| 'Boarding Party' (10500 words)
The blast ripped away the mouth of number six launching tube,
together with a wide area of the ship's hull plating.
"Yo, ho, ho and a bottle of Jet Morgan rum!"* James White
once aspired to out-Clarke Clarke as Spellsinger of the Spaceways
-- with more success than he's generally given credit for (Deadly
Litter is just a starter pack). The stricken Starcloud is
the Earth's last hope against the Raghman invaders who have only
one effective weapon: ". . . the ghostly, flickering force-eddy.
But that one was enough." Dr Grayson, the ship's self-deprecating
medical officer, makes the most important 'house call' of his
career.
*Another reference to Journey Into Space, the "BBC radio serial
that enthralled millions" (book-jacket blurb).
Synopsis by Graham Andrews
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