Valna

Origin
Bruce Colston is the only son of Jacob Colston. Jacob is the wealthy owner of Zenith Spaceways in the 26th century. He has tried to give Bruce the education and interest, but Bruce is uninterested in pretty much everything. This includes the prospect of marriage to his fiance, Margaret.

Without informing anyone of his plans, Bruce decides to leave the planet to search for life in a distant galaxy. He takes his cosmic-ray powered craft given to him by his father as a birthday present and flies into space.

He falls asleep on his journey, awakened by the warning sounds of the ship. He sees a beautiful, emerald planet. Deciding to land, he finds the air invigorating and the plant life stupendous. He sees a humanoid, ape-like creature. Soon, he hears a woman's scream as the creature tries to shake one of the trees. He tells the creature to get away, slugging the beast and knocking it out, to Bruce's own surprise at his strength.

A beautiful woman, identical in appearance to his fiance Margeret, alights from the tree. Using telepathy, she informs Bruce that her name is Valna. Her craft broke down, and she was forced to land in an area where the "primatives" resided. She tells Bruce the creatures he'd seen are called Banzos.

The Banzos show up in greater numbers, and Bruce fights them all off. He repairs Valna's craft. Valna goes to leave, but Bruce asks to know more about her planet. She tells him to return to the woman he loves.

Bruce returns to Earth, immediately setting plans to marry Margaret. Jacob Colston tells him he will have a place in the Zenith Spaceways firm after he is married. He further tells Bruce the planet he went to is an unknown planet, quite possibly one of Martian myth. The myth tells of a land where a person can go and find faith in themselves again. Bruce is uncertain his experiences were a dream or reality.

Public Domain Appearances

 * Space Adventures #31