Author: Richard Paul Russo

 ISBN: 0441008933

The following review was contributed by: Paul Lappen: CLICK TO VIEW Paul Lappen's Reviews

The multi-generation starship Argonos has aimlessly wandered the galaxy for
hundreds of years, searching for any signs of life. Its original mission and
destination have long ago been forgotten. Returning to Earth is not an option,
for it has become a toxic, irradiated wasteland.

A mysterious signal draws the ship to an abandoned colony on an Earth-like
planet. Nikko, the ship's captain, barely averts a mutiny as several hundred
passengers would rather take their chances on the planet than stay on the ship
any longer. The planet's attraction suddenly disappears when several hundred
humanoid corpses are discovered in an underground room. The colony is abandoned
because the inhabitants were slaughtered.

Later, the Argonos comes upon what looks like a huge, derelict alien ship.
Bartolomeo, Nikko's friend and advisor, advocates exploring the ship thoroughly.
On the other hand, Bishop Saldana, Nikko's rival for the captaincy, is all for
putting as much distance as possible between the ships. He is not the only one
who feels malevolence, if not actual evil, from the alien ship.

Room after room is explored on the alien ship, most of them being empty, with
little or no sign of aliens. The decision is made to attach the two ships
together, and tow the alien ship to an intelligent civilization (there has to be
one somewhere) as a peace offering. Then, several hundred more humanoid corpses
are discovered on the alien ship. Even Bartolomeo is convinced that the sooner
they get away from the alien ship, the better. Now, the alien ship comes alive,
refusing to let go of the Argonos.

This is a really good, well-done story looking at the concept of evil. The
author does a good job with the characters, and it will certainly keep the
reader interested.