Pánico entre las raptadas

# Museum Catalog Note

This science fiction serial, "Pánico Entre Las Raptadas" by Ralph Barby, is number 426 in Editorial Bruguera's "La Conquista del Espacio" (The Conquest of Space) collection, published October 1978. The narrative follows Jek Rattle, a Earthling operative moving through Jafa, a frontier spaceport on the neutral planet Jafa populated by multiple alien species including the militaristic Row and the merchant Itians. Rattle discovers a gold bracelet bearing the Greek letter lambda from a marketplace vendor, tracing it to a Row named Sopov. Seeking information, he visits club owner Danielson, learning Sopov frequents the establishment. Through surveillance screens, Danielson identifies Sopov at a card table. The story involves the disappearance of recently-graduated female Earth pilots—suggesting possible trafficking—prompting Rattle's investigation and hinting at larger Row military intrigue threatening interplanetary stability.