# The Quedak — Short Fiction character guide

> The Quedak in Short Fiction by Robert Sheckley.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Quedak

**First appearance:** 0000-final-examination

## Snapshot

A thumb-sized creature of agonizing, duty-bound persistence, dragging itself across a dead Mars toward a departing spaceship it means to ride to a living world.

## Who they are

The Quedak is a selfless pilgrim of the universe, convinced that Quedaks owe a duty to the native fauna of planets, and its body screams with every centimeter of its crawl toward Captain Jensen's Southern Cross. It slips aboard through a half-open pressure door and clings to a shelf's underside through the freezing, blazing flight, listening to the fumigation hiss meant to kill it. Its quiet stowaway survival turns a routine Mars expedition into a delivery system for something patient, purposeful, and not remotely human.

## Relationships

### [Dan Drake](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se/characters/dan_drake)

_psychological_

Dan Drake is haunted by the Quedak, a mysterious entity that seems to control his fate.

### [William Sorensen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se/characters/william_sorensen)

_psychological_

The Quedak exerts a strange, obsessive influence over William Sorensen's mind.

### [William Sorensen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se/characters/william_sorensen)

_psychological_

The Quedak exerts a strange, obsessive influence over William Sorensen's mind.

### [Dan Drake](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se/characters/dan_drake)

_psychological_

Dan Drake is haunted by the Quedak, a mysterious entity that seems to control his fate.

### [Dan Drake](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se/characters/dan_drake)

_psychological_

Dan Drake is haunted by the Quedak, a mysterious entity that seems to control his fate.

### [William Sorensen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se/characters/william_sorensen)

_psychological_

The Quedak exerts a strange, obsessive influence over William Sorensen's mind.

## In the story

### [Warrior Race](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se/chapters/warrior-race)

The Cascellan chief, who values honor and suicide above all, is physically restrained by Fannia to prevent him from killing himself.

### [Diplomatic Immunity](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se/chapters/diplomatic-immunity)

The alien Ambassador; appears human, survives all attacks, and broadcasts a signal to his empire.

### [Meeting of the Minds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se/chapters/meeting-of-the-minds)

The last of its kind, the Quedak stows away on a spaceship to Earth, driven by its mission to implant symbiotic crystals and bring cooperation. It kills a rat but fails to implant the crystal and hides to rest.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se/chapters/part-ii-iv)

The collective entity that absorbs creatures; it speaks through Eakins and orchestrates the attack on the camp.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se/chapters/part-ii-vi)

Issues an ultimatum to join or die, speaking through Eakins.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se/characters/the_quedak
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se/characters