Summary:
"The Last Days of the Captain" by Kate Wilhelm is a science fiction novel written in the early 1960s. The story unfolds on the planet Kulane, where Captain Keith Winters is tasked with overseeing the evacuation of its inhabitants due to an impending alien attack. The narrative explores themes of duty, sacrifice, and the emotional toll of making difficult decisions amid the backdrop of an existential threat. In the book, Captain Winters finds himself torn between following orders to evacuate the colonists and the moral imperative to ensure the safety of a woman named Marilyn Roget, who refuses to leave without her husband and son, lost in the wilderness. As they embark on a perilous journey through the forest in a hovercraft, the tension escalates, revealing Keith's struggle with his contempt for the settlers and his growing feelings for Marilyn. Their odyssey is fraught with challenges, including the looming threat of alien predators and the harsh elements of the forest. Ultimately, as they reach the destination just before the imminent attack, the story examines the cost of their decisions and the complexities of human resilience and connection under duress. (This is an automatically generated summary.)