Plot: competing expeditions from earth are sent to investigate a miles long ship discovered beyond Jupiter's orbit. Upon arrival they determine that the derelict is inhabited by laboratory animals not from earth whose mechanical feeding troughs have failed.
Protecting themselves from attack, the humans explore and determine that the ship is experimental and may have had a crew of 2 intelligent beings from a planet subject to a windy environment. After losing human astronauts to attacks by hungry alien animals, they open an area that may hold the surviving crewmen. They had earlier discovered a dead alien crewmember, whom they surmise was one of a mated pair. When they enter the unexplored area of the ship they are being followed by hungry alien animals. In a final attack by those animals the humans exhaust their ammo and are fighting the animals hand to hand. One man who is losing the fight hears a hatchway open, revealing the last alien astronaut who has lost several of its limbs and whose caterpillar-like body is badly scarred by wounds from earlier fights with the lab animals. But the alien astronaut is carrying a very obvious weapon with which it opens fire upon the renaining lab animals, thereby rescuing the humans. At the end of the novel, the humans have brought their smallest space capsule inside the hold of the alien ship (as a gift). In return the alien gives them photos of its planet and other small items. The humans repair the alien ship's hyperdrive which had been disabled earlier when they didn't want to take an unexpected trip if the alien ship happened to return to its home world automatically. That is the gist of the plot, although the Americans are returning home in a Russian capsule with other Earth astronauts.
Protecting themselves from attack, the humans explore and determine that the ship is experimental and may have had a crew of 2 intelligent beings from a planet subject to a windy environment. After losing human astronauts to attacks by hungry alien animals, they open an area that may hold the surviving crewmen. They had earlier discovered a dead alien crewmember, whom they surmise was one of a mated pair. When they enter the unexplored area of the ship they are being followed by hungry alien animals. In a final attack by those animals the humans exhaust their ammo and are fighting the animals hand to hand. One man who is losing the fight hears a hatchway open, revealing the last alien astronaut who has lost several of its limbs and whose caterpillar-like body is badly scarred by wounds from earlier fights with the lab animals. But the alien astronaut is carrying a very obvious weapon with which it opens fire upon the renaining lab animals, thereby rescuing the humans. At the end of the novel, the humans have brought their smallest space capsule inside the hold of the alien ship (as a gift). In return the alien gives them photos of its planet and other small items. The humans repair the alien ship's hyperdrive which had been disabled earlier when they didn't want to take an unexpected trip if the alien ship happened to return to its home world automatically. That is the gist of the plot, although the Americans are returning home in a Russian capsule with other Earth astronauts.
