Stowaway to Mars Stowaway to Mars #1 John Wyndham 1972
'It was a desert. A vista of reddish rocks and drifted sand, arid and hot, extending to the limits of their view. A dreary waste upon which nothing moved or grew.
For British pilot Dale Curtance the Keuntz Prize, to be awarded to the first person to take a spaceship to another planet and back, is the ultimate challenge.
Not only has he to build a ship to survive the journey, assemble a top-notch crew and choose a destination, he's also got to beat the Russians and Americans.Soon the GLORIA MUNDI blasts off from Salisbury Plain, bound for Mars.
There's only one problem a stowaway called Joan. Not only does her presence wreck calculations and threaten the mission, but her tale suggests that Mars may be a more dangerous destination than they ever expected.
'Perhaps the best writer of science fiction England has ever produced' Stephen King