W. J. Matthews 45 min read

Three patrolmen leap to salute as the Inspector-General of the Planet Patrol strides in, his broad chest scaled with the medals of twenty worlds, then slumps in limp exhaustion into a chair.

W. J. Matthews's 1948 story is a brisk space-opera adventure of the Planet Patrol and a deadly quarry. Fast, colorful golden-age pulp. Read it for a rousing tale where a legendary lawman brings word of a menace, and a trap is set at Banya Tor for one of the galaxy's most wanted.

In its time

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

Reading it

45 min read (a novelette, room for a turn or two).

Illustrated by

Max Elkan