
Part 1
On the desolate world of Alpha Centauri III, a lone hunter named Starrett Blade—dubbed “Death Star” for his lethal efficiency— finds himself cast into a shallow, crystal‑clear lake after his ship is crippled by a mysterious energy beam. The planet’s endless rock plains and isolated waterholes create a stark backdrop for his desperate fight for survival, far from any friendly outpost.
Emerging from the water, Blade confronts a heavily armed member of the feared pirate Devil Garrett’s crew, dispatching him with a flash of his electron knife before the pirate’s jet‑gun erupts, scattering rock. As he steadies himself, a dark‑haired woman appears, her trembling voice demanding he surrender, while Blade grapples with the puzzling motives that have drawn her into his deadly game.
With his reflexes honed from years of tracking Garrett, Blade must decide whether to trust this enigmatic stranger or press on alone, all while the barren landscape hides clues to the true source of the lethal beam that brought him here.
Language
en
Duration
~26 minutes (25K 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
2020-10-09
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
1929–2008
A mid-20th-century novelist whose work ranged from suspense to science fiction, he wrote lean, fast-moving stories that still feel vivid today. Several of his shorter science-fiction pieces have been preserved through Project Gutenberg, helping new readers discover his work.
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