Synopsis
Holderlein is a crewmember on a cargo ship, transporting rare oils across space. The captian of the ship seems to be in on a plot for pirates to highjack the cargo. Holderlein wants to thwart the plans.
History
First publication: Startling Stories, Summer 1946
Review
Typical for the magazine and year in which this was published, this story is just a short space opera adventure, complete with space pirates and a hero to outwit them. Not much real science so this could easily have been made a pure fantasy, except that there are spaceships. It is fun and the writing is okay for what it is. No deep character or world building. I think this could have been better as just one chapter of a longer work that gets deeper into the world and society and explores the character of Holderlein in more depth. But it isn’t. Recommended only to those who love the old-time space opera.
