Project Gutenberg 2020-11-23 Public domain in the USA. 89 Coppel, Alfred 1921 2004 Gilman, Robert Cham Marin, A. C. Coppel, Alfredo José de Arana-Marini Coppel, Alfredo Jose de Arana-Marini Galaxan, Sol McWilliams, Al 1916 1993 McWilliams, Alden Spurr McWilliams, A. Captain Midas Produced from Planet Stories Fall 1949 Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Captain Midas" by Alfred Coppel Jr. is a science fiction novella, first published in "Planet Stories" during the late 1940s. This gripping story delves into themes of greed, the quest for treasure, and the costs associated with such pursuits, presenting a morally complex narrative centered around human desires in the vast emptiness of space. The plot follows Captain Midas, the aging captain of the spaceship Martian Maid, who and his rough and ambition-driven crew stumble upon a mysterious derelict ship in space. Enticed by the prospect of treasure, they board the derelict only to discover that it is constructed from an alien metal that can transmute into gold at the cost of their youth and vitality. As the crew increasingly succumbs to the allure of the gold, Midas realizes the sinister truth behind the metal's origins—its power draws energy from life itself, aging its crew into skeletal forms. In a desperate attempt to escape this fate, Midas decides to abandon the treasure, but not before suffering the irreversible consequences. His story serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of greed and the true price of seeking wealth, leaving him physically and spiritually scarred as he reflects on his lost crew and cursed treasure. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 83.2 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Space ships -- Fiction Gold -- Fiction PS Text Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Novels 56727 2025-06-25T08:46:38.225918 text/html 32886 2024-10-18T08:32:45 text/html 532850 2025-06-25T08:46:40.029882 application/epub+zip 531652 2025-06-25T08:46:38.646867 application/epub+zip 88401 2025-06-25T08:46:38.406863 application/epub+zip 568914 2025-06-25T08:46:41.221904 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 561060 2025-06-25T08:46:39.820899 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 118038 2022-09-28T19:19:46.659718 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 50250 2025-06-25T08:46:38.123993 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 30444 2024-10-18T08:32:45 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 18288 2025-06-25T08:46:41.346890 application/rdf+xml 29470 2025-06-25T08:46:38.508906 image/jpeg 4957 2025-06-25T08:46:38.457887 image/jpeg 476628 2025-06-25T08:46:38.239928 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 en.wikipedia