No Man Friday

Plot summary

A secret, low-budget British rocket launches from Woomera carrying a crew to Mars. During the trip, an airlock accident kills everyone except engineer Gordon Holder, who survives because he was outside the ship in his spacesuit. The rocket crash-lands on Mars.

There, Holder figures out how to make oxygen and water, and learns about Martian life and food sources. He eventually teams up with the planet's enormous inhabitants to stay alive. Fifteen years later, an American crew arrives, believing they are the first humans on Mars.

Holder makes contact with them. He tries to go back to the dominant Martians but is blocked. He then goes home to Earth with the Americans.

Martian creatures

Rex Gordon describes Mars as inhabited by different life forms. Highly energetic flower-shaped mineral formations grow in valleys; humidity disintegrates them. Photosynthetic plants bloom and produce hard fruits.

Social insect-like bugs pollinate the plants' flowers. Humanoid creatures, not the dominant species, eat the fruits, live in groups, and have limited intelligence. Gigantic nocturnal dominant beings eat the humanoids, use body lights for communication, and are suggested to have the capacity to distort spacetime.

Did You Know?

• The rocket was developed at minimal cost and kept secret from officialdom before lifting off from the Woomera rocket range.
• Engineer Gordon Holder survived the airlock accident because he was returning from an EVA and still in his space suit.