Nightflyers

Nightflyers is a science fiction horror novella by American writer George R. R. Martin, released as a short novella in 1980 and as an expanded novella in 1981. A short story collection of the same name was released in 1985 that includes the expanded novella. In 1987, the short novella was adapted into a film by the same name. A 2018 television adaptation of the extended novella was developed; television presentation began on December 2, 2018, on the SyFy Channel. Setting Nightflyers is set in the distant future. In the distant past, the humans of the Federated Nations of Earth discovered the stardrive. The Federated Nations of Earth eventually morphed into the Federal Empire. For a thousand years, humanity waged war with an alien species called the Hrangan, which caused the collapse of the Federal Empire. Humanity is interested in acquiring the advanced interstellar technology of the volcryn, an enigmatic alien species. Plot summary A nine-member team of Academy scholars from the planet Avalon led by the astrophysicist Karoly d'Branin are searching for the volcryn, an enigmatic alien species with an advanced interstellar travel technology. The main protagonist is Melantha Jhirl, a dark-skinned genetically engineered human who is a head taller than the other scholars. Due to limited funds, d'Branin has hired the services of the Nightflyer, a modified trader owned by captain Royd Eris. The enigmatic Royd keeps to his own sphere of the ship, preferring to correspond with the passengers via hologram. Royd secretly spies on the passengers using computer monitors. Over the next five weeks, the passengers speculate about the secretive nature of their mysterious captain. The team's telepath Thale Lasamer senses there is something dangerous aboard the Nightflyer. The team's psipsych Agatha Marij-Black drugs Thale with the drug psionine-4 to keep him calm. Things start to take a turn for the worse after the xenotech Alys Northwind accidentally cuts her finger with a kitchen knife. As tensions among the passengers escalate due to the ship's cramped and claustrophobic quarters, captain Royd tells the crew that he is the cross-sex clone of his late trader mother and has lived his entire life in zero gravity space.