Star Descending

By Algis Budrys

Inconspicuous in his half of the room, which was dark, Henry Walters watched his partner fraying down into tatters like a mooring line caught between hull and dock. It was disquieting to see. Algis Budrys was the Hugo and Nebula award nominated author of Rogue Moon and Michaelmas.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wilder Publications, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 16, 2020
• ISBN: 9781515445821

Algis Budrys

Algis Budrys (1931–2008) was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, where his father served in the Lithuanian diplomatic corps. The family came to the United States when Budrys was five years old. A Renaissance man, he wrote stories and novels, and was an editor, critic, and reviewer, a teacher of aspiring writers, and a publisher. In the 1960s Budrys worked in public relations, advertising products such as pickles, tuna fish, and four-wheel-drive vehicles. His science fiction novels include Rogue Moon, Hard Landing, Falling Torch, and many others. His Cold War science fiction thriller Who? was adapted for the screen, and he received many award nominations for his work. Budrys was married to his wife, Edna, for almost fifty-four years.  

Book preview

Star Descending

by Algis Budrys

©2020 Positronic Publishing

Star Descending is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, locales or institutions is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission except for brief quotations for review purposes only.

ISBN 13: 978-1-5154-4582-1

Table of Contents

Star Descending

Star Descending

Inconspicuous in his half of the room, which was dark, Henry Walters watched his partner fraying down into tatters like a mooring line caught between hull and dock.

It was disquieting to see. Even if you ignored its concrete significance—if you ignored the fact that Stephenson might be fighting for Spot Dialogue’s life—then Stephenson became a symbol of all men at tenuous grips with all frustration. Henry Walters puffed nervously at his cigarette. His teeth were being set on edge.

In the lighted half of the room, Stephenson, standing beside Carmer’s chair, was starting at the