Short Science Fiction · Chapters
Chapters explained
Chapter companions for Short Science Fiction by Noel Loomis.
Chapter 1
Electron Eat Electron
President Jeffrey Wadsworth, a sixteen-year-old Superior Mutant, prepares to fight an electronic war against the Hunyas, led by President Forgacs. Despite the skepticism of his chief of staff, Supreme General Hoshawk, Wadsworth uses a strategy of sonic transmitters to detonate the enemy's explosives, sacrificing cities to ensure total destruction of the invading forces. The chapter explores themes of trust, responsibility, and the nature of modern warfare.
Chapter 2
Parking, Unlimited
Slim Coleman convinces the narrator to invest $300 in a parking garage scheme. Using a device that shrinks cars to six inches, they pack thousands of cars into a small basement. The business booms, but suspicion grows, and they plan to flee to the coast before they are caught.
Chapter 3
The Bryd
The Bryd, an ancient energy being, awakens inside the mind of Dale Stevenson, a physicist in charge of a sun-station orbiting Earth. It discovers that Dale, under the influence of a foreign agent's psyche-control, is about to use the station's mirror to burn a path across Paris. The Bryd investigates Dale's motivations, including his jealousy of Georges Raoul Dumont and his devotion to his incurably ill sister, Marillyn. It also observes Ann Wondra's love for Dale. To stop the attack, the Bryd implants knowledge of Marillyn's cure and Ann's love into Dale's mind, causing him to hesitate and contact the U.N. police. The Bryd then redirects the foreign fliers' atom bombs to their own cities and settles back into Dale's mind, hoping for a peaceful rest.
Chapter 4
Remember the 4th!
Doc and Slim, private investigators, are behind on rent and struggling. They use the Brain-Finder, a device that can observe past events, to gather evidence for a divorce case. After trailing Mrs. Ellingbery and finding her innocent, they turn to her husband Tom, discovering his affair with a blonde on July 4th. In court, Tom's lawyers demand proof of how the evidence was obtained, threatening to expose the Brain-Finder. Doc, feeling guilty about invading privacy and seeing the happiness of the Swanbergs, destroys the machine in court, sacrificing their financial windfall. Later, Tom and his wife reconcile, and Slim gets paid anyway.
Chapter 5
The Mischievous Typesetter
High-Pockets Jones, a barnstorming linotype operator with a theory of 'personal electricity,' is sentenced by a judge (a former proofreader) to work on a troublesome linotype, No. 7, at the Daily News. Despite the machinist Arturius Wickware's skepticism, High-Pockets attempts to tame the machine, which seems to have a will of its own, even composing unsolicited poetry. The chapter highlights the conflict between High-Pockets and the judge, as well as the mysterious behavior of No. 7.
Chapter 6
The Wealth of Echindul
Grant Russell emerges from the Great Sea-Swamp of Venus after a perilous six-week journey, having discovered a nest of valuable telepathic echindul stones. He devises a clever plan to hide the stones by feeding them to a water-constrictor, keeping one stone as a guide. He arrives at The Pass, where he is recognized by a boy working for Relegar, and seeks refuge at Nellie's boarding house, hoping to eventually sell the stones and reunite with his daughter Beth.
Chapter 7
You Too Can Be a Millionaire
Mark Renner, deeply in debt to the Central Audit Bureau's point system, flees from Conley and hides in a jewelry store. He encounters an old lady who tricks him into signing a release slip for 35,000 points. Later, he meets Penelope, who explains the monotony of life and her belief that the Machine itself is the government. Conley visits Mark and Penelope, offering them jobs at Central, where they will have steady work and use money instead of points. Mark is excited about the prospect of work, while Penelope regrets not accumulating more points to enter Central with a better record.
Chapter 8
Nine Men in Time
In 1983, J.J. Shane, manager of the Imperial Printing Company, faces a crisis when receivers threaten to close the plant unless business improves within three months. Desperate, he hires Dr. Hudson, a production engineer, who introduces radical methods including mind-reading and time travel to increase productivity. High-Pockets Jones, a legendary printer, arrives and uses his unique abilities to organize the workers into producing an impossible amount of work by working in multiple time periods simultaneously. When the receivers see nine versions of High-Pockets, they are horrified, but High-Pockets negotiates a deal: if the plant continues to operate profitably and the time machine is destroyed, he will merge back into one body. The receivers agree, and the plant is saved.
Chapter 9
Day's Work
Two gods, Mogar and Dalen, argue over Dalen's proposal to create a new species of biped with opposed thumbs. Mogar opposes the idea, but Dalen stands firm, and after a tense standoff, Mogar reluctantly allows the experiment. Dalen plans to create a new solar system and name the species 'Man,' hoping to prove that intelligence combined with sentiment can be a desirable life-form.
