Procrustes

Publication date: 
1993-11
Publication type: 
Novella
Published: 
Bridging the Galaxies
Setting: 
Known Space
I.U.C.: 
K.S. 29 (2654)
Characters: 
Beowulf Shaeffer; Sharrol; Feather Filip; Carlos Wu
Summary: 

Spaceship pilot Beowulf Shaeffer wakes up hungry, on a deserted island on a strange planet. His last memory is of being shot in the chest with a powerful weapon, but he's alive, thanks to a miraculous autodoc. More than four months have passed, and his friends are nowhere to be found... and whose boots are those?

Notes: 

Beowulf loses his head, but takes it surprisingly well