The Klapishae Affair — Stuart Grosse

Death Worlds. The very words strike fear into any sane sentient. For good reason, too. These are worlds where conditions are so fraught with peril and so deadly that it is widely regarded as all but impossible for any truly sentient species to come from them. The only exceptions are the species that are based on a very different type of physiology from most sentients, such as the Hyrf, whose bodies of liquid sulfur are well suited to the intense heat and the atmosphere of their planet, which is acidic enough to corrode most metals within hours. However, these types of sentients are rarely seen in the galactic community, due to the fact that their extreme physiology means that more habitable environments are usually fatally hazardous to them, and their presence is typically toxic to other species. This, combined with other physical difficulties, typically results in most extreme physiology species from achieving the technical achievements necessary for space exploration, and their different needs makes trade almost impossible.

But what happens when a unknown type of ship is found entering orbit over a death world, coming from beyond civilized space?