User:Peter Cino

Death of Captain Future

“The Death of Captain Future”  is a short story written by Allen Steele. It first appeared in the October issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction in 1995. The story won a Hugo Award in 1996 and was nominated for a Nebula award. This story has been reprinted more than once since its first publication. The story was written as a tribute to Edmond Hamilton’s original story “ Captain Future ”

Plot

​​ Death of Captain Future is a short story that follows Rohr Furland and his adventure on a ship known as   The Comet. The story is told from the perspective of Rohr reflecting on his past adventure. Rohr had joined the crew of the TBSA   Comet   in order to get to Ceres, to join a ship   Jove Commerce   for a new job that he desperately needs. The ship’s captain, Bo McKinnon, is known as the worst captain in the Association and only goes by Captain Future. While on his trip to Ceres Captain Future changes the course of the ship to answer an SOS sent out, which makes it impossible for Rohr to make it to the ship at Ceres. Upon arriving at the   Fool’s Gold, they notice that the ship was on a collision course with Mars. The Comet   then docks onto the   Fool’s Gold   and Rohr puts on a spacesuit, although it is no longer necessary because they had docked into an airlock, and enters the ship. Rohr sees 11 dead bodies on the ship as he navigates through the ship. Then he discovers that the ship had been infected by a plague known as the Titan Plague, one which there is no cure and causes the victim to become violent until their brain rotted. Rohr discovered this as it was written on the wall on the bridge of the ship. He then found the last member of the crew, still alive, being the captain of the   Fool’s Gold. Captain Future followed Rohr onto the ship without a suit, which means that he is now going to be infected with the Titan Plague. After dispatching the infected captain of the ship, Rohr attempted to change the direction the ship was heading, but could not access the computers. Rohr makes the plan to blow up the ship, with the now infected Captain Future onboard, and make his escape back to   The Comet. Then the story shifts to the current time, where Rohr talks about how Captain Future is well known for his self-sacrifice, blowing up the ship to save his crew. Rohr talks how what actually happened was they blew up the   Fool’s Gold   with McKinnon on it, but the story is told that the brave Captain Future sacrificed himself to stop the spreading of the plague.

Characters

Rohr Furland is the protagonist of the story. He was born on the moon, where his dad was born. His mother was born on Earth and left him and his father to go back to Earth. He recounts his various jobs on different ships, and that he is looking for a job to make a steady income instead of just enough to survive on. He is the second officer on   The Comet. The story is told from his perspective and follows his journey with Bo McKinnon and Jeri Lee-Bose

Bo McKinnon is the captain of the comet. He only permits his first officer Jeri Lee-Bose to call him by his real name, everyone else knows him as Captain Future. He is described as “squat and obese”. He has Black curly hair and an unkempt beard, with stains on his clothing. McKinnon calls himself Captain Future after his much adored hero from the pulp magazine story created by Edmond Hamilton.

Jeri Lee-Bose is a genetically modified human, known as a “Superior”. She is the first mate to Bo McKinnon. She is noted to be different than others of her kind because she is the only of her kind on the ship which is owned by a Primary, which is the term for humans without modifications. She is described as a “scarecrow with feet” which function as another pair of hands,with eyes big as “fuel valves”. She had tattoos around her arms and shoulder and torso. It is customary for her race to get a new tattoo their birthday. She reveals that McKinnon saved her life after she fell in love with a person that wasn’t a Superior and her family disowned her for it.