Attitude

When Dr. Little wakes in a weightless, orange-lit cell aboard an unknown ship, he has only his watch, a pencil, and the uneasy sense that his captors want him alive for now. Hungry, thirsty, and sealed behind a grating, he begins doing what he does best: observing, testing, and reasoning his way through the impossible, from the ship's second-order flight to the strange pattern of lime-juice rations that keep him barely sustained. His captors are no ordinary jailers. They are starfish-like pentapods, armed, secretive, and unnervingly patient, and their fortress ship seems designed as much to confound prisoners as to transport them. When Little is finally led out, he discovers that he is not alone: the crew of the Gomeisa has also been taken, and the humans must reconstruct the attack that trapped them. A reluctant interpreter from a Vegan prisoner opens the first real channel of communication, revealing that the aliens have studied their captives and prevented any serious escape attempt. As Little and his men are moved through the vast underground stronghold, they confront a world of hidden scale, alien labor, and tactical deception—where survival depends on ingenuity, caution, and keeping one step ahead in a battle of minds. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.