Deepsix, Jack McDevitt
A planet is about to get sucked into another planet. It’s the celestial event, and not to mention the fireworks, of a lifetime. And then someone has to discover ruins on one of the planets… Suddenly there is a race to scout out the planet as best one can before its ripped apart and turned into stellar debris. Inte rstellar traffic might be in its golden age but space is a big place so one takes what one can get to do the exploring.
We’re not surprised that “Hutch” is in the area, and she promptly gets instructed to go down and find out as much as possible about the planet and its inhabitants in the time remaining. Of course, last time someone was there the mission got aborted as the local wildlife took a liking to the party. “Liking” in the sense of finding them quite decent as snacks. It’s pretty clear from the start that it’s not going to be a pleasure cruise.
I first read “Deepsix” maybe five or six years ago, and it didn’t leave much of an impact. Rereading it now I mostly wonder why that was. “Deepsix” is well paced, well written and classic McDevitt. It’s a good read that quickly sucks you in and holds on to you on every page as you flip through them.