
Don Denton is the go‑to troubleshooter for the Inter‑World Mining Corporation, dispatched on a routine scout rocket to investigate why supplies from Lanka have stalled. While watching the crew load a modest cargo of Martian delicacies, his easy‑going banter is interrupted by a request to take aboard a passenger with a company pass. Reluctant but bound by protocol, Denton ends up paired with the enigmatic Jean Palmer, a determined young woman desperate to reach Venus and learn what happened to her missing father.
In the quiet of space, the mission quickly takes a turn for the uncanny. Dead crew members appear to be walking, and entire ships disappear without a trace, suggesting a deeper puzzle that even Denton’s practical mind struggles to untangle. As the two navigate shifting loyalties and the strange phenomena surrounding their vessel, they must decide whether to trust each other long enough to uncover the truth before the void claims them.
Language
en
Duration
~55 minutes (52K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
Sep 26, 2020
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
1911–1979
A lively pulp-era writer, magazine editor, and later TV scriptwriter, he moved easily between science fiction, detective stories, westerns, and adventure fiction. His work has the quick pace and vivid imagination that make mid-century popular storytelling so much fun to revisit.
View all books
by Wilbur S. Peacock

by Wilbur S. Peacock

by Wilbur S. Peacock

by Wilbur S. Peacock

by Wilbur S. Peacock

by Wilbur S. Peacock

by Vinceslas-Eugène Dick

by Philippe Aubert de Gaspé