Review: “The Quantum Jump” by Robert Wicks (1958)

Posted on January 25th, 2008

A quick short story where a megalomaniacal expedition commander receives his comeuppance.When the Reds beat the U.S. to Mars and Venus, a mission is sent on a many-year mission to find habitable planets outside the solar system. Upon reaching Sirius 3 after four years of relative travel time, Captain Brandon is sent out in a small scout ship to find a decent place to land the larger parent vessel.

Colonel Towers, by now obsessed with the idea of becoming the first man to place foot on an extra-solar system planet, orders Brandon to search, but refrain from landing. Brandon’s scout ship malfunctions and he is forced to eject. Stranded with a communicator that won’t transmit, Brandon hears Colonel Towers terminate the search & rescue in a blatant move to insure it is his own name that is inscribed in the history books.

Brandon, with oxygen running out, makes a couple of discoveries that allow him to turn the table on Towers.

The plot feels trite, although the tale is told fine.

I’d rate it Fair. You can scout out the story at Project Gutenberg in a couple formats and Manybooks.net in more.

Tags: free science fiction, public domain science fiction, Review, speculative fiction
Filed under Free Stuff, Review, Science Fiction & Fantasy (SFF), Wicks, Robert |

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