
A weary space captain records his own downfall after a disastrous mission leaves him stranded on an alien world. Stripped of command and abandoned by his crew, he awakens on a humid, nitrogen‑rich shore with only a handful of tools—a mortality capsule, a tiny telescope, a language guide, and a stack of curiosities—to keep his mind occupied. The planet’s landscape is oddly familiar, yet its inhabitants are far from ordinary.
The native beings communicate in guttural roars and frantic chatter, some lumbering quadrupeds that barely notice him, others tiny, chatty flyers that offer half‑understood anecdotes. As the captain grapples with isolation, he catalogues their habits, their lack of ambition, and the bizarre social hierarchy that places a massive, partially covered creature at the top. His journal becomes a blend of survival log, philosophical puzzle, and uneasy dialogue with a world that seems both absurd and hauntingly real.
Language
en
Duration
~31 minutes (30K 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
2016-04-17
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1914–2002
A one-of-a-kind American storyteller, he turned tall tales, theology, and wild imagination into science fiction and fantasy that still feels unlike anyone else. Best known for his dazzling short fiction, he built a loyal following with stories that are funny, strange, and deeply original.
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