Cold War -- Fiction; Science fiction; Short stories; Space travelers -- Fiction
"Yes. The pictures were taken on Titan, I think. We found a plain there
similar to the one in his prints. You'll recall that the plates were
all fogged--conveniently--by cosmic ray radiation. A little time and
touching up took care of the rest. He must have been quite a natural
psychologist himself, you know? He understood that people at home would
just be looking for an excuse to abandon their suicidal hysteria. What
he gave them was a common enemy. Had a lot of courage, too. Must have
shot up his own ship and then wrecked himself deliberately, leaving the
papers and the trail of Cairns.
"People will hate him when they find that he made fools of them, but
I don't think they'll go back to the old life of before the 'Terror.'
They will find out, of course. I suggest you break it to them back
home. I'd like to be there to see it, but I'm too busy out here. We're
building a staging base for the stars.
"I think Carvel would have liked that, don't you?"
THE END
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account