Bullard of the Space Patrol appeared in between the classics at Astounding Science-Fiction. The stories never got a cover. Instead we saw “Total Blackout”, “Slan” and many other famous Golden Age tales there. Filling the pages between Heinlein, Van Vogt, Hubbard, de Camp and the Kuttners was Malcolm Jameson’s space hero working from young crewman to the admiral of the fleet, similar to the Hornblower series by C. S. Forester.
The man who wrote of Bullard was described by Alfred Bester as: “Malcolm Jameson, author of navy-oriented space stories, was there, tall, gaunt, prematurely grey, speaking in slow, heavy tones.” (“My Affair with Science Fiction” 1976). Jameson died early, at only fifty-three, in 1945. He did write a few novels before his death, including Tarnished Utopia (1942). Jameson’s death was not in action in World War II but in New York. He was a Navy man. Like A. Bertram Chandler after him, Jameson was well-suited to describe what life might be like on a military vessel in space. Anthony Boucher called Bullard “the most successfully drawn series character in modern science fiction” (“Recommended Reading,” F&SF, April 1952).
Robert A. Heinlein led the charge into juvenile SF with Rocketship Galileo in 1947. Heinlein was also a Navy veteran, and his novels for younger readers set up an attitude that juvenile SF would carry all through the 1950s. Jameson’s Bullard easily fit into this Heinleinian mold. The main character is young, ready to learn, able and willing to face the challenges of the unknown. Some critics have called this Heinlein’s idea of “the competent man”, a thread that runs through most of his work. Bullard is such a man, setting a good example for young readers.
1940
“Admiral’s Inspection” (Astounding Science-Fiction, April 1940) begins with us meeting Mr. Bullard as he is about to go outside for a game of Space Quidditch. The men are recalled when the captain receives a message. The Pollux is to be inspected but not in the usual way. Their friendly rivals from the Castor will watch as the ship goes through fake disaster drills. Bullard is new to the ship so he spends three weeks getting to know every nook and cranny.
The test begins on a friendly note but once Bullard is called up to captain the ship, things go wrong. Really wrong. Nitrous Oxide, or Laughing Gas, is accidentally made and fills the ship. The men in charge of testing the crew become giddy and begin destroying all the monitors. Soon the Pollux is headed on a collision course with Jupiter. Only Bullard’s understanding of the ship saves them.
The admiral, no longer under the laughing gas, congratulates Bullard and tells him the test is over. Bullard refuses to quit the testing because he doesn’t want the reputation, for the ship or himself, as a winner by fluke. The Pollux will continue with the course. They land on the asteroid they have been charged to go to then have to find some way to lift off again. Things look bleak but Bullard figures a technical way out.
The ship returns home and Bullard is to be commended. This solution, for me, suffers from John W. Campbell’s Science background, for the solution is a technical one, though Bullard shows great spirit too. If I was an engineer I might enjoy such a tale. I’m an acolyte of the Edgar Rice Burroughs school. Brilliant use of a slide rule never thrilled me much.
This story may be the origin of Star Trek‘s Kobayashi Maru test, first used in the opening of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982).
“White Mutiny” (Astounding Science-Fiction, October 1940) turns the tables on Bullard. The Pollux gets a new captain, Chinnery, a stickler for all regulations. He makes Bullard’s life hell with complaint after complaint for regulations that are no longer followed but still on the books. The men, rather than mutiny, give the captain full “cooperation”, in other words, do nothing without direct orders. They spend all their time writing reports rather than fixing things.When Chinnery uses underhanded tactics to get the crew in trouble for bringing joola-joola juice on board, Bullard figures a way to outtrick him.
Later, the Pollux is called up to put down bandits on Io. Chinnery quickly gets the ship in trouble. Panicking, he tells Bullard to do it his way. The ship has no propulsion or weapons. Everything has been allowed to fail. Bullard uses his ingenuity to create an engine-driven blunderbuss to take out the attackers. When the crew gets the space heebie-jeebies, he finds some contraband joola-joola to soothe them. Later, he faces his old boss, now promoted, and gives his report. Admiral Dongan throws away the pile of reports and makes Bullard a captain.
