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"The Altar at Midnight" is a 2500-word short story by C. M. Kornbluth, about a the side effects of space travel. It was first published in 1952.

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

The story’s narrator is frequenting seedy bars late at night. He meets a young man whose face is deformed with red lines, because of his exposure to space travel. The deformities are caused by the new Bowman drive, which makes space flight possible. The narrator himself is having problems with his family and his work, even though he himself is famous and successful as “Francis Bowman, the man who made space flight a reality.”

Additional Notes

This story has been reprinted in, among other places, Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories 14 (1952).