On a routine flight from Alpha 12 to Kappa 4, Captain Guy Enders checks with his crewman to ensure there were no errors “this time”. The crewman assures Enders to stop worrying, though wonders if he forgot something. About 24 hours into the spaceflight, Enders notices his oxygen falling rapidly. He barely has time to engage the “auto-alarm emergency transmitter” before falling unconscious. He begins to have what he thinks is a nightmare, seeing creatures dressed in spacesuits and sitting on floating discs of dirt and rock. Enders thinks he’s experiencing “hypoxia,” a condition causing hallucinations from lack of oxygen in the blood. One of the creatures uses a device akin to a fishing rod to hook Enders. He blacks out. When he awakens, he finds the creatures looking at him. He recalls a report from one space explorer of similar beings floating in another universe. Communicating telepathically, the beings inform Enders that he is far from home, and assure him they will assist in repairing his craft and returning him to his own galaxy. When his craft is ready, Enders blasts off, falling unconscious. He sees one of the creatures floating on a disc, which informs him that they are what he would call “Spacerats”. Back on Kappa 4, Enders reports the incident, but his experiences are dismissed as hallucinations. One of the Spacerats tells him later humanity is not prepared to accept their existence.
Description On a routine flight from Alpha 12 to Kappa 4, Captain Guy Enders checks with his crewman to ensure there were no errors “this time”. The crewman assures Enders to stop worrying, though wonders if he forgot something. About 24 hours into the spaceflight, Enders notices his oxygen falling rapidly. He barely has time to engage the “auto-alarm emergency transmitter” before falling unconscious. He begins to have what he thinks is a nightmare, seeing creatures dressed in spacesuits and sitting on floating discs of dirt and rock. Enders thinks he’s experiencing “hypoxia,” a condition causing hallucinations from lack of oxygen in the blood. One of the creatures uses a device akin to a fishing rod to hook Enders. He blacks out. When he awakens, he finds the creatures looking at him. He recalls a report from one space explorer of similar beings floating in another universe. Communicating telepathically, the beings inform Enders that he is far from home, and assure him they will assist in repairing his craft and returning him to his own galaxy. When his craft is ready, Enders blasts off, falling unconscious. He sees one of the creatures floating on a disc, which informs him that they are what he would call “Spacerats”. Back on Kappa 4, Enders reports the incident, but his experiences are dismissed as hallucinations. One of the Spacerats tells him later humanity is not prepared to accept their existence.
