![]() This short story by Eric Frank Russell was first published in Astounding Science Fiction (1958). To replace it or to free the enslaved planets, I don't really remember. Now the humans are taking the navy back to the alien empire and aim to take it down. The humans simply bided their time until they had learned the secret of FTL, how to build and maintain a space navy, and in the meantime the occupying force had become soft and were easily dispatched. A coup has occurred and the humans have slaughtered every alien on the planet except him. He suddenly finds that none of his men will respond to his command. ![]() Toward the end of the story, this comes back to haunt him. The governor thinks this sounds insane, ridiculous, and says a lot about a cowardly people like the humans. By doing so, the first person is thrown completely off balance and at the mercy of the second person. ![]() In human martial arts, however, the second person would instead seek to grab the first persons arm and guide them in the direction they are already going. In the alien martial arts, if one person shoves against the other, the second person seeks to shove back harder, thereby establishing might and dominance. Instead, it required him to train and master the skill of human martial arts, which are curiously different from the aliens' own form. The governor is mystified, why didn't his lieutenant simply take this black belt? The lieutenant explains that without earning the belt, it would be meaningless. He is chatting with his second in command who has just come in excitedly for having earned a black belt in human martial arts (I don't remember which one in particular, if it is even mentioned). The humans shrug and agree, then point out that this would simply show that their new masters were even more capable of defending Earth.įast forward and the new planetary governor finds himself bored. The aliens point out that they could conceivably be defeated by this hypothetical threat. Therefore it is in the Earthlings' best interests to be as valuable to their new masters as possible, not fight them. And if that happened, the empire would be forced to defend Earth as a valuable colony. But by the same token they must have value, and other out there (whether pirates or other empires) may seek to take their planet by force and kill the populace. But they point out that Earth doesn't have FTL technology and clearly the aliens do and could crush them if they resist. The aliens are nonplussed and ask if the earthlings realize just what is going on. When the ships land, the earthlings welcome them with open arms. When the invading force arrives, they spot no defenses, no military. I think the aliens look like humanoid snakes.īut Earth is different. The populace resists, is crushed and turned into slaves/subjects of the empire, leader of the invasion retires to a life of luxury as colonial governor. They've done this many times, they know the routine. Plot line goes like this: evil alien empire invade earth. I am looking for identification of a short story I read as part of an anthology around twenty years ago, and I think it might have been written by Harry Harrison but I am not certain.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |