"Smith, George - Complete Venus Equilateral" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Guy N)

A Del Rey Book
Published by Ballantine Books
Copyright й 1976 by George O. Smith Introduction Copyright й 1976 by Arthur C. Clarke
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada, Limited, Toronto, Canada.
Venus Equilateral Copyright й 1947 bv The Prime Press. Copyright renewed 1976 by George O. Smith
ISBN 0-345-28953-6
Manufactured in the United States of America
First Edition: November 1976 Second Printing: October 1980
Cover art by Rick Stembach
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
"QRMЧInterplanetary," copyright й 1942 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc., for Astounding Science Fiction, October
1942.
"Calling the Empress," copyright й 1943 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc., for Astounding Science Fiction, June
1943.
"Recoil," copyright й 1943 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc., for Astounding Science Fiction, November 1943.
"Lost Art," copyright й 1943 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc., for Astounding Science Fiction, December 1943.
"Off the Beam," copyright й 1944 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc., for Astounding Science Fiction, February 1944.
"The Long Way," copyright й 1944 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc., for Astounding Science Fiction, April 1944.
"Beam Pirate," copyright й 1944 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc., for Astounding Science Fiction, October 1944.
Tiring Line,* copyright й 1944 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc., for Astounding Science Fiction, December 1944.
"Special Delivery," copyright й 1945 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc., for Astounding Science Fiction, March 1945.
"Pandora's Millions," copyright й 1945 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc., for Astounding Science Fiction, June 1945.
"Mad Holiday," copyright й 1947 by The Prime Press for Venus Equilateral.
"The External Triangle," copyright й 1973 by Random House, Inc., for Astounding: John W. Campbell Memorial Anthology (Harry Harrison, ed.). Originally published as "Interlude."
Identity,'* copyright й 1945 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc., for Astounding Science Fiction, November 1945.
To James Clerk Maxwell/ whose electromagnetic equations founded the art of electronics and thus made Venus Equilateral possible . . .
And to my son, George O. Smith (Jr.)/ who may someday work there.
CONTENTS
Introduction
by Arthur C. Clarke
QRMЧInterplanetary Calling the Empress Recoil Lost Art Off the Beam The Long Way Beam Pirate Firing Line Special Delivery Pandora's Millions Mad Holiday The External Triangle Epilogue; Identity
be 2
41
69
104
132
168
202
244
282
317
348
406
427
INTRODUCTION
Like all science and science-fiction writers, I am used to talking glibly in millions of years, but it's very hard to accept the fact that I started reading these stories more than thirty years ago. It seems only yesterday, and I can remember exactly how it happened.
Owing to the war, normal supplies of Astounding Stories (Analog's precursor) had been cut off by the British authorities, who foolishly imagined that there were better uses for shipping space and hard-earned dollars. Luckily, before withdrawal symptoms had become too serious, my good friend Willy Ley came to the rescue. He conscientiously mailed me every issue until I was able to renew my subscription on the outbreak of peace.
So I read George O. Smith's "Venus Equilateral" stories within a few weeks of their appearance, and greatly enjoyed them because I was obviously in the same line of business as the author. We were both working on radar, though that name had yet to enter the public domain. There was, however, a sh'ght difference in the size of our hardware. My gear weighed about thirty tons and occupied two large trucksЧand was the only sample of its khid ever built. (You'll find the details, more or less, in the novel Glide Path.) George's contraptions weighed a few ounces, were a couple of inches long, and were manufactured in tens of thousands. Even more remarkable, they were built to be shot from anti-aircraft gunsЧnot a procedure recommended for delicate electronics equipment. (Especially vacuum tubes, which were all we had in those pre-transistor days.) I can still hardly believe in the "radio proximity fuse," and have often wondered what crackpot invented it. He probably read science fiction.
ix
I imagined that George wrote these stories as relaxation from the serious business of winning the war, and I momentarily expected him to run into trouble with Security. From time to time he skated on pretty thin ice, and in this he was in good company. Everyone knows how John W. Campbell, Jr. (then Editor of Astounding/Analog) was once visited by the FBI, and asked if he would kindly desist from publishing stories about the military uses of uranium. . .