Cosmic Castaway
By CARL JACOBI
Within a year Earth would be a vassal world,
with the Sirian invaders triumphant. Only
Standish, Earth's Defense Engineer, could
halt that last victorious onslaught—and
he was helpless, the lone survivor of a
prison ship wrecked in uncharted space.
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Planet Stories March 1943.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Standish came back to consciousness, a dull pain surging in his head and a feeling of nausea in his midsection. The room about him was strange: grey arelium walls, a single light burning above the iron cot, and a low vibration that trembled the floor beneath his feet.
For a time he lay there, fighting off a cloud of dizziness. Then he groped unsteadily to his feet. As he did, the vibration ceased, and far off he fancied he heard voices pitched in alarm. A bell clanged hollowly several times.
He recognized those sounds now, as his thoughts struggled to bridge the gap in his brain and the memory of past events came rushing to him.
He was on a Sirian prison ship!