<span class="SFPTagline">
From SCIFIPEDIA
</span>
A Suppliant in Space is an 8000-word short story by Robert Sheckley, about an alien criminal trying to escape its planet of exile. The story was first published in the November, 1973 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction.
Spoiler Warning: Plot details and/or information about the ending follow. If you wish to enjoy the work first, stop reading here and return at another time.
Plot
Detringer is an alien, banished from his home planet of Ferlang for such acts as sucking his teeth in public, and talking openly about some of his sexual exploits. His people put him on a spaceship with a robot servant, Ichor, which later crash landed on a planet. Some time later a human ship, the Jenny Lind, arrives at the planet on a survey mission, and they spot Detringer’s ship. The humans go out to meet with him—the first time humans have encountered an intelligent alien. Detringer answers all of their questions, but lies to the human security officer, Colonel Kettelman, claiming that he is military, and that he is in contact with his fleet. Detringer requests fuel from the human ship. Kettelman agrees, then reneges. Detringer goes to the Jenny Lind to find out why, and learns that his robot servant, Ichor, had told the humans the truth—that Detringer was a criminal, and that he was not in contact with any flee. It seems Ichor had some deep programming that triggered itself to prevent Detringer from escaping exile. The Jenny Lind captain, MacMillen, then rules that he will honor the original sentence of exile, but not on this planet, which he claims is too hospitable. So he agrees to supply Detringer with fuel, and orders him to leave the planet, which of course is what Detringer wanted all along.
Reprints
This story has been reprinted in Donald A. Wollheim’s anthology The 1974 Annual World’s Best SF.
External Links
To see specific information, such as anthologies including A Suppliant in Space, please click the A Suppliant in Space category link at the bottom of this article. To see other articles that reference A Suppliant in Space, please click the What Links Here tool in the toolbox at the bottom of this page.
2008, SCI FI. All rights reserved.
