"The Man on the Meteor" by Ray Cummings is a first-person adventure narrative told by a man who calls himself Nemo, a young adult with no memory of his past who awakens on a tiny meteor orbiting Saturn within its famous rings. He finds himself in a spacesuit he quickly discards, discovering that the miniature world has breathable air, extremely low gravity that makes ordinary walking impossible, and a tiny diameter he can circumnavigate in minutes. He learns to propel himself through the air by swimming, and soon discovers a cave inhabited by a golden-haired young woman he names Nona, who shares his condition of complete amnesia about any prior existence. The two bond, develop a shared language, and establish a primitive but happy life together, hunting lizard-like creatures, gathering shellfish, and exploring the limits of their strange small world. Their existence is disrupted when a fire ignited by their cooking stones burns through the cave and pollutes the meteor's thin atmosphere with toxic gases. Seeking refuge, they are swept by an underground river through a subterranean passage and find themselves breathing the meteor's unusually light, highly aerated water, which is thin enough to support respiration. They emerge into a vast subterranean sea and encounter an intelligent aquatic civilization called the Marinoids, who are roughly humanoid but possess four tentacle-like arms ending in pincers, webbed legs, and the biological capacity to deliver electric shocks. They are captured by a Marinoid work party and brought to the underwater city of Rax, where they learn the language and become accepted members of the community. Nemo rises to prominence through his exceptional physical strength and his knowledge of the outer world, which no Marinoid can comprehend. The two are given their own home, and Nona gives birth to a son they call Boy. Tranquility ends when Marinoid women begin disappearing, abducted by a half-breed named Og who has allied himself with a primitive and desperate people called the Maagogs, who live in a dangerous, monster-filled region known as the Water of Wild Things. The Maagogs face extinction because female births have nearly ceased among them, and Og proposes to steal Marinoid women as mates and ultimately conquer the Marinoid domain entirely. Nona herself is abducted. Nemo, accompanied by the Marinoid Prince Atar and the loyal worker Caan, ventures into the hostile Water of Wild Things to rescue her. They infiltrate the Maagog community cave, witness Og's brutal role as executioner of surplus male infants, and are captured when Og's trained pack of predatory black fishes tracks them down. Facing death by boiling water or the surrender of Nona to Og, the group is unexpectedly aided by Maaret, a Maagog woman who loves Og and wants Nona removed from his attention. With her help they overpower Og and escape, though not without further pursuit. They are ultimately rescued by the Marinoid King himself, who arrives alone in his dolphin-drawn sleigh and carries them back to safety. Returning to Rax, Nemo learns that Og's agents have been stirring unrest among the half-breed Marinoid population and that the Maagog invasion is imminent. The Marinoid King, though well-intentioned, lacks decisive military leadership. Nona inspires Nemo to step forward and assume command, and he rallies both the men and women of the city. He discovers the King's secret war cavern, stocked with weapons and dolphin-drawn sleighs including searchlight vessels and ink-cloud vessels designed for battlefield use. Nona volunteers the women as dolphin cavalry, demonstrating extraordinary skill as a rider and lance carrier. Before the Maagog army can consolidate at the captured and massacred city of Gahna, Nemo and Nona execute a bold sabotage mission, secretly cutting the main structural stalks of the living, vegetation-built city, causing it to collapse and drift away in the current with the invading forces still inside. They then lead the full Marinoid army into open battle. The fighting is fierce and costly. Og's black fishes inflict serious casualties on Nemo's best electric fighters, and the half-breed Marinog corps joins the Maagog side. Nono's dolphin-riding girls prove effective in driving the last enemy columns into the forest. In a final climactic engagement fought in the open water near Rax, all forces converge in a massive struggle. The outcome of the battle is left at the edge of resolution as the narrative reaches its conclusion, having traced Nemo's journey from amnesiac primitive to military commander of an entire underwater civilization.
By Ray Cummings · First published 1928 · Genre: Science Fiction, Adventure, Hard Science Fiction · 31 chapters