I. BOKEN
Jag tror att du tänker på Teen-Age Science Fiction-berättelser , en samling från 1952 av Richard M. Elam, Jr. . Om så är fallet, kanske omslag eller innehållsförteckning kommer att ringa en klocka. Den innehåller 11 våningar och en inledande uppsats. Det finns svartvita illustrationer på Charles H. Geer , en fullständig sidaillustration i början av varje berättelse utom "Red Sands". "liksom några mindre illustrationer. (Min kopia har en tom sida där illustrationen för "Red Sands" borde vara, kan vara en defekt kopia.) Samma samling återfördes 1957 som Unge läsare Science Fiction Stories , tydligen utan uppsatsen och utan illustrationer, så långt jag kan berätta från ISFDB.
Berättelserna är inte alla utrymme äventyrsberättelser. Den första berättelsen, "vilken tid är det?", Är en tidsresa, som beskrivs i den här gamla frågan .
II. STORIERNA "SPACE CADET"
Sex av historierna ("Lunar Trap", "Red Sands", "The Iron Moon", "Venusway", "By Jupiter", "Sol's Little Brother") handlar om äventyren av två unga distansörer, Rob Allison och Jim Hawley. . .Rob Allison, apprentice spaceman just out of the Academy of Space Navigation, stood before the huge quartz port of the observation chamber alongside his friend, Jim Hawley. His lean, lithe body was bent forward, elbows on the broad sill as he looked out on the frigid bleak landscape where the temperature was twenty degrees below zero Fahrenheit; where oxygen was so thin you couldn't even keep a match lit; and where ultraviolet radiation could kill you in a second if it came in direct contact with your skin. [ – "Red Sands"]
. . . och Robs äldre bror Grant Allison:
"Sure—nothing to it!" Rob retorted, with humor, his angular, handsome features twisting in a smile. His face was a close carbon copy of his illustrious brother's. In this twenty-first century—A.D. 2003—Grant Allison was no unfamiliar name upon the lips of educated men. Space commander, scientist, world leader—Grant was all of these. Rob wondered if he would ever reach such accomplishments himself. As a start toward these goals, he had already completed apprentice training that left him at present a "sputter"—unrated spaceman—that often uncomfortable state of being a little more learned in space lore than the average citizen but not yet qualified to speak authoritatively in the company of seasoned spacemen. [ – "The Iron Moon"]
Fyra av Rob Allison-berättelserna - "Lunar Trap" , "Iron Moon" , " Venusway " och " By Jupiter " - publicerades ursprungligen på Boys Life .
Som du kan gissa från titlarna, "Lunar Trap" och "Red Sands" handlar om uppdrag till månen respektive Mars. Rob sparar dagen och ger ett bra intryck på sin storebror Grant i berättelsen "By Jupiter":
"If you can cut in the rocket power before crashing I think we can lift her out of here!" Rob said excitedly. "All traces of an explosive atmosphere are gone from this area, but at my next signal you'll have to cut off again as we rise to the hydrogen layer."
"Good boy!" cried Grant, and Rob detected a profound note of relief in his brother's strained voice.
[. . . .]
Rob was studying the distant shining emerald that was home when Grant's voice again came to him over the speaker. "I guess you deserve a rated spaceman's gold all right, Rob."
Rob felt the joy of the moment. "The way you pulled us out of that cyclone, I should say that goes for you too, skipper—I mean, your presidency!"
III. MISSEN TILL PROXIMA CENTAURI
De tidigare berättelserna handlade om att utforska solsystemet, den sista
Den senaste historien i boken är "Händer över djupet" ; Du kan läsa en kondenserad version här .
handlade om det första uppdraget till en annan planet, som hittades i omlopp kring den närmaste stjärnan, Alpha Centauri. Jag minns inte om det tog dem 4 år att komma dit, eller om de hade hittat en snabbare än lätt resa.
Det är en planet i Proxima Centauri, och resan tar över fyra år. De reser vid eller nästan vid ljusets hastighet, men det finns ingen tidsfördröjning:
It took only a short time to determine that the small light was indeed a satellite of Proxima. The ship's trajectory was set to intercept the orbit of the planet and the braking jets were cut in. The Andromeda still had millions of miles to go, but every bit of this distance would be needed to bring the enormous velocity of 186,000 miles a second down to a safe landing speed.
