
A weary division chief aboard the glittering Venusport headquarters is jolted from his routine nap by a baffling report about the restive Kenton crew. The bureaucracy that penned the official Manual now finds its own rules slipping, as absurd requests for personal projects clash with the relentless demands of a jungle‑bound outpost. Chief Wattles and his overly‑eager assistant John trade sarcastic barbs while trying to keep the operation afloat, hinting at a world where paperwork and peril sit side by side.
Meanwhile, deep in the tangled jungles outside the outpost, Bliss Kenton battles a mysterious vacuum‑snake that drains her blood in an instant, and the ever‑present threat of a nearby dragon that seems more interested in cooking than killing. The tension builds as the jungle’s strange creatures and the looming dragon force the settlers to confront a danger far beyond their mundane office dramas, promising a wild, fast‑paced adventure that blends bureaucratic satire with classic sci‑fi excitement.
Language
en
Duration
~30 minutes (28K 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
Feb 1, 2020
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

A little-known science fiction writer, active around the early 1960s, whose short stories mix speculative ideas with a light, often playful touch. His work survives mainly through magazines and public-domain reprints, making him an interesting rediscovery for vintage SF readers.
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