FLIGHT OF EXILES
by Ben Bova
Two erstwhile friends engage in a bitter double rivalry for the hand of Valerie, and for the Chairmanship of the spaceship cum cryogenics laboratory now nearing a possible landfall after a fifty year journey from Earth. The Chairman will be responsible for deciding the people's future (should they breed a generation of giant sulphur-breathing mutants capable of surviving on the inhospitable major planet of Alpha Centauri or continue their search for a more congenial home?), but when Valerie's father is attacked and the relevant data destroyed it becomes evident that one of the contenders is a genocidal lunatic. Even Valerie can't tell which, and if her failure of intuition is as infuriating as her indecisiveness (she loves both Dan and Larry, but Larry a bit more), you can sit back and enjoy the Alpha Centaurian scenery while waiting for the mystery to come to its predictable conclusion. An armchair voyage, comfortably craftsmanlike.