. These creatures are perfectly matched in every physical detail, down to their duplicate hearts and identical fingerprints.

As Taber attempts to track down the entities, he faces constant sabotage from human politics. Senator Crane, a self-serving politician who learns of the operation through an illegal listening device, seeks to exploit the situation for personal publicity and political leverage. Meanwhile, the androids themselves prove volatile. One, picked up in a Chicago bar babbling about internal destruction, is subjected to intense interrogation, but no threat of pain or death can unlock the secrets in its brain.

In Greenwich Village, a mysterious android named John Dennis emerges. Dennis possesses telepathic powers and begins mentally manipulating those around him. He subtly enslaves Rhoda Kane, using her to gather information on Corson and Taber. Driven by unknown directives or internal flaws, Dennis eventually murders another android in Corson’s room, leaving a bloody crime scene that ensnares the innocent intern in a homicide investigation. Photographer Les King sneaks into Doctor Entman's lab to secretly photograph top-secret research data, hoping to sell the scoop or expose an espionage ring.

Taber and Entman deduce that the alien creators sent the ten androids on a trial-and-error basis. Lacking the physical capability to survive on Earth directly, the aliens are using the synthetic men to gather biological data to perfect an invading army. However, the androids are prone to rapid degradation and violent madness under Earth conditions.

Senator Crane takes to the Senate floor to grandstand about an imminent space invasion, but his dramatic performance backfires. The press lampoons his claims, and his political reputation is ruined. As the remaining androids collapse or destroy one another, the immediate threat of a coordinated invasion dissipates into mundane crime. Taber's superiors eagerly take credit for resolving the crisis and offer him a quiet promotion. Disgusted by the political maneuvering, the deaths of three people, and the trauma inflicted on innocent citizens, Taber turns to Scotch, while a defeated Frank Corson prepares to board a plane at Newark Airport to abandon New York for Minnesota.

How It Unfolds

A collision on Park Avenue A pedestrian is struck by a taxicab in Manhattan, setting off an interstellar signal and leading doctors at Park Hill Hospital to discover the patient has two hearts.

The secret investigation Agent Brent Taber and Doctor Entman realize ten physically identical androids have been seeded across American cities, prompting a highly classified government effort to determine their purpose.

Complications and espionage Intern Frank Corson and photographer Les King attempt to profit off the medical anomaly, while Senator Crane uses a hidden microphone to spy on Taber's project for his own political gain.

Telepathic control and murder An android named John Dennis uses mental influence to dominate Corson's girlfriend, Rhoda Kane, before murdering a fellow android in Corson's room and framing the intern.

The press backlash Senator Crane attempts to reveal the alien plot on the Senate floor to win public acclaim, but the national media ridicules his wild claims of space invasions and synthetic men.

A bitter resolution With the androids dead or destroyed by their own internal flaws, government officials praise Taber for containing the crisis, leaving him disillusioned as those caught in the crossfire pick up the pieces of their broken lives.

The People

• Brent Taber: A dedicated government agent assigned to investigate the extraterrestrial threat. He wants to uncover the alien plot and protect humanity, but he is constantly thwarted by official red tape, political ambition, and administrative meddling. He ends the crisis weary, cynical, and disgusted by his superiors' self-serving praise.
• Frank Corson: An impoverished hospital intern struggling with feelings of inadequacy regarding his wealthy girlfriend, Rhoda. He wants financial security and professional recognition, which leads him to unwisely exploit his discovery of the two-hearted patient. He ends up framed for murder, deeply traumatized, and forced to leave the city.
• Rhoda Kane: A wealthy woman who loves Corson but finds herself helpless against the psychic influence of an alien synthetic man. She wants a stable relationship with Corson, but her mind and soul are dominated by John Dennis.
• John Dennis: The tenth android, who operates with dangerous autonomy in New York. He wants to retrieve critical research data for his extraterrestrial masters, using telepathic coercion and violence against humans and his fellow androids until his mission collapses.
• Senator Crane: An opportunistic politician who wants headlines, prestige, and national adoration. His arrogant attempt to hijack Taber's secret investigation backfires completely, leaving him a laughingstock in the national press.

In Its Own Voice

"No doubt it was the first motor mishap in the history of creation that reached out among the stars."

A routine Manhattan traffic collision unexpectedly alerts an alien intelligence far out in space that their secret mission on Earth has encountered a fatal flaw.

"They were all exactly alike; as alike as eight new cars of the same make and model lined up side by side ..."

Doctor Entman explains to government officials that the captured specimens are not merely similar, but absolute, identical duplicates down to their very fingerprints.

"I'm betting that the ten androids were sent here on a trial-and-error basis, with the objective of perfecting them and creating an android army to move in and take us over."

Brent Taber formulates his core hypothesis regarding why an advanced alien race sent ten synthetic men to test Earth's environment before mounting a full-scale invasion.

What It's Really About

Underneath its pulp science-fiction premise of synthetic men and alien invasion, the book is fundamentally about human dysfunction, institutional paranoia, and greed. The extraterrestrial threat is almost secondary to the domestic pettiness that undermines Earth's defense. Bureaucrats care more about departmental hierarchy than national safety; a senator prioritizes personal headlines over genuine public service; an intern and a photographer view a world-altering scientific discovery merely as a scheme to make money. The story argues that humanity's greatest vulnerability to outside threats is not a lack of technology or military power, but its own selfish nature, petty rivalries, and inability to cooperate even in the face of total destruction.

Why Read It Today

Ten From Infinity appeals to readers who enjoy mid-century cold war thrillers, classic science fiction, and fast-paced investigative mysteries. Writing under the pseudonym Ivar Jorgensen, Paul W. Fairman delivers a cynical narrative that subverts traditional alien-invasion tropes. Instead of grand space battles or high-tech ray guns, the story unfolds through shadowy hospital corridors, tense interrogation rooms, backroom political maneuvering, and gritty Manhattan apartments.

The novel moves briskly, driven by snappy dialogue and a pervasive sense of paranoia. While modern readers will easily spot period attitudes regarding gender dynamics—particularly in the melodramatic, passive portrayal of Rhoda's relationship with Corson and Dennis—the book offers a fascinating glimpse into early 1960s anxieties regarding covert infiltration, media sensationalism, and government incompetence. It leaves the reader with a memorable, somber reflection on how easily extraordinary events can be swallowed up by bureaucracy and forgotten by a fickle public.