William Bender 13 min read

Aboard an armed cruiser, alien psychanalyst Narant watches an approaching ship with a rebellious, passionate hope, that his people have at last met a truly superior race, and not merely themselves.

William Bender's 1954 story is a wry first-contact space opera. Clever, ironic golden-age SF. Read it for a story that flips first contact around, told from the aliens' viewpoint as they yearn to meet their betters, in a witty golden-age piece with a sly twist about pride, expectation, and who is really 'incredible.'

In its time

Published in 1954, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

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

Illustrated by

W. E. Terry