"Private Enterprise."
Illustration by Miller (1928-2015; ISFDb HERE).
First appearance: Astounding Science Fiction, July 1950.
Reprinted in Astounding Science Fiction (U.K.), December 1950.
Short story (15 pages).
Online at SFFAudio (HERE).
"The Rigelians are a suspicious, clever race, as you know."
THIS particular job requires more than usual: "It's more difficult," says the chief, "than being a spy. A spy can operate undercover, but you must act in the open." It's a lot like what magicians do, pulling off the sneaky stuff in plain sight. But what a magician does looks simple compared to this. Bill will have to do this job extremely well or amicable interstellar relations could fall down and go boom—and him with it . . .
Principal characters:
~ Bill Stewart ("The problem would be to seem completely preoccupied"), the Rigelian secret police officer ("Do you mean to imply by that remark a criticism of the government?"), the Rigelian investigator ("You are not in a position to demand anything"), the chief ("There must be no connection between this and your other activities"), Calr Mtar ("His tracks were well covered"), and the inquisitor ("A state of anarchy is when strong men and strong planets come to power").
Hmmm:
"It has been said that a well-organized minority can control any election. The corollary to that maxim is that a powerful, well-organized economic minority can control a nation, a planet, or a planetary system."
References and resources:
- "Rigel V":
The chances that Rigel has habitable planets aren't very good because it's hot:
"Rigel is a blue supergiant star in the constellation of Orion. It has the Bayer designation β Orionis, which is Latinized to Beta Orionis and abbreviated Beta Ori or β Ori. Rigel is the brightest and most massive component – and the eponym – of a star system of at least four stars that appear as a single blue-white point of light to the naked eye. This system is located at a distance of approximately 860 light-years (260 pc) from the Sun. A star of spectral type B8Ia, Rigel is calculated to be anywhere from 61,500 to 363,000 times as luminous as the Sun, and 18 to 24 times as massive, depending on the method and assumptions used. Its radius is more than seventy times that of the Sun, and its surface temperature is 12,100 K (21,140 degrees F)." (Wikipedia HERE.)
However, science fiction TV producers aren't bothered by that: "In 2266, several women on Rigel IV were murdered by Redjac. ('Wolf in the Fold'). During the same year, Harcourt Mudd, using the illegal Venus drug, attempted to sell Eve McHuron, Ruth Bonaventure, and Magda Kovacs to lithium miners on Rigel XII. ('Mudd's Women')." (Memory Alpha HERE.)
- "Sol III":
That would be Oith: "Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all of Earth's water is contained in its global ocean, covering 70.8% of Earth's crust. The remaining 29.2% of Earth's crust is land, most of which is located in the form of continental landmasses within Earth's land hemisphere. . . . The Modern English word Earth developed, via Middle English, from an Old English noun most often spelled eorðe. It has cognates in every Germanic language, and their ancestral root has been reconstructed as erþō." (Wikipedia HERE.)
- "Fifteen thousand credits":
"The use of 'credits' is particularly common in futuristic settings, so much so that Sam Humphries has pointed it out as a cliché: 'In any science-fiction movie, anywhere in the galaxy, currency is referred to as 'credits.' Credits are frequently envisioned as a form of electronic money." (Wikipedia HERE.)
"The Federation credit was a monetary unit used by the United Federation of Planets. Although it was stated on more than one occasion that the economy of the future was very different, and that money no longer existed on Earth from as early as the late 22nd century or in the Federation as late as the 24th century, this medium of exchange did still exist within that period. All known examples of credit use were via transactions outside or on the periphery of the Federation." (Memory Alpha HERE.)
- "all the laws of the galaxy and Rigel V":
For an unserious look at how things get adjudicated throughout the galaxy, see Edward Wellen's "Origins of Galactic Law" (HERE). For other instances of SFFnal treatments of jurisprudence see Alan E. Nourse's "Letter of the Law" (HERE) and Miriam Allen de Ford's "The Eel" (HERE),
- "refined uranium":
Just five years after the destruction of two Japanese cities, everybody knew what uranium could do: "As little as 15 lb (6.8 kg) of uranium-235 can be used to make an atomic bomb. The nuclear weapon detonated over Hiroshima, called Little Boy, relied on uranium fission. However, the first nuclear bomb (the Gadget used at Trinity) and the bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki (Fat Man) were both plutonium bombs." (Wikipedia HERE.)
- "And, if you are caught, you can expect no help from Earth or this organization":
Sound familiar? See Wikipedia (HERE).
- "had already sold short":
"In finance, being short in an asset means investing in such a way that the investor will profit if the market value of the asset falls. This is the opposite of the more common long position, where the investor will profit if the market value of the asset rises. An investor that sells an asset short is, as to that asset, a short seller." (Wikipedia HERE.)
- Interstellar diplomacy can be tricky and sometimes hazardous to your health; just ask Jame Retief of the CDT (Wikipedia HERE).
The bottom line:
"DEMOCRACY: A governmental system involving a high percentage of negative feedback around all stages of the system from input to output."
Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.
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