Roger D. Aycock 22 min read

After the arid inner planets, the cool green disk of Alphard Six looks like a jewel designed for the crew's hard-earned rest, but caution says spiral in first.

Roger D. Aycock's 1960 story rides with the Terran Reclamations crew of the Marco Four toward an inviting world, the impulsive navigator itching to land. Genial, well-crafted first-contact SF with a likable crew. Read it for smart golden-age SF about a survey team and the surprises of a too-perfect planet.

In its time

Published in 1960, during the 1960s, new wave revolutionizes the genre.

Reading it

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