Procrustes

[A Beowulf Shaeffer story] Spaceship pilot Beowulf Shaeffer groggily awakens on a deserted island and considers the events leading up to the moment his head was blown off. The small ship with its six passengers had just landed on Fafnir to catch an outbound spaceliner when his crewmate had inexplicably turned and fired her weapon directly at his head. The Intensive Care Cavity that saved him shows that more than four months have passed, and his friends are nowhere to be found...