William J. Brittain 23 min read

He can't say exactly when the idea of killing Hervey took hold, perhaps the day the dropped wrench drifted down and struck his partner's helmet. Now Joe watches, and waits, for an accident.

William J. Brittain's 1948 story builds a taut space-opera tale of murder plotted amid the beacon-service run. Sharp, suspenseful golden-age SF. Read it for a chilling story of a man patiently engineering the perfect 'accident' out in the void.

In its time

Published in 1948, during the 1940s, the golden age begins.

Reading it

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

Illustrated by

Meilink