Wildcatter — Dave Duncan

As long as there is money to be made, there will be Wildcatters.
-- Dave Duncan

Throughout human history wildcatters, the first great explorers and prospectors to lay claim to newly discovered lands, have marched to the beat of a different drummer -- motivated by a deep yearning to be the first to walk on uncharted land and benefit from treasures yet to be discovered.

In the future, wildcatters in space will travel to exoplanets, located in The Big Nothing, to search for new chemicals which, when transformed into pharmaceuticals, might bring untold wealth and fame to the individuals and corporations that stake their claim for exclusive exploitation rights.
Such is the quest of the crew of the independent starship Golden Hind, whose mission is to travel a year and a half to "Cacafuego", beat the larger corporations to the exoplanets' resources, and strike it rich for themselves.

But will a yellow warning flag, already planted above the planet, stop them? Or will the Golden Hind's prospector foray to the planet's surface, possibly never to return alive?

Wildcatter is a raucous tale of mystery, greed and passion, told by master story teller Dave Duncan, once himself a real wildcatter!