Jag minns att till skillnad från tidigare historier hade det varit ett stort hopp i rymdteknik - atomkraft
Atomic power, once thought to be the ultimate answer in space travel, had grudgingly given way to the even greater energies of harnessed cosmic rays.
tuffa men superlätta plagg, otroliga handhållare ...
They carried atomic blasters for protection, slogging through bluish mud and a garish mist, not sure where they were headed.
The old-fashioned bulky space suit had given way to a transparent plastofabric that fitted almost like a second skin. The lightweight helmet had been perfected so that the wearer could speak and listen as naturally as if he were wearing none.
De landar på planeten, tycker att det är mycket jordliknande,
Milo looked at a paper he held. "Here are the main things. The atmosphere is sixty per cent oxygen, with dilution gases forty. It would burn up our lungs, of course. The planet is much smaller than Earth and has a forty-hour day; the year is a hundred and fifty-two days long."
träffa infödingar som har telepati som gör att människor kan prata med dem.
The host motioned for Harl to sit in a rickety chair. Then he made motions for the young commander to start talking. On the spur of the moment, Harl recited the regulations of the Space Command. The man nodded as though this were satisfactory and took up a stance behind Harl's chair. He placed his small, delicate hands on Harl's head and began staring straight ahead of him as though in a trance. When Harl seemed to run down, the man motioned for him to talk on.
After nearly a half hour, a halt was called in the demonstration, and, to Harl's astonishment, the man said in perfect English, "Hello."
"How is it that—?" Harl asked.
"—that I speak your language?" finished the man in a soft tenor voice. "You just taught me. I placed my mind on what you said and the meaning of the words. I do not know all of your speech in such a short time, of course, but I believe we can understand one another."
Allt verkar bra, men utomjordingarna är rädda för människors våldsamma bakgrund och (med lite ånger) tror jag att de använder sina telepatiska befogenheter för att hålla människor från att lämna och rapportera tillbaka.
Further conversation was halted when a man appeared at the door and handed Jhassa a message. The old man turned to Harl and with a bland face spoke words that chilled the spaceman to his heart in their very grimness:
"It seems that our discussion must end here, for you and your friends are about to die."
Harl's dark eyes bored with disbelief into the man opposite. His fingers seized the electron blaster near by. "Will you say that again?"
"The Kufaya has said that you must die," the man of Myr Iryra repeated. "I am sorry for you, but that is his decree."
Harl's lips curled in bitterness. "You have just finished telling me there is no hatred among your people, yet you are prepared to commit murder without reason!"
Jhassa raised a hand to quiet him. "Do not excite yourself. The Kufaya bears you no hatred. It is just that he believes you are a careless, excitable race and may upset the temperament of the people or cause more destruction."
[. . . .]
"Put down your weapons," Jhassa said quietly to the men.
To Harl's amazement, he found himself, with the rest of the men, laying his blaster on the floor in front of Jhassa's feet!
"Controlling the wills of others is a new advancement of ours, Spacemaster Gurman," Jhassa said. "Will you give me that packet on your belt? It too may be a weapon."
På något sätt övertygar ledaren för den mänskliga expeditionen att människor är mer civiliserade nu (jag tror att människorna har bättre medicinska förmågor och de läker en av de utlänningar som är skadade)
"It's no weapon, it's only a first-aid kit," Harl said. Suddenly he had an idea. "How would you like to see your sister's son well?" he asked.
"We never like to see one of our own die, of course," Jhassa replied.
"
"Your nephew's life for our lives, Jhassa," Harl proposed. "You can lose nothing by letting us try."
och de är alla vänner i slutet.
Jhassa's large meditative eyes glowed with feeling. "We want those supplies and knowledge," he said with great earnestness. The Kufaya said that if you cured the boy he would like you to show us all you can about your science."
"I have a proposal to make, Jhassa," Harl said. "Teach us some of your mind magic, let us take pictures and carry on some scientific research on your planet. In exchange, we'll tell you all you want to know about us and our ways."
Jhassa offered his thin hand and smiled. "Let us get started, my friend."