Edmond Hamilton’s novella The Starcombers

Edmond Hamilton’s novella The Starcombers first appeared in Science Fiction Adventures in December 1956.

Edmond Hamilton (1904-1977) was an American science fiction writer who wrote some fine space opera for the pulps in the 1930s and 40s. He was a major contributor to Weird Tales. In 1946 he married Leigh Brackett.

Sam Fletcher works for Harry Axe. Harry Axe runs a space salvage operation. They find formerly inhabited planets and salvage anything that might be of value, especially metals. It’s quite legal but it’s the kind of business that attracts operators who are perhaps a bit shady, or at the very least rather ethically flexible.

Sam Fletcher is the pilot of Harry’s scout ship. He doesn’t like the work but it’s OK as long as he stays reasonably drunk.

Harry’s wife Lucy has become a problem for Sam. She desperately wants to sleep with Sam but he isn’t interested. Lucy reacts the way a lot of women would react in that situation. She feels scorned, so she wants to get even. She tells Harry that Sam seduced her. Harry isn’t sure if he believes her or not but the seed of suspicion has been planted and now things are tense between Sam and Harry. Lucy has caused trouble, which is what she wanted to do.

Harry and his team have found a planet that is pretty much dead. There’s a huge cleft running through it, as if the planet had been almost torn in two. There’s no atmosphere but there are ruins of a civilisation and there’s enough metal to make a profitable haul.

Then Sam spots somebody. Somebody apparently human, or at least human-like - it’s hard to be sure when someone is wearing a spacesuit. The planet is supposed to be uninhabited.

What interests Harry is that the stranger’s spacesuit and helmet are made of an incredibly lightweight incredibly tough totally unknown substance. That could mean money - there are people who would pay big bucks to analyse that substance.

And then all hell breaks loose. The planet is inhabited by a variety of life forms, some humanoid and some very bizarre indeed. They live in that cleft, where the last of the planet’s atmosphere is to be found. They all want food. Food is in very short supply. Harry assumes that this will make trading easy.

All the species native to the planet are constantly at war. Harry thinks he can scheme his way out of anything but maybe this time he’s miscalculated.

Sam is not exactly a standard square-jawed action hero. He’s not a hopeless drunk, but he is a drunk. He’s cynical. He’s not outstandingly brave. What he does have is a burning desire to survive, which is odd since he gives the impression of being a guy who puts very little value on his life.

Whether Harry is a villain or just reckless and foolish remains to be seen.

The story is not short on action and danger.

There are a few moral quandaries that Sam will have to face.

This is space opera but with at least some substance. Recommended.

Armchair Fiction have paired this title with The Year When Stardust Fell by Raymond F. Jones in a double-header edition.

I’ve reviewed some of Edmond Hamilton's other fiction including The Avenger from Atlantis and Crashing Suns.