Librivox Short Science Fiction Collection Vol. 002

 

Available for free download at:

Audio files: http://librivox.org/short-science-fiction-collection-vol-002/

 

 

I'm not sure why, but this series of anthologies repeats some stories in more than one volume.  When this is the case, it is noted at the end of the entry for the story.

 

 

1)

2BR02B by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr - 00:17:50

 

Future society where war, poverty, overpopulation, etc. have been eliminated.  To prevent population growth, government runs voluntary euthanasia facilities and requires that for each baby born one other person must die.  A man is faced with a dilemma when his wife goes to give birth and they discover she's having triplets.  Vonnegut doesn't seem to favor ever-increasing population, he doesn't seem to like this solution, and he doesn't suggest any alternatives.

May make you think, but doesn't really offer ideas.

[Also appears in Librivox Short Science Fiction Collection Vol. 005]

 

2)

The Answer by H. Beam Piper - 00:24:46

 

After the northern hemisphere is destroyed in a nuclear war between the US and USSR.  scientific work continues in Argentina.  They're studying physics via antimatter (referred to as “negamatter”).  They send a big chunk of antimatter-Iron up in a rocket and then let it drop back to Earth.  The results are enlightening about more than physics.

A bit dated, but an interesting commentary.

 

3)

The Blue Tower by Evelyn E. Smith - 00:34:28

 

Humans have healthy, affluent, peaceful lives.  Aliens do most of the work and provide guidance to maintain this situation.  Some humans are dissatisfied and want to get rid of the aliens.  When a human warns the aliens of a conspiracy against them, the aliens aren't concerned.  The aliens can easily detect those who want to fight them, and can easily protect themselves against those who attempt to fight them.  Until one of the conspirators gets a new idea.

A different kind of story.  Food for thought.

 

4)

Bread Overhead by Fritz Leiber - 00:33:00

 

Bread company seeks to make the most white, non-nutritious, airy bread.  As a marketing stunt they intend to make some loaves that float in the air.  As a result of a mix-up and misunderstanding, vast numbers of loaves sail up into the atmosphere and across the continent.

Amusing look at business and marketing, but somewhat dated.

[Also appears in Librivox Short Science Fiction Collection Vol. 001]

 

5)

The Burning Bridge by Poul Anderson - 00:56:47

 

After the first semi-habitable planet is discovered in another star system, several thousand people dissatisfied with politics on Earth set off in colony ships to settle there.  Shortly before the ships reach the point of no return, they receive a message from Earth saying things seem to be starting to change in a direction the settlers would like and they are free to return if they wish.  The choice of what to do is complicated.  Most of the colonists are in frozen sleep and the ships are not capable of handling all of them awake at the same time.  There isn't time to unfreeze some, get their opinion, re-freeze them, unfreeze a few more, etc.  There is no way to know if the changes are really happening or how long they will last.  There are issues of whether the crew, who don't intend to be colonists, should have a voice, etc.  A complex situation that must be resolved quickly.

Real idea SF.

[Also appears in Librivox Short Science Fiction Collection Vol. 005]

 

6)

Second Sight by Alan Edward Nourse - 00:26:45

 

Scientific research on a young woman with fully developed psi powers, Government is interest in having her try to train people with latent psi powers.  The story is sprinkled with hints leading up to the punch-line.

Even if one wants to consider a scientific possibility of psi, in this story we're told the woman with ful psi has no special or modified physical structures related to her powers.  The story's punch-line fell flat for me.  Probably not for those disinclined towards "psi fiction".

 

7)

Solomon’s Orbit by William Carroll - 00:21:00

 

Junkyard owner finds a way to re-configure motors of old cars to make them fly up into space.  He does this to cars that are in such bad condition they won’t sell, thus giving him new room in the junkyard.  These cars in space attract the attention of the government.

For those who like old-time folksy [and implausible] SF.

 

8)

The Troubadour by Robert Augustine Ward Lowndes - 00:08:56

 

A musician is invited to a party.  He performs a song cycle about a people who are the last of their kind and are anticipating their extinction.  The party participants speculate about which people the song was written about.

Probably as much a commentary on "fashionable artsy parties" as it is a “punch-line SF” story.

 

9)

The Ultimate Experiment by Thornton DeKy - 00:08:54

 

Humans have all perished.  Robots remain, carrying out their various tasks.  One robot has taken on a special task of working through experiments.

Seems to me to be a kind of old style of SF .  It might have seemed innovative decades ago.

 

10)

Untechnological Employment by E. M. Clinton, Jr. - 00:05:36

 

An exchange of messages  between the US president and a rocket launch site in the Pacific.  The rocket site is covered by fog for weeks, preventing launch.   The President is under pressure to act.  An Arizona politician demands action - partly because of high unemployment among Native Americans in his state.

A 1950's or 1960's style humor / SF story.

 

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