Accidental Death

"Accidental Death" by Peter Baily is a science fiction story about the risky era of early space exploration. The story is told by Matt Hennessy after his starship, the "Whale," makes a disastrous journey to another star and crashes back on Earth. Hennessy describes the many mistakes that led to the crash and their strange interactions with the Chingsi, a cat-like alien race. Stranded in a snowy wilderness as the only survivor, Hennessy thinks deeply of luck, chance and whether their adventure was destined to fail. The shocking circumstances of the failed mission and the close calls with the alien species act as something of a warning about how unpredictable space travel can be.