The Hell Ship
By Raymond Alfred Palmer
After twenty minutes, a single airlock swung clear and a dozen armed men in Company uniforms went aboard. Still, later, a truck lumbered up, the cargo hatch creaked aside, and a crane reached its long neck in for the cargo.
Still, no creature from the ship was seen to emerge. The truck driver, idly smoking near the hull, knew this was the Prescott, in from the Jupiter run—that this was the White Sands Space Port. But he didn’t know what was inside the Prescott and he’d been told it wasn’t healthy to ask.
Gene O’Neil stood outside the electrified wire that surrounded the White Sands port and thought of many things. He thought of the eternal secrecy surrounding space travel; of the reinforced hush-hush enshrouding Company ships. No one ever visited the engine rooms. No one in all the nation had ever talked with a spaceman. Gene thought of the glimpse he’d gotten of the thing in the pilot’s window. Then his thoughts drifted back to the newsrooms of Galactic Press Service; to Carter in his plush office.
“Want to be a hero, son?”
“Who, me? Not today. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe the next day.”
“Don’t be cute. It’s an assignment. Get into White Sands.”
“Who tried last?”
“Jim Whiting.”
“Where is Whiting now?”
“Frankly we don’t know. But—”
“And the four guys who tried before Whiting?”
“We don’t know. But we’d like to find out.”
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Raymond Alfred Palmer
Raymond Arthur Palmer (August 10, 1910 – August 15, 1977) was an American author and editor, best known as the editor of Amazing Stories from 1938 through 1949 when he left publisher Ziff-Davis to publish and edit Fate Magazine, and eventually many other magazines and books through his own publishing houses, including Amherst Press and Palmer Publications. In addition to magazines such as Mystic, Search, and Flying Saucers, he published or republished numerous spiritualist books, including Oahspe: A New Bible, as well as several books related to flying saucers, including The Coming of the Saucers, co-written by Palmer with Kenneth Arnold. Palmer was also a prolific author of science fiction and fantasy stories, many of which were published under pseudonyms.
Personal life
Raymond Alfred Palmer was born on August 10, 1910, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His father, Roy, was an electrician, machinist, and firefighter. His mother, Helen (née Steber), was a farmer’s daughter from northern Wisconsin.
When Palmer was seven years old, he ran out into traffic. His leg was caught in the spokes of a passing milk truck, and he was spun around and beaten against the pavement until it came to a stop. The accident badly broke several of his vertebrae, but his father refused to have him taken to a hospital.
Two years later, Palmer underwent a spinal column bone graft. He was the first in the nation to receive one. The graft became infected and caused him to become a permanent hunchback. It also stunted his growth, and as an adult, he stood just slightly over 4 feet (1.2 m) tall. He spent the next five years in a Bradford frame, a full-body metal rectangle with a canvas sleeve. He was immobilized in the sling in a prone position.
Palmer’s mother died when he was 12 years old, and Palmer blamed his father for his disability. As he grew older, he became embittered, isolated, stubborn, and plagued by an inferiority complex. He was deeply embarrassed by his hunchback and worried that he would never lead a normal life.
Ray was largely educated by a tutor provided by the Milwaukee public school system. He read voraciously on a wide range of topics, sometimes as many as 15 books a day. It was during this period that he became a fan of science fiction. Palmer was later able to attend St. Ann’s Catholic High School, graduating in 1928.
Palmer began reading Amazing Stories magazine after discovering its first issue in the spring of 1926. He wrote his first science fiction story, “The Time Ray of Jandra”, in high school. His English teacher was so impressed, that she read it aloud to her class.
Ray got a job as a bookkeeper at the P.J. Lavies sheet metal company after high school and began writing short science fiction stories in his spare time. Palmer had several of his letters to the editor published in Amazing Stories. To encourage science fiction fandom, the magazine published addresses of its letter-writers. Walter Dennis, a Chicago fan, traveled to Milwaukee to meet Ray.
Palmer and Dennis created a “Science Correspondence Club” to help fans connect. This was, according to science fiction historian Mark Ashley, the first organized sci-fi fandom group.
The two men also created and edited the first fanzine, The Comet, which first appeared in May 1930. Initially focused on spreading the word about new scientific discoveries and inventions, it refocused on science fiction writing in its second issue in July 1930.
Raymond Alfred Palmer
