Juke Box Asteroid: Eight Hundred Miles of Trouble

Steve Burgess and Pat Kelley have found a fortune floating in space: an asteroid made almost entirely of iron. The discovery could make them rich, but getting millions of tons of metal back to Earth appears impossible. Before they can solve that problem, a Venusian crew arrives, disables their freighter, and leaves them under armed guard.

Their captors are Asterites, strange asteroid dwellers with a passion for copying human behavior. Their greatest treasure is an ancient juke box supplied by the Venusians. When the machine suddenly stops playing, Steve sees an opportunity. His repair plan requires eight hundred miles of telephone cable, an enormous source of power, and enough scientific nonsense to keep the Asterites from asking sensible questions.

Joseph Farrell turns a space hijacking into a fast, funny battle of ingenuity. Steve’s improvised scheme may drive away their guards and create the richest iron mine in the solar system. It may also transform the asteroid into an uncontrollable projectile aimed directly at the sun.

Juke Box Asteroid appeared in the Spring 1944 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. The issue placed Farrell alongside Leigh Brackett, Manly Wade Wellman, Ray Cummings, and Murray Leinster. Farrell’s story combines physical science with broad comedy, using an obsolete music machine and a battered coin to set an enormous plan in motion.