Project Gutenberg 2019-12-02 Public domain in the USA. 109 Harmon, Jim 1933 2010 Harmon, James Judson The Upside-Down Captain Produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, March 1960 Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Upside-Down Captain" by Jim Harmon is a science fiction story that originally appeared in the magazine "Worlds of If Science Fiction" in the early 1960s. It centers on a newly assigned crew member, Ben Starbuck, aboard the spaceship "Gorgon". The narrative delves into themes of exploration, the unknown, and the often bizarre dynamics of space travel, illustrating the challenges faced by characters in a high-stakes environment. The story follows Starbuck, who is not a seasoned spaceman but an ethnologist seeking to gather material for his thesis. As he acclimatizes to life on the "Gorgon", he quickly observes the strange interactions between the crew and their eccentric captain, Birdsel, who becomes increasingly erratic under the influence of a cybernetic brain designed to seek out new worlds. The tension escalates when Starbuck discovers that the captain's mental state is deteriorating due to the brain's obsession with exploration and deviation from norms. Ultimately, the crew must confront the captain to regain control of the ship and navigate their path back to Earth. The narrative combines humor and suspense, engaging readers with its unique characters and imaginative plot twists. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 78.0 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Space ships -- Fiction Outer space -- Exploration -- Fiction Artificial intelligence -- Fiction PS Text Category: Short Stories Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Humour 63663 2025-06-24T08:27:57.428845 text/html 40145 2024-10-17T15:03:25 text/html 243543 2025-06-24T08:27:59.482860 application/epub+zip 242387 2025-06-24T08:27:57.856821 application/epub+zip 87805 2025-06-24T08:27:57.613822 application/epub+zip 282902 2025-06-24T08:28:00.850857 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 275008 2025-06-24T08:27:59.238847 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 120720 2022-09-27T13:39:10.546876 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 56152 2023-09-26T06:59:50.195932 text/plain 36328 2024-10-17T15:03:24 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 16740 2025-06-24T08:28:00.991815 application/rdf+xml 30831 2025-06-24T08:27:57.700820 image/jpeg 5094 2025-06-24T08:27:57.657812 image/jpeg 520548 2025-06-24T08:27:57.443900 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