Spacerats

Origin
Taking off on a routine flight from Alpha 12 on a trip to Kappa 4, Captain Guy Enders prepares to fly into space in his X-71 spacecraft. He 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 as Enders flies out.

About 24 hours into the spaceflight, Guy 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. Captain Enders knows that he is experiencing "hypoxia", a condition causing hallucinations due to lack of oxygen in the blood.

One of the creatures uses a device akin to a fishing rod to hook Guy. Guy falls unconscious. 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 Captain Enders that he is far from his own universe, yet they will assist him in repairing his craft and returning to his own galaxy.

His craft in top functioning form, Captain Guy Enders takes off again. He falls unconscious as usual in a takeoff. He sees one of the creatures floating on a disc. The creature informs Guy that they are what he would call Spacerats.

Back on Kappa 4, Guy reports the incident to the officers, but his experiences are dismissed as hallucinations. One of the Spacerats tells him later humanity is not yet prepared to accept their existence yet.

Public Domain Appearances

 * Space Adventures #31