Golden Age SF novell om första kontakten och en annan typ av hyperspace

Jag har försökt hitta en viss "golden age" kort sci-fi-historia

"Undviksituation" av James V. McConnell , först publicerad i Om , februari 1956 , som finns på Internetarkiv . Antologin du läste den måste ha varit Starships , redigerad av Asimov, Greenberg och Waugh.

Alien Scoutship-pilot är väldigt viktigt för "Åh ja, du har upptäckt oss, vi har alla avancerade teknologier och krigsvagnar, förbereder oss för att absorberas av det galaktiska imperiet."

"The Dakn Empire has learned that whenever it discovers a new civilization, it must absorb this new culture immediately. There is no other choice. And your race must follow the pattern of the thousands we have encountered in the past. There is no choice. As of this moment, you and your people are, from our point of view, just as much a part of our Empire as our own home planets. This does not appeal to you, I know. But there is no other way."

Alien Scoutship har den enda kända formen av hyperdrive i universum, kallad cee-squared eller c2?

Lan Sur awoke to quietness. He stretched his lean, lithe legs, slowly, returning to normal awareness as he did so. Once he was completely awake, he sat down in front of the control panel again. A single amber light beamed from the board. While he had been asleep, the scout ship had come out of its C2 drive and had slowed to a stop. They had reached their immediate destination, and since he was asleep, the computer had simply turned on the protective screens around the ship and had begun a survey of the sun system they had arrived at.

[. . .]

He noted with pride that the aliens, whoever they might be, had not at the moment reached the point of development where C2 communication was available to them, but were still limited to the raw speed of light for the transmission of messages, and hence, he felt sure, for the transmission of space ships too. This meant, he knew, that he had probably stumbled onto a race of beings still new to the reaches of space who would be helpless even in the face of his own lightly armed scout ship. However, according to patrol instructions, he activated a switch that relayed all pertinent information by means of a sealed C2 beam back to the nearest Dakn Patrol base, and put in a formal call for the presence of Patrol battleships. One way or another, they would be needed . . .

Människor säger "bevisa din eldkraft - förstör den yttersta planet medan vi tittar på"

The alien's voice boomed back, interrupting the man. "You obviously still underestimate the technological level of the Dakn Empire." The alien paused, as if checking something. "According to my analysis of this system, the fourth and outer planet is of no value whatsoever to my people. Therefore, I accede to your request. The planet will be destroyed at once."

Alien Scoutship uppfyller, och människorna svarar genom att aktivera sin hyperdrive - vilket tar resten av stjärnsystemet, inklusive stjärnan, i en annan hyperspace.

The control board in front of Hawkins displayed all green signals. "Yes," he said. "I think we're finally ready. Here is our answer to the choice you gave us." His fingers pressed firmly on a single red key.

[. . .]

"I wonder what our alien friend thought when suddenly Clarion, Trellis, the two other planets, and us too, just up and disappeared and left him behind?"

(Clarion och Trellis var de namn jordmännen hade gett till den solen och dess beboeliga planet.)

Den olika hyperdrivan var en oavsiktlig upptäckt av människorna.

"It all added up to the fact that his race had never stumbled onto the use of subspace. I know that sounds incredible, but when I checked with one of the top physicists, I found out that we happened onto it by sheer accident—and an impossibly stupid one at that—and not through any high-level theorizing. The theory came later, after the process had been demonstrated in a laboratory."

Nu måste de fånga så många stjärnsystem som möjligt och leva i hyperspace (med Sol och Earth) för att komma undan det galaktiska imperiet.

"Do you think they'll ever find us?" Broussard asked, changing the subject. "From the look on Lan Sur's face when he told about that other world, I suspect they'll move heaven and earth to find out where we've run to.

"Find us? The Dakn Empire? I just don't know. We've got a thousand ships equipped with the subspace drive. That's a thousand or so solar systems we can pull through into subspace before they can catch up with us—I hope. But we'll have to be careful. If one of our ships is ever caught, and they discover the drive, we're all done for. I doubt that they'll show us any mercy."

Det finns en omtale av en "C-Squared Drive" i böckerna The Torch of Honor och Rogue Powers av Roger MacBride Allen. Tillsammans bildar de Duella och Aliens duologi.

Den här översynen av uppföljaren verkar matcha din beskrivning ganska bra;

Let me itemize some of the parts of the book that work for me. There is an interstellar war between the loose federation of planets connected to Earth against a mysterious enemy group of humans who left Earth years earlier. I would roughly assign the time of the book as about 200 years in the future. Technology is very similar to what we have in the 20th century with some advances to be compatible with space travel. Societies are descended from national groupings including British, United States, Finns, etc.

The main characters from the first book are involved in this sequel. Mac and Joz are still married and working for the unified militaries that are fighting the Guardians. The Guardians are the evil enemy humans as they were in the first book. We see what happened to the lost survey ship that was mentioned extensively in the beginning of the first book. We see more of the world of the Guardians and more of their individual soldiers. New characters are introduced who play different roles in the story.