Short Fiction · Chapters
Chapters explained
Chapter companions for Short Fiction by Harry Harrison.
Chapter 1
An Artist’s Life
Brent Dalgreen, a famous painter, returns to Earth after a year on the Moon, where he contracted radiation sickness. He visits the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he discovers a painting by Arthur Di Costa that possesses an 'alienness' he has been trying and failing to capture. Obsessed with finding the artist's secret, he seeks out the curator. Later, he is confronted by the museum's director, a redhead who reveals herself to be an alien. She explains that the painting is a trap, and that he is now in a sanitarium. She plans to dispose of him by transforming his body to live on a chlorine planet, but assures him he will live and be able to paint.
Chapter 2
Navy Day
General Wingrove addresses Congress, requesting the abolition of the Navy, and demonstrates the Army's Dornifier technology that allows vehicles to travel on water. The Navy, led by Admiral Fitzjames, counterattacks by revealing the Mark-1 Debinder, which can make solids liquid, and sails the battleship Missouri up Constitution Avenue, demanding the Army's abolition instead.
Chapter 3
The Velvet Glove
Jon Venex, a free robot, repairs his own knee in his hotel room, enduring the nightly curfew. He meets an old friend, Alec Diger, and sees a job listing in his specialty. On his way to apply, he accidentally collides with a man who accuses him of assault, leading to a mob forming. A police officer takes Jon into custody, but they are intercepted by a man named Coleman, who reveals a plot involving bombs. Jon, with quick thinking, disarms the bomb threat by using his own leg as a decoy and escapes through a window to make an emergency call.
Chapter 4
The Repairman
The Repairman is summoned by his employer, the Old Man, and assigned to repair an ancient Mark III hyperspace beacon on a Proxima Centauri planet. Despite attempting to quit, he is bound by an unbreakable contract and a fine for destroying a duplicate. He travels to the beacon, which is housed in a pyramid, and disguises himself as a native reptile to approach the temple and its priests, aiming to restore the 'Holy Waters' (the beacon's power).
Chapter 5
Arm of the Law
Ned, a police robot, arrives in Nineport and is assigned to the local police force. He quickly causes trouble by arresting China Joe's men, including Alex the Axe, leading to a confrontation with China Joe's gang. The robot's efficiency and lack of understanding of local politics create chaos, and the chapter ends with a rocket attack on the station.
Chapter 6
The K-Factor
Neel Sidorak is summoned by his mentor Abravanel, who reveals that the planet Himmel is being lost due to a positive k-factor shift. Abravanel assigns Neel to conduct a secret survey, introducing him to his assistant, Adao Costa, whom Neel distrusts. As they investigate, they identify the Society for the Protection of the Native Born as a key amplifier of the k-factor, and Neel explains the concept of the k-factor as analogous to nuclear reactor control. Costa pushes for direct action, while Neel grapples with the ethical implications of intervention.
Chapter 7
Toy Shop
Colonel Biff Hawton, intrigued by a toy rocketship that appears to defy gravity, purchases one at a discount. At a poker party, he demonstrates the toy, but the thread trick fails when the model only lifts with the power on. The story then reveals the toy's creators deliberately sold the devices to influential people, hoping the mystery of the weight-reducing coils would spur research into new propulsion methods.
Chapter 8
Down to Earth
Dan Coye and Gino Lombardi land their spacecraft safely, only to discover they have returned to a world where the Nazis have invaded Texas. They are captured by German forces but rescued by a mysterious guide. They learn from Albert Einstein that they have shifted to a different subjective reality, one where President Roosevelt died in 1933, altering the course of history.