Gateway

Summary

Frederik Pohl centers the story on Robinette Broadhead, who buys passage to Gateway, an asteroid full of abandoned alien spacecraft that humans pilot without understanding where the ships will go. Prospectors gamble their lives on these voyages hoping to strike riches, and the narrative alternates between Broadhead's dangerous expeditions and his later sessions with a robot therapist. The book pairs hard science fiction adventure with a sharp study of guilt, survivor trauma, and greed.