# IV: Eddington's Oscillations explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Frank Belknap Long.

## What happens

Richard and Joan are trapped in a web aboard their ship, surrounded by giant wasp-like aliens that have been implanting eggs in the crew. Richard realizes the wasps are shrinking due to Eddington's oscillations—a cyclical contraction and expansion of matter. As the wasps dwindle, the web slackens, allowing them to escape. They rocket upward through Jupiter's atmosphere, but face an uncertain future without a crew or navigational guidance.

## Themes in this chapter

### Alien Encounters and Otherness

The giant wasps are utterly alien, with energy-based bodies and a life cycle that treats humans as hosts for their offspring, emphasizing the incomprehensible otherness of extraterrestrial life.

### Isolation and Survival

Richard and Joan are stranded in space after losing their crew, facing an uncertain future with no navigation, highlighting their desperate struggle to survive.

### Science and the Supernatural

Richard uses Eddington's oscillations—a scientific theory—to explain the seemingly miraculous shrinking of the wasps, blending scientific reasoning with the eerie, almost supernatural events.

## Character check-ins

### Richard

Narrator and protagonist; theorizes about Eddington's oscillations to explain the wasps' shrinking; shares a tender moment with Joan.

### Joan Langford

Richard's wife; trapped in the web with him; shows courage and affection; they escape together.

### Young Darnel

Fuel unit control pilot; captured by a wasp and implanted with a luminous grub; suffers agony before being taken through the quartz port.

## Key lines

> A century ago Eddington pictured all matter throughout the universe as alternating between a state of contraction and expansion.

Eddington theorized that all matter in the universe cycles between contracting and expanding.

_Richard explains the scientific concept that saves them._

> We were saved by—by a miracle.

We were rescued by something that seemed miraculous.

_Joan's initial reaction to their escape._

> Do you realize how heavily the cards are stacked against us?

Do you understand how unlikely our survival is?

_Richard's realistic assessment of their dire situation._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_17_se/chapters/iv-eddington-s-oscillations
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_17_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_17_se/chapters