A Hitch in Space by Fritz Leiber Episode #274

Fritz Leiber | September 11, 2024

A Hitch in Space by Fritz Leiber Episode #274
Fritz Leiber

A HITCH IN SPACE

Episode #274 · Written by Fritz Leiber · Narrated by Scott Miller

Two spacemen on a long, lonely maintenance run discover that isolation isn’t their biggest problem—one of them has developed an imaginary second version of his partner. When the delusion turns dangerous during a spacewalk, the boundary between reality and imagination becomes a life-and-death struggle.

A Hitch in Space is one of those beautifully strange, sharply observed science-fiction stories that only Fritz Leiber could have written. Set during a lengthy maintenance run across the Shaulan system, it follows spaceman Joe Hansen and his endlessly upbeat partner Jeff Bogart as they drift from beacon to beacon aboard a cramped ionic jeep. The job is tedious, the isolation intense, and the silence of space weighs heavily on them both. But things take a bizarre—and increasingly dangerous—turn when Jeff casually develops a new crewmember: an imaginary duplicate of Joe who he calls “Joseph.” At first the harmless hallucination is almost amusing, even convenient. But as the imaginary companion becomes more real to Jeff than Joe himself, the situation darkens.

Leiber turns this simple premise into a layered psychological tale full of tension, humor, and uneasy intimacy. Jeff adores Joe, idolizes him, practically worships the ground he floats above. Yet he criticizes “Joseph” relentlessly, bullies him, berates him—revealing curious cracks in his own personality. As Joe tries to guide Jeff toward healthier thinking, the emotional balance between them grows more unstable. Then, during an EVA, a moment of delusion triggers a chain of events that leaves Joe stranded outside the ship with the engine firing and only a thin safety line between him and a catastrophic drift into deep space. What follows is an ever-tightening sequence of survival, patience, and mental tightrope-walking as Joe tries to keep himself alive while dealing with a partner who can no longer reliably distinguish truth from imagination.

Leiber’s writing excels here—witty, observant, and psychologically sharp. He captures both the claustrophobia of deep-space travel and the strange intimacy that forms when two people rely on each other completely. The story is as much about companionship as it is about danger. The blend of humor and seriousness makes the characters feel fully alive, and the final scenes deliver a satisfying emotional punch without leaning on spectacle. This isn’t a story about grand cosmic threats—it’s about the quiet, unnerving hazards of human minds pushed to the limit.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Fritz Leiber was one of the most influential stylists in 20th-century speculative fiction—an author who moved effortlessly between science fiction, fantasy, psychological horror, and satire. Born in 1910, he was the child of touring actors, and that theatrical background shows in his sharp dialogue, character-driven plotting, and sense of timing. Over his long career he earned multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, as well as the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement. Leiber could write grand, imaginative epics—such as the beloved Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories—but he was equally gifted at tight, human-scale tales like A Hitch in Space, where the drama is emotional, internal, and deeply relatable.

His influence shaped generations of writers—urban fantasy authors, psychological storytellers, and science-fiction creators who admired his ability to capture the strangeness of the human mind as vividly as the strangeness of the universe. Leiber remains essential reading today because his stories never feel dated; they explore the things that always matter to us: identity, fear, loneliness, friendship, and the fragile balance between imagination and reality.

A Hitch in Space stands as a prime example of Leiber’s ability to turn a compact narrative into something rich and memorable. It’s a story filled with depth, character, and clever insight—an intimate look at two men drifting among the stars, and the delicate mental threads that hold their world together.

LISTEN TO THE STORY

Listen to A Hitch in Space by Fritz Leiber — a tense and witty tale of identity, imagination, and danger in vintage science fiction’s deep-space frontier.