Green Patches
Encyclopedia
"Green Patches" is a science fiction
short story
by Isaac Asimov
. It was first published in the November 1950 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction
under as "Misbegotten Missionary" and reprinted under its present title in the 1969 collection Nightfall and Other Stories
.
lands on Saybrook's Planet to investigate a report by an earlier colony ship. The colony ship's captain, Saybrook, had reported that the planet's abundant plant and animal life was all part of a single organism with a unified consciousness. That organism was able to induce pregnancy in all the colony ship's female animals, and all the offspring born had green patches of fur instead of eyes, a sign that they were part of the planetary organism. When Saybrook had the women in his crew examined and confirmed that they were all pregnant, he sent a sub-ether report back to Earth and then destroyed his ship.
The crew of the research ship confirms Saybrook's report, while carefully preventing any life from the planet from coming onboard, then returns to Earth to recommend that Saybrook's Planet be quarantine
d. Unknown to the research ship's crew, they carry a stowaway — a part of the planet's fauna
specially bred to resemble a length of wiring. If the stowaway manages to reach Earth, it will eventually convert all life there into a single organism with a unified consciousness — and green patches of fur instead of eyes.
The invasion is thwarted when the stowaway is accidentally killed after the research ship lands on Earth; the wiring it was impersonating controlled the ship's airlock
doors, and it was incinerated when they were activated.
wrote:
" by John W. Campbell
.
"Green Patches" was later included in an early Foundation Series timeline that was published in Thrilling Wonder Stories along with the story "The Portable Star
".
Asimov returned to the theme of a unified planetary consciousness in his novels Foundation's Edge
, Foundation and Earth
, and Nemesis
.
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 Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
. It was first published in the November 1950 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by an Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break in to the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L...
under as "Misbegotten Missionary" and reprinted under its present title in the 1969 collection Nightfall and Other Stories
Nightfall and Other Stories
Nightfall and Other Stories is a book collecting previously published science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov. Asimov added a brief introduction to each story, explaining some aspect of the story's history and/or how it came to be written. The main criteria for inclusion were that they had...
.
Plot summary
A research spaceship from EarthEarth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
lands on Saybrook's Planet to investigate a report by an earlier colony ship. The colony ship's captain, Saybrook, had reported that the planet's abundant plant and animal life was all part of a single organism with a unified consciousness. That organism was able to induce pregnancy in all the colony ship's female animals, and all the offspring born had green patches of fur instead of eyes, a sign that they were part of the planetary organism. When Saybrook had the women in his crew examined and confirmed that they were all pregnant, he sent a sub-ether report back to Earth and then destroyed his ship.
The crew of the research ship confirms Saybrook's report, while carefully preventing any life from the planet from coming onboard, then returns to Earth to recommend that Saybrook's Planet be quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
d. Unknown to the research ship's crew, they carry a stowaway — a part of the planet's fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
specially bred to resemble a length of wiring. If the stowaway manages to reach Earth, it will eventually convert all life there into a single organism with a unified consciousness — and green patches of fur instead of eyes.
The invasion is thwarted when the stowaway is accidentally killed after the research ship lands on Earth; the wiring it was impersonating controlled the ship's airlock
Airlock
An airlock is a device which permits the passage of people and objects between a pressure vessel and its surroundings while minimizing the change of pressure in the vessel and loss of air from it...
doors, and it was incinerated when they were activated.
Critical response
Science fiction author and critic Damon KnightDamon Knight
Damon Francis Knight was an American science fiction author, editor, critic and fan. His forte was short stories and he is widely acknowledged as having been a master of the genre.-Biography:...
wrote:
Story notes
Asimov notes in the introduction that this story was (unintentionally) a reworking of the theme from "Who Goes There?Who Goes There?
Who Goes There? is a science fiction novella by John W. Campbell, Jr. under the pen name Don A. Stuart, published August 1938 in Astounding Stories. In 1973, the story was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of the finest science fiction novellas ever written, and published with...
" by John W. Campbell
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in American science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction , from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction.Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in...
.
"Green Patches" was later included in an early Foundation Series timeline that was published in Thrilling Wonder Stories along with the story "The Portable Star
The Portable Star
"The Portable Star" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov that appeared in the Winter 1955 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. "The Portable Star" was Asimov's least favorite story.-Writing and publication:...
".
Asimov returned to the theme of a unified planetary consciousness in his novels Foundation's Edge
Foundation's Edge
Foundation's Edge is a science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov, the fourth book in the Foundation Series. It was written more than thirty years after the stories of the original Foundation trilogy, due to years of pressure by fans and editors on Asimov to write another, and, according to Asimov...
, Foundation and Earth
Foundation and Earth
Foundation and Earth is a Locus Award nominated science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov, the fifth novel of the Foundation series and chronologically the last in the series...
, and Nemesis
Nemesis (Asimov)
Nemesis is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov. One of his later science fiction novels, it was published in 1989, only three years before his death...
.