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John Hanson #6
The God in a Box
In the course of his Special Patrol duties Commander John Hanson resolves the unique and poignant mystery of "toma annerson.
Excerpt
This is a story I never intended to tell. I would not even tell it now if it were not for the Zenians.
Understand that I do not dislike the Zenians. One of the best officers I ever had was a Zenian. His name was Eitel, and he served under me on the old Tamon, my first command. But lately the Zenians have made rather too much of the exploits of Ame Baove.
The history of the Universe gives him credit, and justly, for making the first successful exploration in space. Baove's log of that trip is a classic that every school-child knows.
But I have a number of friends who are natives of Zenia, and they fret me with their boastings.
"Well, Hanson," they say, "your Special Patrol Service has done wonderful work, largely under the officership of Earth-men. But after all, you have to admit that it was a Zenian who first mastered space!"
Perhaps it is just fractiousness of an old man, but countless repetitions of such statements, in one form or another, have irritated me to the point of action--and before going further, let me say, for the benefit of my Zenian friends, that if they care to dig deeply enough into the archives, somewhere they will find a brief report of these adventures recorded in the log of one of my old ships, the Ertak, now scrapped and forgotten. Except, perhaps, by some few like myself, who knew and loved her when she was one of the newest and finest ships of the Service.
I commanded the Ertak during practically her entire active life. Those were the days when John Hanson was not an old man, writing of brave deeds, but a youngster of half a century, or thereabouts, and full of spirit. Sometimes, when memory brings back those old days, it seems hard for me to believe that John Hanson, Commander of the Ertak, and old John Hanson, retired, and a spinner of ancient yarns, are one and the same--but I must get on to my story, for youth is impatient, and from "old man" to "old fool" is a short leap for a youthful mind.
Excerpt
This is a story I never intended to tell. I would not even tell it now if it were not for the Zenians.
Understand that I do not dislike the Zenians. One of the best officers I ever had was a Zenian. His name was Eitel, and he served under me on the old Tamon, my first command. But lately the Zenians have made rather too much of the exploits of Ame Baove.
The history of the Universe gives him credit, and justly, for making the first successful exploration in space. Baove's log of that trip is a classic that every school-child knows.
But I have a number of friends who are natives of Zenia, and they fret me with their boastings.
"Well, Hanson," they say, "your Special Patrol Service has done wonderful work, largely under the officership of Earth-men. But after all, you have to admit that it was a Zenian who first mastered space!"
Perhaps it is just fractiousness of an old man, but countless repetitions of such statements, in one form or another, have irritated me to the point of action--and before going further, let me say, for the benefit of my Zenian friends, that if they care to dig deeply enough into the archives, somewhere they will find a brief report of these adventures recorded in the log of one of my old ships, the Ertak, now scrapped and forgotten. Except, perhaps, by some few like myself, who knew and loved her when she was one of the newest and finest ships of the Service.
I commanded the Ertak during practically her entire active life. Those were the days when John Hanson was not an old man, writing of brave deeds, but a youngster of half a century, or thereabouts, and full of spirit. Sometimes, when memory brings back those old days, it seems hard for me to believe that John Hanson, Commander of the Ertak, and old John Hanson, retired, and a spinner of ancient yarns, are one and the same--but I must get on to my story, for youth is impatient, and from "old man" to "old fool" is a short leap for a youthful mind.
Nook
First published September 1, 1931
16 people want to read
About the author
Sewell Peaslee Wright
69 books6 followersSewell Peaslee Wright (1897-1970) was an American science fiction writer. Sewell was a fan favorite of early pulp scifi magazines.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 17, 2020
John Hanson of the Special Patrol Service makes first contact with the Strobians and discovers why the pay homage to "toma annerson."
It's always fun to look back at the estimations pre-Moon Landing sci-fi writers put on the time before space travel would be a reality. This story was published in 1931, so how far in the future did Wright figure it would be? The first clue came with a description of the Strobian's hair, 'colorless as silver—which I should explain is a metal of Earth somewhat resembling aluminum in appearance.'
So we're talking about a time so far in the future that silver has become an obscure metal. Just how far then? Not anytime soon. Wright's estimate looks pretty good as things stand: 'in the middle of the Twenty-second century, as time is computed on Earth, man first found himself in outer space.'
Forget the first directive, these space pioneers get stuck in straight away. Special Patrol Service diplomacy proved to be somewhat crude, not unlike that of adopted by America since the days of the Founding Fathers in fact:
"No. That would be needless slaughter. Those brown hordes are witless savages. An atomic bomb, Mr. Correy. Perhaps two of them, one on either flank of the enemy."
Actually the poor Neens, the Native Americans of Strobus, can think themselves lucky they didn't get hit with something called the "disintegration beam."
It's always fun to look back at the estimations pre-Moon Landing sci-fi writers put on the time before space travel would be a reality. This story was published in 1931, so how far in the future did Wright figure it would be? The first clue came with a description of the Strobian's hair, 'colorless as silver—which I should explain is a metal of Earth somewhat resembling aluminum in appearance.'
So we're talking about a time so far in the future that silver has become an obscure metal. Just how far then? Not anytime soon. Wright's estimate looks pretty good as things stand: 'in the middle of the Twenty-second century, as time is computed on Earth, man first found himself in outer space.'
Forget the first directive, these space pioneers get stuck in straight away. Special Patrol Service diplomacy proved to be somewhat crude, not unlike that of adopted by America since the days of the Founding Fathers in fact:
"No. That would be needless slaughter. Those brown hordes are witless savages. An atomic bomb, Mr. Correy. Perhaps two of them, one on either flank of the enemy."
Actually the poor Neens, the Native Americans of Strobus, can think themselves lucky they didn't get hit with something called the "disintegration beam."
July 9, 2021
A retired commander related a story of one of his first adventures. His ship is sent to investigate an unknown planet Stobus. He discovers that it is inhabited by people who already know about Earth. But how and why? The answer was interesting and I enjoyed the story, except for one unsettling detail. The bad men who attack are described as black and savages. That inclusion was sad, but not odd for something copyrighted in the 1930's.
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August 9, 2021Like the day the earth stood still put with Mormonism
August 16, 2012
Good old science fiction story, only 28 pages.
November 12, 2014
bit sized science fiction. where hope and belief plays a big role.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews