Slave Ships From Space

If you missed the last one…

The Science Fiction Pulps loved the idea of space slavery. Space pirates and other villains could steal your ship but what to do with all those pesky passengers? Space’em all! No, not when you can sell them to the spice mines. I have focused on stories that use the word ‘Slave’ in their title. By no means is every story with slaves included here. Stories like Eando Binder’s “Enslaved Brains” was a classic. (For stories just about brain slavery, go here.)

Television and movies haven’t been neglectful either. Star Trek feature Orion Slave Girls while in Star Wars Princess Leia famously wore the brass brassiere for Jabba the Hutt. These are nods to a Pulp heritage that have been problematic in later times. Whether the slavers are from Mercury, Saturn or Jupiter, the message is the same. When the outsiders come, none of us will be safe, especially our women.

“The Slave Ship From Space” (Astounding Stories, July 1931) by A. R. Holmes (Harry Bates) has two campers taken by an alien called Xantra. The humans are implanted with telepathic control devices and made invisible to other humans The two men team up with an Earthwoman to remove their devices and take over the ship. It crashes in the ocean but they survive. Written by the editor, Harry Bates, he had to use a pseudonym because he had another story under his own name in the same issue.

“Slaves of Mercury” (Astounding Stories, September 1932) by Nat Schachner gives us Earth under the Mercurians, giants from the first planet. Humans are murdered and abused by their masters. Hilary Grendon returns home to find thing bad but he leads a revolt that frees humanity. As with the last story, there is a young woman who escapes the sexual advances of the slavers.

“The Space Marines and the Slavers” (Amazing Stories, December 1936) by Bob Olsen has been mentioned before because it has space pirates and an invisible space ship. A group of marines launch an unofficial rescue mission to recapture slaves taken by Zurek while trying to avoid a war with Mars.

“Slaves of Rhythm” (Amazing Stories, January 1940) by Frederic Arnold Kummer Jr. offers another kind of slave gathering method. Space passengers near Jupiter hear entrancing music and become virtual zombies to it. The source proves to be Saturnians who project the sound telepathically. Loud noise proves to be the cure and squawking of a parrot saves everyone. The idea was used earlier and better by Clark Ashton Smith in “The City of the Singing Flame” (Wonder Stories, July 1931) and its sequel.

“Slave Raiders From Mercury” (Amazing Stories, June 1940) by Don Wilcox has a group of people at a sideshow finding themselves shanghaied to Mercury. When they land they find out they are slaves of the Dazzolax, the underground dwellers of Mercury. The Earth people learn much about the slave culture like women are usually killed off, leaving only men as slaves. June O’Neil is an exception since she is beautiful and intelligent. The Dazzolax like circuses and Lester must survive the Floating Chop (seen in the first illo) to save June and rescue the humans.

“Slaves of the Fish-Men” (Fantastic Adventures, March 1941) by Edgar Rice Burroughs is part of the Carson of Venus series. This story along with three others were wielded into the novel, Escape on Venus (1946). This segment is first in the book. The clouds of Venus open only rarely. This causes Carson’s plane to land in Mypos, city of the fish-folk. They are captured and enslaved with Carson going off as a galley slave and Duare to the king’s bedroom. Carson makes a friend in Kandor and the pair capture the ship and rescue Duare. On to the next adventure…

“Slaves of the Unknown” (Astonishing Stories, March 1942) by Neil R. Jones has Professor Jameson and the Zoromes discover a ship then get taken as prisoners. First they meet with a gigantic mountain-sized amoeba that ingests the robotic Zoromes but eventually spits them out. Later they encounter the telepathic pirates who want to enslave them and can kill with their thoughts. (Poor 28A-155!). They escape by bathing in the digestive juices of an amoeba, which block the telepathic commands.

“Venusian Slave Smugglers” (Amazing Stories, August 1942) by Jep Powell has the ship Heliotrope take on a batch of Abok slaves from Venus. A young Earthman inspired by Abraham Lincoln finds a way to release them from their slavery.

“Slaves of the Ninth Moon” (Planet Stories, March 1943) by Ross Rocklynne has Hallymer undercover to retrieve a necklace of sunstones stolen by Strilla MacCloud from the Empress of Venus. To achieve this he has only to stop a strange singer worshiped by the Ellilians and the woman he loves. This is part of Rocklynne’s version of the solar system with the IPF in the manner of Edmond Hamilton and Leigh Brackett.

“Earth Slaves to Space” (Amazing Stories, September 1946) by Richard S. Shaver begins with the Darkspear, a slave ship, taking another batch of humans into space slavery. No one is aware of these raids except for rumors about U. F. O.s. This doesn’t appear to be part of Shaver’s bizarre “Shaver Mystery” but a typical space opera tale with the heroes saving humanity and marrying the rescued women.

“Empire of Evil” ( Amazing Stories January 1951) by Robert Arnette (Paul W. Fairman or Rog Philips) An Earthman goes under cover to stop a band of space pirates from stealing Earth women for their booty. For more on this story and its sequel by Robert Silverberg, go here.

“Slave Psychology” (Future Combined with Science Fiction, January 1951) by Edwin James (James E. Gunn) has Sol II rated as safe and profitable with the perfect race of slaves, humans. The tables are turned on the invaders with some quick thinking from their passive slaves.

“Tyrant and Slave-Girl on Venus”  (10 Story Fantasy, Spring 1951) by John Beynon (John Wyndham) headlined a Donald A. Wollheim one-shot Pulp called 10 Story Fantasy. This story appeared in the UK as “No Place Like Earth” (New Worlds, #9 Spring 1951) around the same time. Out of the Unknown an obscure SF TV show did an adaptation (October 4, 1965). Bert is the sole survivor on Mars. He contemplates rebuilding society, looking to the slave culture of Venus. He suffers the life of a Venusian slave but returns to Mars by stowing away, but not alone. I suspect this story appeared before The Day of the Triffids, otherwise DAW would have preferred to have the “John Wyndham” moniker on this.

“Slave Ship to Andrigo” (Planet Stories,  July 1951) by Ross Rocklynne has a shipful of bad guys aboard the Selwyn headed for Andrigo to enslave the inhabitants known as the Greenies. A shipboard mutiny led by Corpin throws the whole venture on its head. Rocklynne suggests that governments don’t care about the slave trade. This is unusual for Pulp, with the Patrol usually acting like paladins in space. (I had to wonder if the ship was named after Carl Selwyn, possibly a friend of Ross’s?)

“The Slaves of Venus” (Planet Stories, September 1952) by Edwin James (James E. Gunn) has the tribes of Venus, the Kalja, rebelling against the humans who enslave them. Paul Adams is the architect of the revolt, leading Freedom Inc.

Conclusion

These stories don’t really reflect much on America’s history of slavery. The source seems taken more from Roman times. In many cases, the plots could be easily switched to adventure magazine stories. Later writers might look at slavery with a more realistic eye, such as Robert A. Heinlein in Citizen of the Galaxy (1957) but it is the more titillating aspects of this theme that sell copies. The old Pulps could not go beyond “a fate worse than death” but later authors like John Norman would make slavery and bondage a cottage industry with the much maligned Gor series. Edgar Rice Burroughs with whips and chains. Dr. Norman believes he had hit the right mixture of sex and violence for his audience. The series numbers thirty-eight volumes so I guess he might be right. Each to his own, I suppose. I like my ERB with fish-men not fishnet stockings.