Ship of Fools

Ship of Fools, Richard Paul Russo, Ace Books, 2001

The multi-generation starship Argonos has aimlessly wandered the galaxy for hundreds of years, searching for any signs of life. Its original mission and destination have long ago been forgotten. Returning to Earth is not an option, for it has become a toxic, irradiated wasteland.

A mysterious signal draws the ship to an abandoned colony on an Earth-like planet. Nikko, the ship's captain, barely averts a mutiny as several hundred passengers would rather take their chances on the planet than stay on the ship any longer. The planet's attraction suddenly disappears when several hundred humanoid corpses are discovered in an underground room. The colony is abandoned because the inhabitants were slaughtered.

Later, the Argonos comes upon what looks like a huge, derelict alien ship. Bartolomeo, Nikko's friend and advisor, advocates exploring the ship thoroughly. On the other hand, Bishop Saldana, Nikko's rival for the captaincy, is all for putting as much distance as possible between the ships. He is not the only one who feels malevolence, if not actual evil, from the alien ship.

Room after room is explored on the alien ship, most of them being empty, with little or no sign of aliens. The decision is made to attach the two ships together, and tow the alien ship to an intelligent civilization (there has to be one somewhere) as a peace offering. Then, several hundred more humanoid corpses are discovered on the alien ship. Even Bartolomeo is convinced that the sooner they get away from the alien ship, the better. Now, the alien ship comes alive, refusing to let go of the Argonos.

This is a really good, well-done story looking at the concept of evil. The author does a good job with the characters, and it will certainly keep the reader interested.