A TIME TO DIE
By HAROLD CALIN
Illustrated by FINLAY
Capt. Kingsford cleaved the depths of space in a
monomaniacal search for his personal devil. The
tale of what happens when he finds it is reminiscent,
on a cosmic scale, of Moby Dick. For every
man like Kingsford, is there a white whale?
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Amazing Stories June 1961.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Heroes are not brave men; they are the fortunate victims of circumstance. They perform an act in life for which one usually pays with that life. But they do it with an unusual outcome. They do not die. So they are heroes. Captain Robert Kingsford returned alive from the first expedition to Aldebaran IX. He returned alone. He also commanded the second expedition. I was, or perhaps I should say, still am executive officer on this second expedition. If there is ever a third expedition here, Kingsford will not be the commander. This time he did not become a hero. He became a very stupid, very dead man.