Now, we’re cooking. A little action along with the puzzles to be navigated.
1941
“Blockade Runner” (Astounding Science-Fiction, March 1941) has Bullard on a secret mission. Earth has had a Jovian/Martian blockade surrounding the planet. The object is to force Earth to surrender because they have no fuel for their ships. The Eku-Uranium that powers space flight only comes from the moon of Oberon. Many men have tried and failed to get across the blockade and back. Bullard manages to get past the first time by having a perfect imitation of a Venusian cruiser, down to the fake letters the crew have in their quarters. When he springs a Venusian trigglemouse on the inspector the man sends him on with the appropriate codes.
The ship acquires the ore easily, paying a little more than expected. All Bullard needs is clearance from the officers. This encounter ends in worry for the Callistan, Tilsen, is a veteran of Venus and asks after Bullard’s supposed employer. The fake Venusian answers incorrectly. This leads to a cruiser pulling them over and arresting everyone. Once the ship has delivered the ore to the Callistans, they will all be hung as spies.
Bullard curses having no weapons but as part of his cover the ship bears none. He thinks hard on how he can win the ship back. He does this by locating a sensor over the captain’s chair, where Tilsen sits. Next he gathers materials, shapes them, then goes out on the outside of the ship (The Callistans hold the crew in such contempt, they only watch them in the control room.) Soon Tilsen’s hair is falling out and eventually he goes insane and shoots two of his soldiers. After the next man suffering the same fate, the Earthmen regain the ship and arrive for their rendezvous with an Earth squad who will give them cover. Bullard successfully brings the ore home and saves the Earth’s armada from surrender. The device he created shot gamma radiation into Tilsen’s head.
What I found interesting about this story, another puzzle story, was the political situation that the story hinges on. It reminded me of the politics in The Expanse, with Earth, old, aristocratic and out of touch with the realities of space. That the Martians would grow politically stronger is the same on the show. The Callistans are people of the Outer planets, much the same as the Belters.
The next two stories were not included in the first edition or the 1955 reprint.
“Slacker’s Paradise” (Astounding Science-Fiction, April 1941) follows the men of the SP boats who wear silver crescents to mark their trade. These men are sneered at by women as not being real heroes. They prefer the warriors of the fleet like Captain Bullard. Lt. Alan MacKay is the commander of an SP ship (in Earther slang Sp stands for ‘Slacker’s Paradise’.) He and his crew are given a dangerous mission by Bullard, to deliver a message to the fleet admiral. When a Jovian ship captures them, MacKay has to read, memorize and destroy the orders. These prove to be complete and embarrassing surrender to the Jovians.
When the Jovian ship comes aside, MacKay is faced with a Jovian admiral who surrenders to him. The Jovians all jump ship, leaving the three-man crew to fly the gigantic vessel. MacKay has a hard decision on what to do next. He decides to send false messages to all the outer colonies to reject the Callistans who have taken over. The collapse of the other side in the war is inevitable. Later, when MacKay faces the brass’s reprimand for his action, Bullard yanks off his silver crescent and gives him the Celestial Cross for single-handedly ending the war.
I suspect this story was not included because the real hero is MacKay, not Bullard, who has a supporting role. It would make no sense for Bullard, now a famous captain, to act as delivery man. Jameson includes a note at the end telling how the story was based on a real event in World War I. America is not yet in World War II but the Pulps were featuring a lot of war tales all the same.
