Cordwainer Smith
"War No. 81-Q"
from The Rediscovery of Man
In the future, humanity has progressed to the point that, while they can not completely eliminate war, they have restrained it sufficiently, at least in most cases, so that it has become harmless and a game telecast on TV, a spectator sport. War No. 81-Q is an example of this new type of war.
America believes that it has a valid complaint against Tibet and has applied for a license to conduct a limited or "safe" war.
"The Universal War Board granted a war permit, subject to strict and clear conditions.
1. The war was to be fought only at the times and places specified.
2. No human being was to be killed or injured, directly or indirectly, by any performance of the machines of war. Emotional injury was not be be considered.
3. An appropriate territory was to be leased and cleared. Provisions should be made for the maximum removal of wildlife, particularly birds, which might be hurt by the battle.
4. The weapons were to be winged dirigibles with a maximum weight of 22,000 tons, propelled by non-nuclear engines.
5. All radio channels were to be strictly monitored by the U. W. B. and by both parties. At any complaint of jamming or interference the war was to be brought to a halt.
6. Each dirigible should have six non-explosive missiles and thirty non-explosive countermissiles.
7. The U. W. B. was to intercept and to destroy all stray missiles and real weapons before the missiles left the war zone, and each party, regardless of the outcome of the war, was to pay he U. W. B. directly for the interception and destruction of stray missiles.
8. No living human beings were to be allowed on the ships, in the war zone, or on the communications equipment which relayed the war to the world's television.
9. The 'stipulated territory' was to be the War Territory of Kerguelen, to be leased by both parties from the Fourteenth French Republic, as agent for Federated Europe, at the price of four million gold livres the hour.
10. Seating for the war, apart from video rights belonging to the combatants, should remain the sole property of the lessor of the War Territory of Kerguelen.
With these arrangements, the French off-lifted their sheep from the island ranges of Kerguelen--the weary sheep were getting thoroughly used to being lifted from their grazing land to Antarctic lighters every time a war occurred. . . "
As you probably guessed from the list of limitations, no humans were placed in jeopardy. The actual fighting was confined to remote radio-controlled dirigibles, the drones of their day, I guess. Dirigibles were chosen because they moved slowly enough to be visible on TV screens (always an important issue) but complex enough to require real skill to operate. The war was fought in a confined space with spectators. Non-explosive missiles were used for obvious reasons. I am reminded of the games in the Roman Coliseum, only less bloody.
Each side had five dirigibles. The limited number of ships reduced the advantages that large and prosperous countries had over smaller and possibly poorer countries. That a country with a large population would have a greater pool from which to find skillful pilots was still an advantage, although mitigated by the rules which allowed for the hiring of mercenaries.
.The Americans, confident in their pilot, elected for the one-pilot rule. Therefore, Jack Reardon, a very skillful pilot, would control all five dirigibles in the contest against the five pilots controlling the Tibetan ships. It was a risk, but the advantage was this: in this type of contest, all the one pilot had to do was down only two of the enemy ships to be victorious, regardless of the number of ships he had left.
A brief introduction indicates that this situation lasted for a few centuries only. When the population reached thirty billion, war stopped being a game and once again became real--an interesting commentary on the role of war, I think.
Showing posts with label SMITH Cordwainer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SMITH Cordwainer. Show all posts
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Monday, June 20, 2016
Cordwainer Smith: "No, No, Not Rogov!"
Cordwainer Smith
"No, No, Not Rogov!"
from The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith
16 pages
The following quotation constitutes the first three paragraphs of the story.
That golden shape on the golden steps shook and fluttered like a bird gone mad--like a bird imbued with an intellect and a soul, and, nevertheless, driven mad by ecstasies and terrors beyond human understanding--ecstasies drawn momentarily down unto reality by the consummation of superlative art. A thousand worlds watched.
Had the ancient calendar continued this would have been A.D. 13,582. After defeat, after disappointment, after ruin and reconstruction, mankind had leapt among the stars.
Out of meeting inhuman art, out of confronting non-human dances, mankind had made a superb esthetic effort and had leapt upon the stage of all the worlds.
. . .
The golden shape on the golden steps executed shimmering intricacies of meaning. The body was gold and still human. The body was a woman, but more than a woman. On the golden steps, in the golden light, she trembled and fluttered like bird gone mad.
"A thing of beauty is a joy forever," Keats once said. This, of course, frequently leads to those who enjoy quibbling, and the quibbled topic usually is "beauty." Is there some beauty that is recognized by all or is beauty always "in the eye of the beholder"? Part of the debate may involve the issue of the beautiful that appears before its time. Many literary works, musical compositions, paintings, and sculptures are initially rejected or even castigated as ugly and then "rediscovered" a decade or more to be very beautiful. Aside from these issues, I wonder if it is "a joy forever," or even if it is a joy? Could beauty be something else? Is there a beauty that might be so profound that it becomes destructive to the unprepared? Cordwainer Smith explores this idea in this short story.
In spite of the introductory quotation, most of the story is told on a less exalted level. It is set in the Soviet Union, begins during WWII, and continues on through several decades and commissars. It takes place in a research laboratory, and the cast of characters includes Rogov, (the head of the research team), Cherpas (initially Rogov's greatest rival and later his wife), and two observers installed by Stalin. One is Gausgofer (a scientist and a policewoman, whose real job is to watch the scientists), who falls in love with Rogov, and, therefore, hates Cherpas. The other is Gauck (whose real job was to watch everybody, including Gausgofer), about whom nothing is said and who just watches and says little. "Gauck had no friends, no enemies, no beliefs, no enthusiasm. Even Gausgofer was afraid of him."
