The Exiles Summary

The three witches from Shakespeare's Macbeth perform a spell with a wax figure, pushing a needle through its heart. It's the year 2120, and a rocket ship from Earth hurtles through space toward Mars, with sick and dying men on board. The doctor reports that there's no physical reason for a man's death, but reports that the man said he felt like melting wax and as if needles were piercing him.

The ship will land on Mars in an hour. Before leaving Earth, the men all had nightmares, which the captain believes are caused by Martians trying to prevent the Earth men from coming to Mars. The captain has on board two hundred ancient books, all of which have been banned for a hundred years. The captain does not know why, but he thinks the books will be important for them.

The...