The Honored Prophet

"The Honored Prophet" by William E. Bentley is a science fiction story about a planet under the dim light of a black dwarf sun. The people there discover a prophecy: their world will be destroyed by humans from another planet using a mysterious weapon. To stop this disaster, a monstrous assassin is sent to kill Dr. Simon Cartwright, the human believed to be connected to the prophecy. As the assassin causes destruction, Cartwright is forced to face the deadly creature, throwing his normal life into a race to survive in the face of seemingly inevitable destiny, and the blurred lines between organic creatures and machines, finally confronting the truth behind the grim prediction.