H. B. Fyfe 12 min read

In the dome of a colossal command ship beyond Pluto, scientists hold their breath, a small moon is about to become the first target of mankind's newest, most destructive weapon.

H. B. Fyfe's 1953 story builds a tense military and post-apocalyptic tale around an arms race with a rebel colony. Sharp, ominous golden-age SF. Read it for a story about the ultimate weapon and the deadly logic of a race no one can afford to lose.

In its time

Published in 1953, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

12 min read (a short story, a single idea, delivered and gone).

Illustrated by

Ed Emshwiller