rogue-star
An anomalous star suspected of interfering with space travel and capturing travelers, central to the characters' predicament.
2 chapters across 1 book
The Starchild Trilogy (1963)Frederik Pohl & Jack Williamson
Monitor Quamodian and Senior Monitor Clothilde Kwai Kwich find themselves stranded near a rogue star that disrupts transflection transit, causing duplications and identity confusion among robots and travelers. Quamodian manages to transit to an eerily deserted Earth, facing bureaucratic obstacles and communication restrictions, while Molly Zaldivar struggles to survive a deadly attack and confronts Cliff Hawk about his dangerous experiment to create sentient atomic life. The chapter explores the tension between scientific obsession and personal relationships amid isolation and cosmic threats.
Monitor Andreas Quamodian investigates a mysterious event involving plasma bolts from the sun, revealing the birth of a rogue star that grows in power and awareness. Meanwhile, Molly Zaldivar and Cliff Hawk struggle for survival in a damaged cave laboratory, threatened by a deadly alien creature called the sleeth. The chapter contrasts the rapid, amoral development of the rogue star with the vulnerability and desperation of the human characters, highlighting tensions between duty, belief, and emergent cosmic threats.