Robert Sheckley’s "50 Caliber" Summary

This action-packed detective story by the American science fiction classic was published in 1961. The plot centers on the smuggling of a shipment of military automatic weapons disguised as civilian equipment. The book opens the "Secret Agent Stephen Dane" series, being the first in the series. This spy series also includes the stories "Living Gold," "White Death," "Running on Time," and "Death Race."

Night raid on Miami warehouses

Student James Hollis is on duty at the Miami warehouses of Miami-South Export. His shift shift is late. A heavy-duty cargo trailer pulls up to the first hangar, carrying a group of armed robbers who present an orange form for the urgent removal of nine massive crates, coded A-42. The document isn’t signed by the accountant. Hollis refuses the ten-dollar bill offered by the driver and heads to the telephone on the wall, intending to contact the company’s director.

A blow comes from the darkness, striking the officer on duty. A driver in a black jacket shoots the student squarely in the chest with a heavy automatic weapon. The patrolman who arrived is killed. The driver sprays the fleeing policeman with lead from the cab window, expends all his ammunition, and furiously commands his accomplices: "Load it! And let’s get out of here!" The truck disappears south.

Thornton’s investigation and the emergence of a special agent

Returning from a trip abroad, businessman Bill Thornton receives a mandate from his management to investigate the circumstances of a robbery to preserve the company’s reputation. The buyer’s office greets the visitor with icy indifference. Branch manager Eduardo Enriquez offers a brief explanation, but at a nearby café, the beautiful secretary, Estella Vargas, secretly gives Thornton the precise coordinates of an abandoned warehouse containing the stolen goods, located eighty kilometers outside the city. Thornton heads out to investigate.

In a dilapidated warehouse, a businessman suddenly stumbles upon an armed gang. The bandits are preparing to kill him. With a massive blow from a ring, the captive smashes the only lightbulb under the ceiling, blinding his assailants, throwing heavy tools, and smashing the rotten boards in the window frame with his shoulder. Shots ring out from outside. A government agent, hiding in the bushes, kills the attacker with a well-aimed shot, hides his revolver, and politely states, "I’m Stephen Dane, and you, I believe, are William Thornton."

A conspiracy of mercenaries and pressure from the secret services

In a hotel room, Agent Dane and Estella uncover the true nature of the contraband. The A-42 crates contained heavy machine guns and rifles to equip General Santos-Figueros’s 5,000-strong Foreign Legion, which was preparing an armed invasion of the Central American republic of Coruna. Thornton receives a call from the smuggler Eberhart. At an elite restaurant, Dane hosts a ostentatious dinner with retired Latin American General Mendoza, heightening the psychological tension surrounding the participants in the illegal arms deal. The covert surveillance continues.

That night, unknown assailants lie in wait in Thornton’s hotel room, knock him out, and completely rip open the upholstery and suitcases. All his clothes are shredded. In the morning, the investigation moves north to the quiet Port Cocoa, where the crooked harbormaster, George Clarris, confirms the illegal loading of crates onto the coastal vessel Helios. The road is ripe for an ambush. An oncoming truck attempts to crush the detectives’ car at full speed. Dane calmly steers the car onto a sandy slope and confidently declares the fate of the military cargo: "The weapons will not reach the Dominican Republic."

Dangerous Liaisons on Santa Catarina

A special forces unit arrives on a passenger flight to the scorching tropical island of Santa Catarina, hoping to intercept a seaborne munitions ship. Dane suddenly disappears. Over a cup of strong coffee, Mr. Qualiilla, a colorful crocodile skin merchant, informs his customers of the departure of the military transport Liberio, carrying a squad of mercenaries from the Dominican Republic. The city is unsafe. In a narrow passage, an out-of-control truck nearly crushes the bandit Stichini against a stone wall, after which the terrified gangster decides to seek protection from the Americans.

Cornered, the robber arrives at Thornton’s room and reveals the final destination: the weapons crates have been unloaded on the uninhabited rocky reef of Cuevra off the coast of Central America. An explosion rocks the stairs. Unknown terrorists slip a hand grenade with treacherous fishhooks into Stichini’s pocket, blowing the bandit to pieces right there in the hotel lobby. Local police captain Alvarez arrests the surviving witnesses to the incident. Smuggler Eberhart visits the prisoner in his cell with an offer of a hefty ransom for information, only to be rebuffed: "I don’t know a damn thing, Eberhart." The authorities demand his deportation.

Battle on the rocks of the island of Coevra

Instead of the planned return to Florida, Estella persuades Thornton to fly to Jamaica to immediately destroy the rebel arsenal before the main invasion force arrives. A motor launch is hired in Kingston. Arriving at the deserted granite cliffs of Cuevara, the heroes are ambushed by General Mendoza, who arranged to meet the cargo along with the traitorous skipper and bandit Juan. All are arrested by the conspirators. Guards force Special Agent Dane, bound, and Port Master Clarris, forced into a dank cave, where he is forced to admit the collapse of his own illegal schemes.

At dawn, a repentant port official cuts the ropes around the special agent’s hands. The fugitives quickly open the crates. Armed with army-issue machine guns and loaded magazines, the squad makes its way to the coast, where a heavy barrage of militants destroys a parked fishing boat. The path is cut off by fire. Dane leads the group to the inaccessible peak of the eastern cape, eliminates the bandit Juan with a well-aimed shot, and organizes a perimeter defense on the scorching rocks.

Mendoza orders a field mortar to be deployed and rains fragmentation shells on the granite clifftop, urging the encircled forces to surrender in the face of the approaching rebel flagship. Dane surveys the waters. Assessing the silhouette of the approaching mercenary vessel, the officer tersely states the encirclement: "That’s the Liberio." Suddenly, an artillery salvo thunders in the distance. Coruna’s destroyer, arriving, captures the invaders’ transport and storms General Mendoza’s position, saving the besieged forces from certain death. In the cool dining room, Thornton and Estella discuss their upcoming wedding over morning coffee, while the ever-present special agent Dane flies off to Washington to embark on new covert operations.