George O Smith's "Redevelopment" (as by Wesley Long) (novelette, space opera, free): A mean girl is about to learn a lesson in humility

This is a very juvenile story. And a bit boring too - far too much text is devoted to jargon & pseudo-physics of faster than light travel.

Story summary.

Sandra Drake is very beautiful & used to get her way. She cons John McBride, inventor of star drive, to install one in her ship. Then she flies off to Sirius, finds an inhabited world with its humanoid aliens who aren't too keen putting up with her tantrums, & has got her star drive dead on landing.

Of course, John, their mutual friend Steve Hammond, & a couple of others will go looking for her...

Fact sheet.

First published: Astounding, November 1944.
Download full text as part of the scans of Astounding issue where it originally appeared.
Rating: B.
Among the stories from John Campbell's Astounding/Analog.
Related: Fiction from 1940s.