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Dead World
Out on the ice-buried planet, Commander Red Stone led his Free Companions to almost certain death. They died for a dangerous dream that had only one chance in a thousand trillion to come true. Is there a better reason for dying?
Yuan Saltario started it. He was serving in my Company and he was one of them. A Menelaus XII-5 "unstable," and don't ever call that damned little planet by its number if you meet one of them. They call it Nova-Maurania. But you won't meet one of them. Or maybe you will, maybe they did make it. I like to think they did.
There were a lot of them in the Companies in 3078. Restless men. The Companies were the logical place for them. We're still classified anti-social-B-6, too. Every year it's harder to get recruits, but we still have to be careful who we take in. We took Yuan Saltario. There was something about him from the very start.
Yuan Saltario started it. He was serving in my Company and he was one of them. A Menelaus XII-5 "unstable," and don't ever call that damned little planet by its number if you meet one of them. They call it Nova-Maurania. But you won't meet one of them. Or maybe you will, maybe they did make it. I like to think they did.
There were a lot of them in the Companies in 3078. Restless men. The Companies were the logical place for them. We're still classified anti-social-B-6, too. Every year it's harder to get recruits, but we still have to be careful who we take in. We took Yuan Saltario. There was something about him from the very start.
40 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 1961
About the author
Jack Douglas
36 followersJack Douglas (born Douglas Linley Crickard , July 17, 1908 - January 31, 1989) was an American comedy writer who wrote for radio and television while additionally writing a series of humor books.
On radio, he was a writer for Red Skelton, Bob Hope and the situation comedy, Tommy Riggs and Betty Lou (1938–46), in which Riggs switched back and forth from his natural baritone to the voice of a seven-year-old girl.
Continuing to write for Skelton and Hope as he moved into television, Douglas also wrote for Jimmy Durante, Bing Crosby, Woody Allen, Johnny Carson, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet , The Jack Paar Show , The George Gobel Show, and Laugh-In .
The producer of Laugh-In , George Schlatter, said, "He saw the world from a different angle than the rest of us. He was not only funny, he was nice." Douglas won an Emmy Award in 1954 for best-written comedy material.
He was best known for his frequent guest appearances on Jack Paar's shows of the late 1950s and early 1960s. On one such appearance, when Douglas was well established as a Paar guest, he was chastised by Paar for holding a stack of file cards with his jokes while talking with Paar.
When Paar returned to television in 1973 and was confronted by unexpected low ratings, he engaged Douglas to contribute monologue material by mail. One week, there was no mail from Douglas; but his next package contained a "Sorry I didn't send anything last week. I forgot you were on."
Douglas and his third wife Reiko, a Japanese-born singer and comedian, were regular guests on shows hosted by Merv Griffin, Dick Cavett, and Johnny Carson.
On radio, he was a writer for Red Skelton, Bob Hope and the situation comedy, Tommy Riggs and Betty Lou (1938–46), in which Riggs switched back and forth from his natural baritone to the voice of a seven-year-old girl.
Continuing to write for Skelton and Hope as he moved into television, Douglas also wrote for Jimmy Durante, Bing Crosby, Woody Allen, Johnny Carson, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet , The Jack Paar Show , The George Gobel Show, and Laugh-In .
The producer of Laugh-In , George Schlatter, said, "He saw the world from a different angle than the rest of us. He was not only funny, he was nice." Douglas won an Emmy Award in 1954 for best-written comedy material.
He was best known for his frequent guest appearances on Jack Paar's shows of the late 1950s and early 1960s. On one such appearance, when Douglas was well established as a Paar guest, he was chastised by Paar for holding a stack of file cards with his jokes while talking with Paar.
When Paar returned to television in 1973 and was confronted by unexpected low ratings, he engaged Douglas to contribute monologue material by mail. One week, there was no mail from Douglas; but his next package contained a "Sorry I didn't send anything last week. I forgot you were on."
Douglas and his third wife Reiko, a Japanese-born singer and comedian, were regular guests on shows hosted by Merv Griffin, Dick Cavett, and Johnny Carson.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 25, 2023
Entertaining Sci-Fi listening 🎶🔰
This was free on Amazon.
They are struggling on a car off planet 🌎 against an enemy they know very little about. Then it is over. I would recommend this novella and author to 👍 readers looking for something different to read. 2023 😀😯😕😁
This was free on Amazon.
They are struggling on a car off planet 🌎 against an enemy they know very little about. Then it is over. I would recommend this novella and author to 👍 readers looking for something different to read. 2023 😀😯😕😁
January 16, 2012
Troy Bond does a good job of reading this tale of exiled warriors fighting for a cause of other exiles against overwhelming odds.
Duration: 00:31:09
File sizes: [mp3@64kbps - 14.9MB]- [mp3@128kbps - 29.9MB]
Duration: 00:31:09
File sizes: [mp3@64kbps - 14.9MB]- [mp3@128kbps - 29.9MB]
March 23, 2026
I liked this story. I found myself feeling sympathy for the 1,000 Desperate Refugees of of the Dead and Ice-Covered Star System RNAC 89778, Menelaus XII, Planet M.XII-5, locally known a Nova Maurania.
These refugees who had watched their Planet die, are now "due to basic Psycho-Philo maladjustments....classified as Anti-Social-Types-B-G and must be considered unstable. All are bared from responsible positions in the United Galaxies by the Order of the Inter-Galactic-Council."
So they now wish to embark on a desperate, one chance in a trillion opportunity, through the use of Ionic Power [whatever that is], to take their Ice Covered Planet, and all the Frozen remains of their Culture, out of its Dead System and find a New Sun to call Home and thus Revive their Culture.
Whew!
"We would rather die than live as Dead men in this perfect United Galaxies we do not want."
"All they care about is their damned sterile destiny! They don't care about people. Well we do! We care about something to live for. The Hell with the destiny of the Destinies of the Galaxies."
Gotta love it.
So...in the Year 3078, Red Stone, Mercenary and Traitor of the War of Survival, and thousands of other Mercenaries of the Companies, are hired to fight for the Freedom and Destiny of the1,000 Refugees of Nova Maurania.
It's a pretty good story, but what puts it over the top are the Ideals behind the Narrative. The sort of Ideals that go straight to the Heart.
It's
These refugees who had watched their Planet die, are now "due to basic Psycho-Philo maladjustments....classified as Anti-Social-Types-B-G and must be considered unstable. All are bared from responsible positions in the United Galaxies by the Order of the Inter-Galactic-Council."
So they now wish to embark on a desperate, one chance in a trillion opportunity, through the use of Ionic Power [whatever that is], to take their Ice Covered Planet, and all the Frozen remains of their Culture, out of its Dead System and find a New Sun to call Home and thus Revive their Culture.
Whew!
"We would rather die than live as Dead men in this perfect United Galaxies we do not want."
"All they care about is their damned sterile destiny! They don't care about people. Well we do! We care about something to live for. The Hell with the destiny of the Destinies of the Galaxies."
Gotta love it.
So...in the Year 3078, Red Stone, Mercenary and Traitor of the War of Survival, and thousands of other Mercenaries of the Companies, are hired to fight for the Freedom and Destiny of the1,000 Refugees of Nova Maurania.
It's a pretty good story, but what puts it over the top are the Ideals behind the Narrative. The sort of Ideals that go straight to the Heart.
It's
August 31, 2023
Rating: I liked it a lot
Format: Ebook
Random pick project August 2023
I selected this random sci-fi short story not expecting much, but it turned out to be very interesting and thought provoking. I recommend it.
Format: Ebook
Random pick project August 2023
I selected this random sci-fi short story not expecting much, but it turned out to be very interesting and thought provoking. I recommend it.
”A few lost souls who would rather die trying to live the way they wanted to live than go on living in a world they did not want.”
April 12, 2025
This was an enjoyable short story. Galaxies are ruled by a galactic council, and there are no military forces - except the Companies. These are mercenary groups that fight under contract, fighting alongside a different Company in one conflict, and against them in another.
This story focuses on one of the Companies, and what happens when they are faced with a difficult ethical choice. This reminded me of the Dorsai series - although I know that was written about a decade later.
This story focuses on one of the Companies, and what happens when they are faced with a difficult ethical choice. This reminded me of the Dorsai series - although I know that was written about a decade later.
June 23, 2018
quick read but not particularly interesting.
September 3, 2020
Trying to help a frozen world find a new place in the galaxy. An interesting story, but not a lot of character development. It was short, so not much room to do that.
March 30, 2026
Scifi, short story, ionic power.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews