Decency: A Hugo Award short-story nominee

by Robert Reed

An alien explorer from the stars crashes into northern Minnesota, and humanity tries to do what is best. And humanity includes one solid young Marine named Caleb. A decent man, by and large, and what he does will have ramifications for generations to come. "By the time the sail crossed Saturn's orbit, a three-inch reflector cost its weight in platinum. Amateur astronomers were quitting their day jobs in order to spend nights plotting trajectories. Novice astronomers, some armed with nothing but binoculars or rifle sights, risked frostbite for the privilege of a glimpse. But it was the professionals who remained the most Every topflight facility in the northern hemisphere studied the object, measuring its mass, its albedo, its vibrations, and its damage-ragged mile-wide punctures scattered across its vast surface, probably stemming from collisions with interstellar comets. The sail's likely point of origin was a distant G-class sun; its voyage must have taken a thousand years, perhaps more. Astronomers tried to contact the automated pilot. Portions of the radio spectrum were cleared voluntarily for better listening. Yet nothing was heard, ever. The only sign of a pilot was a subtle, perhaps accidental twisting of the sail, the pressure of sunlight altering its course, the anticipated flyby of the earth becoming an impact event." "Decency" is one of eight Robert Reed stories nominated for the Hugo Award.

22 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 2, 2018

About the author

He has also been published as Robert Touzalin.