The Cosmic Computer · Chapters
Chapters explained
Chapter companions for The Cosmic Computer by H. Beam Piper.
Chapter 1
I
Conn Maxwell returns to his home planet Poictesme after six years at the University on Terra. He is greeted by a crowd in Litchfield, including his family, Mayor Kurt Fawzi, Colonel Zareff, and others. The planet has fallen into decay after the war, and the townspeople are eager to hear if Conn has discovered the location of a rumored treasure—the secret of Merlin. Conn observes the economic decline and his father's scavenging business, and he grapples with what to tell them.
Chapter 2
II
Conn Maxwell returns to Litchfield and meets with his father's associates in Kurt Fawzi's office. He reveals that despite extensive research, he found no evidence of the giant strategic computer called Merlin. The group, initially hopeful, reacts with shock and denial, but Conn proposes building a hypership to search for Merlin on Koshchei, sparking debate about funding and the need for a ship.
Chapter 3
The Price of Truth
Conn Maxwell reveals to his father Rodney that Merlin is a myth, based on his conversation with General Foxx Travis. They discuss the impossibility of telling the truth to the people of Poictesme, who have made Merlin a religion. Conn proposes building a hypership as a front to salvage war materials and revive the economy, and they agree to lie to everyone, including family, for the cause.
Chapter 4
Breakfast and the Home Guard
Conn Maxwell returns home and faces a tense breakfast with his family, where Flora openly scoffs at the belief in Merlin and his mother expresses deep unease about the nature of a thinking machine. Later, Conn visits Dr. Wade Lucas and encounters Tom Brangwyn and Fred Karski, who discuss the dire state of the planet—rampant outlawry, economic collapse, and the formation of the Home Guard for self-defense.
Chapter 5
The Meeting at the Academy
Conn and Rodney Maxwell attend a large meeting at the Academy to present Conn's findings about abandoned Federation installations and to discuss the search for Merlin. Conn skillfully navigates skepticism from Wade Lucas, who storms out in disgust. The group decides to form a prospecting company, Litchfield Exploration & Salvage, to secretly fund the search for Merlin while publicly focusing on salvage operations. Plans are made to clean up Litchfield as a cover for training workers.
Chapter 6
Chapter VI
Rodney Maxwell returns to Litchfield to organize the Litchfield Exploration & Salvage corporation, with Kurt Fawzi as president, Dolf Kellton as secretary, Lester Dawes as treasurer, and himself as vice-president. Conn stays at Tenth Army to oversee operations. The secret about Merlin begins to leak, fueling public speculation. Conn visits his mother in Litchfield, where she fears the housecleaning robot and Merlin alike. Franz Veltrin reports that news services are demanding the Merlin story. Colonel Zareff suspects Wade Lucas is a Federation spy. A ship, the Lester Dawes, is acquired and armed for the expedition.
Chapter 7
VII
Conn and the expedition uncover the buried Third Fleet-Army Force Command headquarters in the Badlands. They find the personnel-file machine instead of Merlin, and discover the private office of General Foxx Travis in disarray. The excavation reveals a collapsium-shielded complex, and Conn deduces that the shielding prevents radio transmission from within.
Chapter 8
VIII
Conn returns home to find Litchfield in the grip of Merlin hysteria and a speculative stock market boom. He argues with Flora about the chaos, worries about an inevitable crash, and begins planning an expedition to Barathrum Spaceport. After the discovery of Force Command Duplicate, the camp is established, and Conn negotiates with Colonel Zareff to borrow gunboats for the expedition, while Rodney Maxwell considers leaking information to start a second prospectors' rush.
Chapter 9
The Assault on Barathrum
Conn and the expedition arrive at the volcanic spaceport on Barathrum, only to find it occupied by hostile forces who launch a missile attack. After a chaotic retreat and regrouping, they assess the situation and plan their next move, with Conn contemplating a risky tunnel approach.
Chapter 10
The Battle for the Spaceport
Conn Maxwell leads a raid on the pirate stronghold at the Barathrum spaceport, freeing prisoners including Captain Nichols, Yves Jacquemont, and his daughter Sylvie. They arm the prisoners with looted weapons and prepare to attack the pirates, coordinating with Colonel Zareff's forces outside. The chapter culminates in a plan to create a diversion from within the crater while Zareff's gunboats assault from above.
Chapter 11
Chapter XI
After the battle at Barathrum Spaceport, the Maxwells and Jacquemonts negotiate with Transcontinent & Overseas over the fate of the gutted Harriet Barne. A new company, Alpha-Interplanetary, is formed to complete the ship for interplanetary shipping. Conn returns to Litchfield, enjoys time with Sylvie, and observes the town's renewal spurred by the Merlin myth.
