Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9

Dasinger was straightening up when he heard the thunk of the wrench. He turned sharply, discovered first the girl standing ten feet away with the wrench in her raised hand, next their second crew member lying on the carpet between them, finally the long, thin knife lying near the man's hand.

"Thanks, Miss Mines!" he said, somewhat out of breath. "I really should have remembered Calat might be somewhere around."

Duomart Mines gestured with her head at the adjoining control cabin. "He was in there," she said, also breathlessly. She was a long-legged blonde with a limber way of moving, pleasing to look at in her shaped Fleet uniform, though with somewhat aloof and calculating eyes. In the dim light of the room she seemed to be studying Dasinger now with an expression somewhere between wariness and surprised speculation. Then, as he took a step forward to check on Calat's condition, she backed off slightly, half lifting the wrench again.

Dasinger stopped and looked at her. "Well," he said, "make up your mind! Whose side are you on here?"

In this classic 1961 science fiction story by James H. Schmitz, Detective Wellan Dasinger attempts to recover the stolen star hyacinth gems valued at nearly a hundred million credits. His search takes him to a distant planet, where the thieves have a nasty surprise waiting.

James H. Schmitz was a popular science fiction writer of the 1960s. Most of his work was originally published in science fiction magazines and later anthologized or expanded into novels. Schmitz is probably best known for his novel The Witches of Karres.

The Star Hyacinths was originally published in Amazing Stories in December 1961. It was recently released by Baen Books as part of the anthology Telzey Amberdon. Although Telzey Amberdon doesn't appear in "The Star Hyacinths," the hero is the same Wellan Dasinger who figures so prominently in her various adventures .

Click here to read "The Star Hyacinths" online.