# Commander Gurney — Short Fiction character guide

> Commander Gurney in Short Fiction by Frank Belknap Long.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Gurney, Commander

**First appearance:** 0000-the-hounds-of-tindalos

## Snapshot

A wiry, darkly bearded commander who tracked his stolen cruiser across space, only to be fished half-drowned from a river by the very man who took it.

## Who they are

Gurney arrives on Langford's trail with a fast auxiliary cruiser and orders to close in, but the ten-foot things in the clearing lifted his lads in their preying arms and dumped them in the river like dead timber. He survives with no memory of how, and his shaken account of the attack becomes the story's central dread. His accusation and his helplessness together make him both Langford's pursuer and the warning Langford refuses to heed.

## Relationships

### [Joan Langford](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_17_se/characters/joan_langford)

_professional_

A military or command-based relationship, with Commander Gurney likely in a position of authority over Joan.

### [Joan Langford](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_17_se/characters/joan_langford)

_professional_

A military or command-based relationship, with Commander Gurney likely in a position of authority over Joan.

### [Joan Langford](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_17_se/characters/joan_langford)

_professional_

A military or command-based relationship, with Commander Gurney likely in a position of authority over Joan.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_17_se/chapters/i)

Orders Langford's arrest, argues with him about the alien ship, witnesses the alien's replication and self-destruction, and grants Langford a 15-minute head start.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_17_se/chapters/iii)

His private cruiser, the White Hawk, is the target of Langford's plan.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_17_se/chapters/iv)

Found half-drowned on the riverbank; recounts an attack by tall alien creatures that killed his men.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_17_se/characters/commander_gurney
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_17_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_17_se/characters