“Devil’s Powder” (Astounding Science-Fiction, June 1941) is a mystery story in which Bullard tracks down a mysterious ailment that is affecting his crew on Venus. (The illo above shows the cook losing it and putting everything in the soup.) Bullard investigates a new illicit drug, Neurobane. Anyone who smells the drug instantly craves it. After taking it, the drug-user goes insane. Some recover, some don’t. Only one per cent of people are immune. (Bullard suspects the the drug dealers are recruited from these few.) First, Bullard must figure out how the drug is being administered. He looks at the routine around the base and clues in it is linked to the firing range. Next, he works to have the armory empty so he and Benton can search the equipment. They discover that some of the ammo is marked without a period after the 22. These are the shells containing the drug.
Next, Bullard has the staff pharmacist concoct a replacement for the blue drug. Anyone firing these shells will suffer similar effects to food poisoning. Bullard waits a day after a rash of illness to find the soldiers who are beaten up. These are the drug dealers, each having been roughed up by unhappy customers. In the end, Bullard knows who the ring leader is (the guy who is in the hospital), the dealers and the users. He even flips the ringleader, Stosk, to squeal on his off-planet supplier.
I think this story may have been left out of the collections because of its drug theme. The books were marketed to youth and it may have been deemed inappropriate back in 1953.
“Bullard Reflects” (Astounding Science-Fiction, December 1941) is a sports story. I generally loath sports fiction but I kinda like this one. We start out at the championship Dazzle Dart game. The Polliwogs from the Pollux are in the lead thanks to Lt. MacKay and his team mates. They are playing heir rivals from the Castor. Bullard is watching from the stands but is interrupted with bad news. A Callistan murderer named Ziffler has taken the base on Caliban. What makes this worse is the base was one for military experiments. Ziffler has a crop of the new electron guns. Taking the base back would be suicide against these ray weapons.
Bullard gladly accepts the job of capturing the bandits. His men land, take control but are tricked by three willing captives. When the men enter Bullard’s commander center, a gas knocks everyone out. Ziffler has struck again, using a new airborne poison. The captured Earthmen are put in spacesuits and dumped out on the barren planet for twenty-four hours. After that time, the bandits will hunt them down for sport.
Bullard takes the men to a secret station he knows about. His hopes that the scientists there are alright are dashed. The bandits have killed everyone and destroyed the radio. The station had been working on some meteorite fragments that look like jade. Bullard has these gathered and has straps put on them. He gives these to the Dazzle Dart players then waits for the hunters.
Of course, they don’t wait a day but attack early. Bullard goads them into firing with their electron guns. His Dazzle Dart players use their reflective meteorite chunks to deflect the beams back at the attackers. Jameson gives us a fairly gory tidbit (for him anyway). The bandits are mostly killed, their charred hands and other pieces are all that remain. Bullard sends a message to command that has the admiral thinking he has gone highbrow: “After reflection, the enemy has succumbed.”
1942
“Brimstone Bill” (Astounding Science-Fiction, July 1942) starts with the Pollux being ordered to go to spacedock at Juno after the capture of Ziffler and his gang. Among the captives is an anomaly, Paul Grogan, better known as Brimstone Bill. Unlike the killers from Callisto, Bill is a conman. Bullard knew him from long ago when his Old Timey Religion scam had robbed him of a pocketful of pay.
Stuck at Juno, Bullard knows the crewmen will waste their money on drugs, gambling and prostitutes. The base is owned by a crooked senator who expects to make a haul out of the Pollux. Bullard devises a way to thwart him. Using the carrot of half the cut and a pardon, he convinces Brimstone Bill to recreate his old scam, using a device that stimulates the generosity of people. His loud sermons bring in the cash until the Jovians get jealous. They try force, then trickery but ultimately end up converts. Bullard and Bill have fleeced the flock instead.
Bullard uses the money to refund his crewmen. He gives half to Brimstone Bill as agreed. Only to Benton does he admit, that Bill was never going to be charged with the Callistans.
1944
The next story was included in the first edition but not the reprint edition, probably because of length.
“The Bureaucrat” (Astounding Science-Fiction, April 1944) begins with the son of Benton trying to see Bullard about an injustice. His mother has paid off a senator or two to keep him in a safe berth on the Vindictive. Benton wants active duty. Bullard admits he is only a bureaucrat and can’t do anything about it. As the disappointed Benton leaves, Bullard’s secretary gives him a wink. Bullard has his ways.
