02 Starship Himilco (prequel to novel part 2)

The Starship Himilco is the first story James Prescott wrote about adventures of Earthmen travelling to Arcturus in the 28th century. This short story takes place ten years before the events in the novel Between Earth and Arcturus, and was intended to be the prequel to the novel, but didn’t make it into the final draft. I am presenting it here in two parts.

Episode 1
Himilco part 1

Gentry Stokes III was born in the year 2766 and is the son of the richest man in the galaxy. He is a young man troubled by superhuman strength which he must hide from the world and a belief that his grandfather was an alien. Unfortunately, scientific opinion has concluded that the probability of aliens in galaxy is zero, so Gentry’s obsession with his ancestry lands him in mental hospital until Clifford Poluka gives him the opportunity to prove the existence of aliens.
This troubled young man is also a mathematics prodigy who, at the age of 19 years, finds a way out of the mental hospital and onto the Starship Himilco for the first manned mission to Arcturus.

Episode 2
Himilco part 2

Gentry is making friends aboard the Starship Himilco during the long voyage to Arcturus. They must pass through the Zone, which no vessel has ever done before. When they find the Himilco cannot maintain a constant speed they discover the secret of the Zone that has been destroying every probe sent there, and a radio signal leads them to a damaged alien vessel.