Leigh Brackett's "Martian Quest" (short story, frontier hazards, free)

Fast paced, quick read.

Story summary.

There is a new frontier being opened at the edge of the harsh Martian desert, with settlers that are mostly impoverished from earth & Venus. It's essentially a farming community, with on very big local hazard: "Khom", the "great desert lizard" the size of a small dinosaur that eats crops &, when disturbed, kills people. No one knows how to counter it.

Martin Drake, newly arrived, & prompted by a local beauty, will find a solution to the Khom hazard.

Fact sheet.

First published: Astounding, February 1940.
Download full text from Baen Books.
Rating: B.
Among the stories from Astounding/Analog issues edited by John Campbell.
Related: Stories of Leigh Brackett.