Danger in the Void by Charles E. Fritch
Silvia Bennet secretly intends to divorce her husband George once their ship, the Arcturus Queen, reaches Arcturus, where divorce law favors whoever files first. Shortly after the ship switches to subspace drive and then experiences mechanical trouble, a stranger calling himself Mr. Jones sits beside Silvia and reveals he knows she plans a divorce — and that George is an android, a fact almost no one knows. Jones represents a nameless "organization" that, for a fee of ten percent of George's insurance, offers to have George killed rather than divorced, arguing that killing an android is not truly murder. Shaken, Silvia at first refuses, but after George unexpectedly tells her he intends to file for divorce first — reversing her advantage — she panics at losing her claim to his money and signs Jones's contract. Left alone, Silvia agonizes over what she has done, recalling her courtship with George and how human he has always seemed despite being manufactured. She begins to regret the arrangement, especially when George returns and gently checks on her before the ship re-enters subspace. Just as the changeover begins, the ship is wracked by another malfunction, and the crew orders an emergency evacuation. In the chaos, George helps Silvia into her spacesuit, strikes a panicking passenger, and leads her to their assigned lifecraft. Aboard the lifecraft, Silvia recognizes the pilot as Jones. Once the lifecraft clears the doomed Arcturus Queen, Jones reveals that the ship's destruction was itself arranged — the vessel's owner paid for its "explosion" for insurance money — and that everyone aboard this lifecraft, not just George, is a target: several other passengers, it turns out, had separately contracted with the organization to have their own spouses killed, and George had done the same regarding Silvia, having feared she would expose him after a divorce but having since changed his mind. Jones declares that none of them will be rescued and prepares to shoot them. Silvia lunges for the control panel to create a distraction; George attacks Jones, and in the struggle Jones's gun discharges, blasting a hole in the lifecraft's hull. The escaping air sweeps Silvia out into space. Drifting alone and believing George may not follow her, she radios him; he answers that he is coming after her, mentioning that Jones died because George's hands were "in the way" of his helmet. George maneuvers the lifecraft to retrieve her, briefly frightening her with the braking rockets, then pulls her back aboard by rope. As she is drawn inside, Silvia reflects that it feels like being reborn, and she senses that their life together will now be different.
By Charles E. Fritch · First published 1978 · Genre: Science Fiction, Adventure, Thriller · 6,481 words
First lines
Silvia secretly planned to divorce George when they reached Arcturus. But a space journey can alter a careful plan -- or hatch a worse one!
The trouble started when the _Arcturus Queen_ was four billion miles out of Earth, heading for the star after which it was named. It pulled clear of the solar system using conventional drive, then switched into subspace. A few minutes later the ship shuddered perceptibly, and an authoritative voice came reassuringly from the public address system.
What this Textopian page supports
Danger in the Void is listed on Textopian as a novel by Charles E. Fritch, dated 1978 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Novel
- Author: Charles E. Fritch
- Date: 1978 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Science Fiction, Adventure, Thriller
- Length: 6,481 words
- Structure: 1 section, 159 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Danger in the Void by Charles E. Fritch
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph
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Genres
- Science Fiction — The book focuses on space exploration, future technology, and struggles within a space environment, which are characteristic elements of science fiction.
- Adventure — The book includes elements of an adventure involving conflicts and challenges in an unknown environment, which is characteristic of the adventure genre.
- Thriller — The book maintains a high level of suspense, excitement, intrigue, and tension throughout, which is often found within the thriller genre.
Tags
science fiction · space exploration · adventure · mystery · suspense · alien encounters · interstellar travel · survival · technology · future · cosmic horror · thriller