Chapter 12
XII
Conn Maxwell and his father discuss the economic boom and political controversies surrounding Merlin. Conn works on the Harriet Barne, studying Koshchei for an upcoming expedition. The ship is completed and tested successfully. As they prepare to depart, Rodney Maxwell warns of a mysterious chartered hyperspace freighter, urging them to leave immediately.
Chapter 13
XIII
The Harriet Barne departs from Barathrum for Koshchei, with Conn Maxwell and the crew experiencing weightlessness and making course adjustments. Upon arrival at Port Carpenter, they explore the abandoned city and discover the power plant is dead, requiring refueling and repairs. Conn reveals his priority is building a hypership, not finding Merlin.
Chapter 14
XIV
Conn and his team explore the abandoned factory complex on Koshchei, where they accidentally activate a swarm of cleaning robots that go haywire, attacking them and carrying off their aircar. After escaping the robot chaos, they discover a partially completed hypership in a construction dock. Conn decides to finish the ship, naming it Ouroboros II, and plans to return to Litchfield to recruit a larger workforce and organize a new company, Trisystem & Interstellar Spacelines.
Chapter 15
The Trial of Intentions
Conn Maxwell faces a tense confrontation with Kurt Fawzi and the Merlin-hunting committee, who accuse him and his father of abandoning the search for Merlin. Conn defends their focus on building a hypership to restore economic prosperity, arguing that tools are needed before answers. The group then travels to Force Command, where they encounter Carl Leibert, a charismatic clergyman who claims Merlin can reveal a new religion. Conn grows uneasy, recognizing Leibert from somewhere and fearing the fanaticism that could arise from a Merlin-based faith.
Chapter 16
XVI
Conn and his team discover the Sickle Mountain Naval Observatory, which contains over a thousand abandoned hyperships from the evacuation. They begin converting two ships for use, while on Poictesme, Merlin hysteria escalates into street fighting, cult violence, and political chaos. Conn's father Rodney manages the economic fallout and security threats, while Conn focuses on building a ship and training his students.
Chapter 17
XVII
Conn and his father return to a volatile Storisende, where the Merlin hysteria has escalated into violence and paranoia. After surviving an assassination attempt at the spaceport, they join Wade Lucas, who has deduced their secret and become a reluctant partner. A tense meeting reveals the city is rife with corporate infighting, espionage, and the brutal mind-probing of Rodney's secretary. Conn learns of the ongoing conference to partition the Alpha Gartner System and the deepening schism between those searching for Merlin at Force Command. Amidst the chaos, Conn agrees to investigate the mysterious preacher Leibert, whom Tom Brangwyn suspects is a fraud.
Chapter 18
Chapter XVIII
Conn Maxwell learns that Kurt Fawzi's excavation at Force Command has uncovered a collapsium-armored disc atop the buried headquarters, raising fears that Project Merlin may be real and dangerous. Rodney Maxwell reveals that Sam Murchison is financing the Human Supremacy League. Conn takes charge of the excavation, and Yves Jacquemont brings equipment from Koshchei aboard the ship 'The Thing'. As work progresses, the Ouroboros II is completed and launched, marking the beginning of Poictesme's economic revival. Conn, Klem Zareff, Tom Brangwyn, and others stay behind at Force Command, while Carl Leibert's demeanor grows increasingly grim.
Chapter 19
XIX
Conn manages the fallout from General Travis's public denial of Merlin's existence, revealing that the disguised General Shanlee is the false prophet Carl Leibert. Amidst chaos, Conn insists on continuing the excavation, convinced that something dangerous lies beneath the collapsium. Sylvie reconciles Flora with Conn, and news arrives that Terra has picked up the Merlin story, forcing Conn to accelerate his plans.
Chapter 20
The Truth About Merlin
General Mike Shanlee, captured and held in Force Command, reveals the secret of Merlin: the supercomputer predicted the Terran Federation's collapse within two centuries. To prevent panic and societal collapse, Shanlee and General Travis suppressed Merlin's existence. Conn Maxwell and the others confront Shanlee, who argues for Merlin's destruction to avoid a catastrophic breakdown of civilization.
Chapter 21
XXI
The chapter depicts the aftermath of Merlin's trial and the moral dilemmas surrounding the computer's existence. Conn and his group debate whether to destroy Merlin, while a telecast from Koshchei threatens genocide if attacks continue. Merlin's computations confirm the Federation's inevitable collapse, leading to a plan for Poictesme's self-sufficiency and the decision to falsify data to maintain hope.
Chapter 22
XXII
It is autumn again, the second autumn since Conn returned to Litchfield. The house is crowded with guests from Litchfield, Storisende, and Koshchei for a wedding rehearsal. Conn and Sylvie discuss their own wedding plans, deciding on a double wedding. Rodney Maxwell steers political talk toward Kurt Fawzi as a presidential candidate. Old enemies Klem Zareff and Mike Shanlee are now friends. The chapter ends with Conn and Sylvie going to retrieve his father for the rehearsal.