What Bullard does is reclassify the type of ship Benton is on as a cruiser. This in turn means the Vindictive will have to do shooting drills. Benton and the engineer, Purcell, have to quickly retro-fit the ship and try to train the men. When the day of the firing exercise comes, the captain and most of the slackers take the lifeboats and abandon ship. Benton discovers that the ship has behaved in a new way, feedback making the engines jump after firing. This is important because his old style ship packs a huge pump with its cannons but then sits for a long time to power up again. Leaping away, even if by accident, proves useful.
At this point the Vindictive is called in for real battle against two enemy ships that have escaped the fleet. The Admiral tells Benton to put the ship under his control but Benton lies and says the remote equipment is broken. He will direct the Vindictive, taking out both enemy vessels.
Later, after receiving medals, Benton learns that the new reaction with the engines has been named “The Benton Effect”. Engineers have plans for boosting the effect, making the obsolete craft useful again. Benton also learns from Bullard that he is now the captain of the Vindictive and will remain so for the length of the war on active duty.
1945
“Orders” (Astounding Science-Fiction, December 1945) is the final story, taking place after the armistice between Earth and the outer planets. Bullard feels bored and frustrated without a war to fight. A snide politician named Wallowby comes with new orders. The pirate world of Trojan is making things difficult, hiding behind the new peace treaty. Bullard calls in Benton (must be the the son, since his father died in ’93) to go to Nestor and bring back a criminal named Grory the Groat. Bullard gives him a second set of sealed orders to be opened only if the Trojans don’t comply and then a four hour wait. The Trojans have refused all previous requests. Benton gets the same treatment as well. The officer sets up a desk outside his ship and waits with a drink. He tells the Trojans, as well as the captains of two Martian and Saturnian ships, he is following Bullard’s orders. Ten minutes to the deadline the Trojans hand over Grory. Benton returns and asks Bullard what was in the second orders. Only three words: RETURN TO BASE. The whole thing was a bluff based on Bullard’s reputation.
Hardcover Satisfaction
Despite the also-ran status in the magazine, the stories of the fairly realistic space navy man were not forgotten. When the juvenile market for Science Fiction bloomed in the late 1940s, Bullard was a natural to get his own collection. The book won the Boys Clubs of America Award. Andre Norton, a writer yet to reach her heights of fame, acted as editor for the book. She writes: “In gathering the adventures of Bullard and preparing them for the press the editor had the assistance of Martin Greenberg, who first introduced Commander Bullard to the editor’s delighted attention, and Nan Hanlin, who loaned her precious Bullard adventures for critical reading. Deepest appreciation is hereby expressed to both.” The Martin Greenberg mentioned is probably the publisher of Gnome Press, not Martin H. Greenberg who was twelve at the time.
Conclusion
I have to admit my introduction to Malcolm Jameson wasn’t in Astounding or even in the hardcover reprint of Bullard of the Space Patrol, which I am lucky enough to own. I actually met his work first in Weird Tales. The March 1940 issue had “Train For Flushing”. He wrote for other Pulps like Unknown, Planet Stories and Amazing Stories as well, probably selling off his John W. Campbell rejects where he could. His Unknown story “Blind Alley” was made into an episode of The Twilight Zone.
Having read all the stories I can say I quite liked the little saga Jameson spun in those old Astoundings. His tales run through an intriguing political history of the war between Earth and the other planets. He peoples the Pollux with familiar faces: Commander Moore, Lt. MacKay and Benton. You get to know them in a way we can all relate to when we watch Star Trek. Jameson uses a classic John W. Campbell model for puzzle stories that will later be employed well by writers like Keith Laumer and his Retief stories. Politically, I don’t think Mr. Jameson and I agree on war (being a hippie child of the 1970s!) but this didn’t stop me from enjoying these tales from eighty years ago.
