"The Alien Dies at Dawn" (1956) by Alexander Blade (Randall Garrett & Robert Silverberg)
Kendall Stone must discover the truth about a murder in order to avert the annihilation of a human colony on Rastol III. Galth of Rastol is an alien who has been convicted of a murder that he didn't commit and his execution is scheduled for dawn. Stone discovers a conspiracy that wants Galth to take the blame so a few Earthmen can gain a monopoly on certain medications. Stone is determined to save Galith and thousands of other lives, but will he be able to deliver proof of the alien's innocence to the governor in time? Not if the men behind the conspiracy have anything to say about it.
This is an ultra-short short story. but Stone manages to cover all the bases in an investigation in, as Stone himself would say, "super-plus top-level hurry" fashion. He has to. His wife and children are in the colony doomed to die. Plenty of action in a short amount of time in this well-written short piece.* ★★★★
First line: There was a scream of tortured air over the Mojave Spaceport as a two-man starship dropped on its hot jets toward the wide cementalloy landing field.
Last lines: Outside the window, the first rays of dawn were breaking through the murky night. He thought of his family awakening light years away. The sun would be coming up too on Rastol....
*If only Garrett & Silverberg had bothered to give the victim a name so I could count this for the Medical Examiner's Challenge as well.
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