John Massie Davis 10 min read

On a colonizing run, a Combatman is always in charge in case of trouble, and this trip brought a whole planet of it.

John Massie Davis's 1953 story wakes its Computerman from deep freeze after a Time-Warp jump, needles still in his wrists, to face a world of danger. Brisk, atmospheric colonial military SF with vivid hardware. Read it for fast golden-age adventure about the trouble-shooters who guard the colony ships.

In its time

Published in 1953, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

10 min read (a short story, a single idea, delivered and gone).

Illustrated by

W. E. Terry