On the starship Procyon, Barbara "Bobby" Warner turns a moment of takeoff into a display of fearless athletic grace, revealing she is no pampered passenger but a woman with confidence, independence, and hidden strength. That impression deepens when First Officer Carlyle Deston, guided by a baffling hunch, meets her in the passenger lounge and experiences an immediate, overwhelming psychic bond that feels like destiny. Their connection is instant, mutual, and impossible to ignore: she is the wealthy "oil-witch" daughter of powerful parents determined to control her future, and he is the disciplined spaceman startled to find himself ready to marry her at once. But the romance is only the beginning. When disaster strikes the supposedly safe interstellar voyage, Deston's uncanny instincts drive him to action as alarms scream, corridors buckle, and radiation floods the ship. He gets Barbara into a spacesuit, leads survivors to lifecrafts, and takes command amid death, decontamination, and mounting chaos. As the crippled Procyon drifts on, the survivors face technical mysteries, scarce resources, and human conflict, while Dr. Andrew Adams uncovers damage stranger than any ordinary crash. With command challenged by dangerous men like Newman and Lopresto, the stranded crew must survive betrayal, discipline, and a long, uncertain journey to safety. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.
