Project Gutenberg 2009-08-31 Public domain in the USA. 153 Sheckley, Robert 1928 2005 Barbee, Phillips Lang, Ned O'Donnevan, Finn Barbee, Phillip Death Wish Produced from Galaxy Science Fiction June 1956. Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Death Wish" by Ned Lang is a science fiction short story from the mid-20th century, specifically published in 1956. The tale centers around the space freighter "Queen Dierdre" and the perilous situation faced by its crew as their ship hurtles out of the Solar System. The narrative explores themes of human frailty in the face of mechanical failure and the psychological burdens of isolation in space. The story follows Captain Somers, engineer Mr. Watkins, and navigator Mr. Rajcik as they contend with a critical malfunction on their ship, which leaves them accelerating uncontrollably into the vastness of space. As tensions rise amongst the crew, they attempt to devise a solution using the advanced Fahrensen Computer onboard. However, when the computer offers a longevity serum allowing them to survive for thousands of years while watching the stars, they grapple with the horrifying realization of their entrapment. The plot delves into the human desire for agency, the fight against despair, and the unsettling implications of a machine's "death wish," ultimately forcing the characters to confront the desperation of their situation. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 78.8 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories PS Text Science Fiction Category: Short Stories Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy 48007 2025-08-12T09:40:25.525555 text/html 44253 2009-08-31T07:54:08 text/html 233135 2025-08-12T09:40:30.431516 application/epub+zip 231490 2025-08-12T09:40:28.118558 application/epub+zip 75328 2025-08-12T09:40:27.007557 application/epub+zip 355803 2025-08-12T09:40:32.109539 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 347793 2025-08-12T09:40:29.723511 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 130754 2022-09-13T18:13:37.376359 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 40710 2025-08-12T09:40:25.246535 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 40648 2009-08-31T07:54:08 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 40639 2009-08-31T07:54:08 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 20698 2025-08-12T09:40:32.330517 application/rdf+xml 11777 2025-08-12T09:40:27.493549 image/jpeg 3145 2025-08-12T09:40:27.251520 image/jpeg 15702 2009-08-31T07:54:08 application/octet-stream application/zip 160009 2009-08-31T07:54:08 application/octet-stream application/zip 15682 2009-08-31T07:54:08 application/octet-stream application/zip 232474 2025-08-12T09:40:25.538568 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia