In a glide that was only a few degrees off level flight the ship slid into a tenuous upper reaches of the atmosphere.
No-first-name Gregg is travelling as a mere company employee on the express liner Wallaby, en route from Mars to Earth. Then the A-(for Allen) Drive goes badly wrong, leaving the ship blind, deaf, and rudderless. Like Conrad's Lord Jim, Gregg has a Guilty Secret in His Past for which he must Redeem Himself with an Act of Heroism. Which he does, at hazard, becoming the nearest thing to a human barnacle in the process. Gripping stuff (pun intended). And 'Outrider' is a well-fitted story: one word more would be too many; one less would be too few.
In magazines
| Title | Language | Editor | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
New Worlds 35, May 1955 | English | John Carnell | May 1955 |
In James White's books
| Title | Type | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Futures Past | Collection | 1982 |
NEW WORLDS No 35, May 1955
Publication History: 7-part serial Glasgow DAILY RECORDER, 3 - 10/8/1955 HAPNA, Arg 3 No 3, March 1956 as Kollision im Rymden Futures Past
ISFDB title record (CC BY 4.0).