The Star Beast

"The Star Beast" by Damon Knight is a science fiction mystery set in a time when space travel is commonplace. It's a tale of an investigation aboard the spaceship "President Marcus" after the grim murder of Professor Thomasson. Security agent Philip Horitz races to find a clever killer to recover vital equations for light-speed travel. A bizarre tentacled alien named Oscar becomes the sole witness. The challenge comes from Oscar and his foreign perception of the events surrounding the crime. As Horitz sifts through the suspects, the story brings unexpected twists, revealing that Oscar's viewpoint is much deeper than anyone considered. The story shakes up core ideas about what counts as intelligence and life which causes humans and aliens to question their pre-formed biases when faced with understanding the truth.