First Contact (short story)
Encyclopedia
First Contact is a science fiction
short story
by Murray Leinster
originally published in 1945.
encounters an alien ship on a similar mission. The aliens are humanoid with a few differences, such as 'speaking' with microwaves rather than sound, but with far more similarities, such as a shared sense of humor. The crews of the two ships soon devise a means of communication, and find that they get along well. However, each group fears that they cannot allow the other to leave, and potentially carry information back to that species' home planet which would allow the destruction of the other.
Months pass with the ships in stalemate before a junior scientific member of the human crew comes up with a proposal that allows both crews to return home without destroying each other: swap ships, but erase all records of their own home.
First Contact was among the stories selected in 1970 by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one the best science fiction short stories of all time. As such, it was published in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929-1964
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Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by Murray Leinster
Murray Leinster
Murray Leinster was a nom de plume of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an award-winning American writer of science fiction and alternate history...
originally published in 1945.
Plot summary
A spaceship from Earth on a scientific mission to the Crab NebulaCrab Nebula
The Crab Nebula is a supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula in the constellation of Taurus...
encounters an alien ship on a similar mission. The aliens are humanoid with a few differences, such as 'speaking' with microwaves rather than sound, but with far more similarities, such as a shared sense of humor. The crews of the two ships soon devise a means of communication, and find that they get along well. However, each group fears that they cannot allow the other to leave, and potentially carry information back to that species' home planet which would allow the destruction of the other.
Months pass with the ships in stalemate before a junior scientific member of the human crew comes up with a proposal that allows both crews to return home without destroying each other: swap ships, but erase all records of their own home.
First Contact was among the stories selected in 1970 by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one the best science fiction short stories of all time. As such, it was published in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929-1964
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929-1964
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964 is a 1970 anthology of science fiction short stories, edited by Robert Silverberg. It is generally considered one of the best, if not the best, of the many science fiction anthologies...
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