Review: “Measure of a Man” by Randall Garrett (1960)
Posted on January 14th, 2008
This short story hooked me right away and ended all too quickly. Think of it as The Swiss Family Robinson or Robinson Crusoe on speed.Lieutenant Alfred Pendray, sole survivor of a “Rat” attack on the now dead-in-space battleship Shane, finds that he is the last hope for mankind. The Shane’s mission to retrieve a Terran spy from a Rat planet was
accomplished, but the ship was discovered and blasted on its return, accompanying it to its demise were the rest of the crew, picked off fleeing in the lifeboats.
Pendray, surviving because he was in the shielded sickbay with a busted ankle, discovers that the remaining lifeboat was being repaired at the time of the attack and that leaking radiation would kill him if he used it. He further discovers the Terran agent’s message, which warns of a plot to destroy Sol by a certain date but also includes the means to foil the plot if the warning reaches Earth in time.
If you ever wondered why you needed to learn that math back in school, well, this short story shows how you might just save the world with it one day.
Lastly, the single illustration by Martinez is very good and fits the mood of the piece.
Definitely recommended and you can find it at Project Gutenberg in a couple formats or Manybooks.net in more.
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