Their goal was to develop a device that, as a receiver, could read and record the thoughts of people at a distance. In addition, once turned into a transmitter, it should be able to influence the thinking of people at a great distance.
Eventually they focused on the receiver function, but test results shifted the goal from reading thoughts at a distance to being able to see what targeted individuals were seeing. Being able to see, for example, what the US president was seeing would give the USSR a decided advantage in that it could now read the briefing papers given to the president. The USSR would know what the US president knew.
They succeed, but not in the way they expected.
Is there a beauty that is so overwhelming that, for those who haven't been prepared, it becomes destructive?
The final paragraphs:
On the golden steps in the golden, light, as golden shape danced a dream beyond the limits of all imagination, danced and drew the music to herself until a sigh of yearning, yearning which became a hope and a torment, went through the hearts of living things on a thousand worlds.
Edges of the golden scene faded raggedly and unevenly into black. The gold dimmed down to a pale gold-silver sheen and then to silver, last of all to white. The dancer who had been golden was now a forlorn white-pink figure standing, quiet and fatigued, on the immense white steps. The applause of a thousand worlds roared in upon her.
She looked blindly at them. The dance had overwhelmed her., too. Their applause could mean nothing. The dance was an end in itself. She would have to live, somehow, until she danced again.
As in many of Cordwainer Smith's stories, the focus is on the effects of technology and scientific advances on people rather than on the technology or science. People are most important in his stories.
Cordwainer Smith is one of those sadly neglected SF short story writers from the late 1950s through the 1970s. While many of his short works take place in a common universe, and several novels have been constructed by linking his short stories, he never got to the point of writing a series of novels that are so popular today, or perhaps required today.
I hope that maybe some visitors here will take a look at his stories. It will be rewarding.
"No, No, Not Rogov!"
from The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith
16 pages
The following quotation constitutes the first three paragraphs of the story.
That golden shape on the golden steps shook and fluttered like a bird gone mad--like a bird imbued with an intellect and a soul, and, nevertheless, driven mad by ecstasies and terrors beyond human understanding--ecstasies drawn momentarily down unto reality by the consummation of superlative art. A thousand worlds watched.
Had the ancient calendar continued this would have been A.D. 13,582. After defeat, after disappointment, after ruin and reconstruction, mankind had leapt among the stars.
Out of meeting inhuman art, out of confronting non-human dances, mankind had made a superb esthetic effort and had leapt upon the stage of all the worlds.
. . .
The golden shape on the golden steps executed shimmering intricacies of meaning. The body was gold and still human. The body was a woman, but more than a woman. On the golden steps, in the golden light, she trembled and fluttered like bird gone mad.
"A thing of beauty is a joy forever," Keats once said. This, of course, frequently leads to those who enjoy quibbling, and the quibbled topic usually is "beauty." Is there some beauty that is recognized by all or is beauty always "in the eye of the beholder"? Part of the debate may involve the issue of the beautiful that appears before its time. Many literary works, musical compositions, paintings, and sculptures are initially rejected or even castigated as ugly and then "rediscovered" a decade or more to be very beautiful. Aside from these issues, I wonder if it is "a joy forever," or even if it is a joy? Could beauty be something else? Is there a beauty that might be so profound that it becomes destructive to the unprepared? Cordwainer Smith explores this idea in this short story.
In spite of the introductory quotation, most of the story is told on a less exalted level. It is set in the Soviet Union, begins during WWII, and continues on through several decades and commissars. It takes place in a research laboratory, and the cast of characters includes Rogov, (the head of the research team), Cherpas (initially Rogov's greatest rival and later his wife), and two observers installed by Stalin. One is Gausgofer (a scientist and a policewoman, whose real job is to watch the scientists), who falls in love with Rogov, and, therefore, hates Cherpas. The other is Gauck (whose real job was to watch everybody, including Gausgofer), about whom nothing is said and who just watches and says little. "Gauck had no friends, no enemies, no beliefs, no enthusiasm. Even Gausgofer was afraid of him."
Their goal was to develop a device that, as a receiver, could read and record the thoughts of people at a distance. In addition, once turned into a transmitter, it should be able to influence the thinking of people at a great distance.
Eventually they focused on the receiver function, but test results shifted the goal from reading thoughts at a distance to being able to see what targeted individuals were seeing. Being able to see, for example, what the US president was seeing would give the USSR a decided advantage in that it could now read the briefing papers given to the president. The USSR would know what the US president knew.
They succeed, but not in the way they expected.
Is there a beauty that is so overwhelming that, for those who haven't been prepared, it becomes destructive?
The final paragraphs:
On the golden steps in the golden, light, as golden shape danced a dream beyond the limits of all imagination, danced and drew the music to herself until a sigh of yearning, yearning which became a hope and a torment, went through the hearts of living things on a thousand worlds.
Edges of the golden scene faded raggedly and unevenly into black. The gold dimmed down to a pale gold-silver sheen and then to silver, last of all to white. The dancer who had been golden was now a forlorn white-pink figure standing, quiet and fatigued, on the immense white steps. The applause of a thousand worlds roared in upon her.
She looked blindly at them. The dance had overwhelmed her., too. Their applause could mean nothing. The dance was an end in itself. She would have to live, somehow, until she danced again.
As in many of Cordwainer Smith's stories, the focus is on the effects of technology and scientific advances on people rather than on the technology or science. People are most important in his stories.
Cordwainer Smith is one of those sadly neglected SF short story writers from the late 1950s through the 1970s. While many of his short works take place in a common universe, and several novels have been constructed by linking his short stories, he never got to the point of writing a series of novels that are so popular today, or perhaps required today.
I hope that maybe some visitors here will take a look at his stories. It will be rewarding.
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