The Heads of Apex

In Short

A pair of out-of-work soldiers of fortune accept a dangerous secret assignment from a crippled, swarthy employer who leads them on an underseas voyage to a realm outside of normal Earthly space. Upon arrival in the mysterious lost world of Apex, the mercenaries discover they have been hired as muscle to enforce a terrifying religious tribute: maintaining an elite caste of ancient immortal disembodied heads who survive by draining the blood of the populace. A dramatic shift in loyalties follows as the soldiers must choose between mercenary duty and human justice.

The Story

Down on his luck in New York City, war veteran Justus Miles happens upon an advertisement seeking a young, healthy soldier of fortune. Following the address to a shabby residence, he unexpectedly reunites with his former sergeant, Harry "Rusty" Ward, who is helping conduct the interviews. Ward quickly recommends Miles to their mysterious employer, an educated, cloak-draped man named Solino who sits in a wheelchair and possesses an abnormally large, hairless head. Solino hires them for a dangerous invasion of a hidden country, promising generous pay waiting for them in a Manhattan bank.

Late one night on a deserted Long Island beach, Solino uses a green light ray to summon an strange, windowless submarine from the ocean. Miles, Ward, and several other hired mercenaries board the vessel, which travels through deep underwater channels. Mid-voyage, Solino reveals that their destination lies far down, accessible through the ocean floor. Moments later, disaster strikes: the submarine crashes violently into a tunnel wall after a portion of its rail track is sabotaged. Solino's head is crushed, and the rest of the crew perishes, leaving only Miles and Ward alive.

Clambering out of the wreckage into a damp, massive cavern, the pair follow the monorail track through ancient ruins and past a menacing phosphorescent beast statue. They discover a glistening, warm crystal structure resembling a giant light bulb. Upon stepping inside and closing the door, they experience a sickening flash and are instantly transported into the strange realm of Apex. There, after fighting off aggressive green-skinned giants, they meet Zoro, the Chief of the Heads of Apex. Zoro explains that he and his brethren are former priest-scientists from lost Atlantis who transferred their brains three hundred thousand years ago into mechanical containers powered by artificial blood and internal devices.

Zoro sends the mercenaries back through the crystal portal to retrieve machine guns and tear-gas bombs from the wrecked submarine. Returning fully armed, Miles and Ward easily scatter the green-skinned laborers and local defenders. However, they are soon ambushed and captured by Spiro, a rebellious former human turned disembodied Head. Spiro exposes the horrible reality behind Apex's immortal elite: the artificial blood that keeps the Heads alive is systematically harvested from the veins of the native population.

Disgusted by the truth, Miles and Ward realize they were tricked into defending bloodthirsty vampires. Ah-eeda, a lovely native girl once loved by Spiro in his human life, sneaks into their cell and frees them. She guides the Americans back through dangerous streets and past hostile guards to the Palace of the Heads. By the time they break into the inner sanctuary, they find Zoro and the other Heads collapsing, starved of the blood tribute denied to them by the uprising. Before passing away, Zoro gives them final instructions to operate the crystal transport tube back to the tunnel and escape via an undamaged submarine car. Miles sweeps Ah-eeda into his arms, and together with Ward, the three step into the crystal chamber to return to Earth.

How It Unfolds

The soldier of fortune Justus Miles finds an ad for a soldier of fortune in a discarded newspaper while starving on a New York park bench. He rushes to the address and happily reunites with his old commander, Rusty Ward.

The voyage down Solino hires Miles and conducts his recruits to a secret Long Island beach where a windowless submarine emerges from the waves. Underway far below the Atlantic ocean, Solino drops the astounding hint that their destination lies downward beneath the sea.

Wreckage in the crypt A sudden sabotage derails the submarine inside a dark cavern, killing Solino and the rest of the mercenaries. Miles and Ward survive, navigate a tunnel of ancient ruins, and enter a glowing crystal chamber that instantly teleports them across dimensions.

The secret of the Heads Materializing in the Palace of the Heads, the men meet Zoro, a three-hundred-thousand-year-old Atlantean scientist whose hairless head sits upon a mechanical container. Zoro arms them with weapons from the wreck to suppress an uprising of giant green workers.

The terrible truth Using machine guns, the mercenaries crush the resistance until they are captured by Spiro, the rebel leader. Spiro reveals that the Heads sustain their artificial lives by forcibly draining human blood from the local people.

Escape to Earth A native girl named Ah-eeda liberates the horrified mercenaries, leading them back to the Palace as the blood-starved Heads die off. Zoro gives final escape instructions, and Miles, Ward, and Ah-eeda enter the crystal tube together to head for Earth.

The People

• Justus Miles: A broad, rangy veteran of global conflicts who finds himself stranded and penniless in New York. Looking for an honest fight and a meal, he accepts a mercenary contract without knowing its true nature. Exposed to the dark horrors of Apex, his conscience asserts itself, leading him to abandon his employer's cause and save the innocent.
• Harry "Rusty" Ward: Miles's former wartime sergeant, distinguished by his flaming red hair and tough demeanor. Practical and protective of his friend, Ward shares the mercenary code of fighting for whomever pays them, but recoils instantly when he learns the violent, parasitic truth behind their mission.
• Zoro: The formidable Chief of the Heads of Apex, who claims to be three hundred thousand years old. Originally a priest-scientist of ancient Atlantis, he preserved his vast intellect inside a mechanical container. He regards the human workers purely as a resource for blood to sustain his unnatural existence.
• Spiro: A tragic rebel leader who was once a normal man before being transformed into a mechanical Head. Remembering his human past and his love for Ah-eeda, he leads the worker revolt to end the monstrous blood tribute, accepting his own inevitable death to free his people.
• Ah-eeda: A beautiful dark-skinned Apexan girl who was once destined for sacrifice in the blood temple. Actively risking her life, she sneaks into the prison to free Miles and Ward, ultimately choosing to leave her world behind with Miles.

In Its Own Voice

"He was evidently a cripple, propped up in a strange wheelchair. He had an abnormally large and hairless head, and his body was muffled to the throat in a voluminous cloak, the folds of which fell over and enveloped most of the wheelchair itself."

A veteran mercenary assesses his mysterious new employer in a shabby Manhattan office, unaware of the mechanical monster hidden beneath the heavy cloak.

"Inside of it is a mechanical heart which pumps artificial blood--blood purified by a process I will not describe--through my head. It also contains certain inner devices under my mental control, devices that take the place of human hands and feet."

Zoro coolly explains his synthetic biology to his astonished hired guards, revealing the ancient technology that has kept him alive since the fall of Atlantis.

"Since the dawn of our history, until the present moment, the Heads have maintained their lives by draining blood from the veins of thousands of Apexans yearly!"

The rebel leader Spiro lays bare the hideous reality of the lost world, instantly turning the mercenary soldiers against their employers.

What It's Really About

Beneath its pulp-thriller surface of sub-oceanic travel, dimension-hopping, and high-tech weaponry, the story serves as a cautionary tale about the cruelties of unchecked authority and technological hubris. The elite Heads of Apex represent an extreme form of scientific overreach—intellects that have cast aside human sympathy and physical bodies in pursuit of immortal power, reducing the working class to livestock. The conflict highlights the moral awakening of simple mercenaries who initially fight for pay, only to discover that some loyalties are unethical. Ultimately, the narrative contrasts the cold, vampiric longevity of elite tyranny against the vibrant, mortal desire for freedom and human love.

Why Read It Today

Science fiction fans and readers of classic 1930s pulp literature will appreciate this vivid slice of early genre history. Published during the Great Depression, it captures a distinct atmosphere of desperate men forced into outlandish adventures simply to put food on the table. The prose moves at a brisk, unrelenting pace, packed with memorable imagery—from multi-dimensional crystal portals and giant shape-shifting creatures to mechanical heads ruling over lost Atlantean remnants.

While modern readers will easily spot period tropes, such as straightforward mercenary ethics, simplified romantic subplots, and exaggerated pulp violence, the story maintains a genuine narrative momentum. Its brief length makes it an accessible, engaging read for anyone interested in early sci-fi concepts of cyborg immortality, hidden civilizations, and revolutionary rebellions. What lingers is the eerie visual of the hairless, ancient minds clinging to life in their metal containers, set against the heroic stand of ordinary people breaking free from centuries of vampiric oppression.