Jekyll-Hyde Planet

"Jekyll-Hyde Planet" by Jack Lewis is a mid-century science fiction story that follows Earth colonists seeking a better life on Centifor, a planet mirroring Earth's own capacity for immense good and cruel evil. When the Marshall family, including Claude, Joan, and their son Billy, arrives with hopes of a tranquil life, they find their dreams threatened by a family already claiming their land, the resulting conflict tests their values and resolve. The narrative tension grows as their idyllic homestead shows its weaknesses through unexpected trials amid the planet’s contrasting landscapes. The settlers must also face betrayal from external, and often unseen, forces who reveal that the colonization is an experiment to expose the darker elements from amongst them, and force them to make ethical decisions.