F. L. Wallace 1 hr 17 min read

An unprovoked night attack is terrifying on your own world, worse across the Galaxy. But the real horror is the offer of help that cannot be accepted.

F. L. Wallace's 1952 story pairs a stranded traveler with Dimanche, the voice in his head that reads other minds, as an alien world turns menacing. Ingenious, suspenseful golden-age SF. Read it for a taut tale of a man far from home, hunted, and unable to trust the hand held out to him.

In its time

Published in 1952, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

1 hr 17 min read (a novella, a full arc in one sitting or two).

Illustrated by

Don Sibley