The Bluff Of The Hawk

Had not old John Sewell, the historian, recognized Hawk Carse for what
he was--a creator of new space-frontiers, pioneer of vast territories
for commerce, molder of history through his long feud with the
powerful Eurasian scientist, Ku Sui--the adventurer would doubtless
have passed into oblivion like other long-forgotten spacemen. We have
Sewell's industry to thank for our basic knowledge of Carse. His
"Space-Frontiers of the Last Century" is a thorough work and the
accepted standard, but even it had of necessity to be compressed, and
many meaty episodes of the Hawk's life go almost unmentioned. For
instance, Sewell gives a rough synopsis of "The Affair of the Brains,"
but dismisses its aftermath entirely, in the following fashion (Vol.
II, pp. 25O-251):

"... there was only one way out: to smash the great dome
covering one end of the asteroid and so release the
life-sustaining air inside. Captain Carse achieved this by
sending the space-ship _Scorpion_ crashing through the dome
unmanned, and he, Friday and Eliot Leithgow were caught up
in the out-rushing flood of air and catapulted into space,
free of the dome and Dr. Ku Sui. Clad as they were in the
latter's self-propulsive space-suits, they were quite
capable of reaching Jupiter's Satellite III, only some
thirty thousand miles away.

"Then speeding through space, Captain Carse discovered why
he had never been able to find the asteroid-stronghold. He
could not see it! Dr. Ku Sui had protected his lair by
making it invisible! But Carse was at least confident that
by breaking the dome he had destroyed all life within in,
including the coordinated brains.

"So ended The Affair of the Brains.[1]

"The three comrades reached Satellite III safely, where,
after a few minor adventures, Captain Carse...."

[Footnote 1: See the March, 1932, Issue of Astounding Stories.]

Sewell's ruthless surgery is most evident in that last paragraph. Of
course his telescoping of the events was due to limited space; but
he did wish to draw a full-length, character-revealing portrait of
Hawk Carse, and with "... reached Satellite III safely, where, after a
few minor adventures, Captain Carse ..." learned old John Sewell slid
over one of his greatest opportunities.