Space Apprentice
Encyclopedia
Space Apprentice, also known as Probationers (Russian
title: Стажёры, Stazhory), is one of the early novels of Russian science fiction writers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. It is set in the Noon Universe
following The Land of Crimson Clouds
and Destination Amalthea, hundreds of years before the other Noon novels.
This is the Strugatsky brothers' final hard-SF
novel, and it gives reasons why they decided to move into social science fiction
instead.
. His mother
was sick and Yuri missed the spaceship
that was to transport him
to his new work site. He gets a ride to his destination on a ship piloted
by some of the characters of The Land of Crimson Clouds
.
When the novel starts Yurkovsky and Grisha Bykov - Bykov's son - (see Characters in early Strugatsky novels) and Dauge say goodbye to Bykov senior and leave on a mission from international spaceport
Mirza-Charle. Meanwhile, Yuri Borodin is also in the spaceport, trying to find a ride. Spaceport authorities direct him to the port director, but he is currently out of town. Disappointed Yuri wanders into a Capitalist
-run bar, where the owner-cum-bartender is engaged in an ideological debate with a Russian Communist
. Yuri befriends the Russian, Ivan Zhilin, and tells him of his problems. Ivan suggests Yuri to go to the spaceport hotel in the evening, and try to convince the astronauts who stay there to take him along. Yuri does so and meets Bykov and Yurkovsky. Yurkovsky, currently serves as a Chief Inspector. He plans to make a tour of several planet
s and planetoids. Bykov is
piloting his ship. They agree to give Yuri a ride.
Their first stop is Mars
. The Russian colonists
there are battling an alien life form the giant slug. As the colonists are planning a large-scale slug hunt, they realize that some of the buildings in the area are not human-made. Since the buildings look so much like the simple prefabricated
structures set up by the colonists, everyone just assumed they were left there by previous expeditions. Some colonists lament the lack of initiative that has descended over the colony in recent years, and Yurkovsky agrees. The raid on slugs, carried out in part using the weapons brought by Yurkovsky, is reasonably successful, and the colonists cheer up.
On the way to research station
Einomia, the spaceship crew runs an emergency drill, and Yuri, while stressed and confused, holds up to the pressure.
A lot of physicists
want to work on Einomia due to the unique research opportunities
that it provides. The station is severely overcrowded but the scientists gladly put up with the inconveniences such as food shortages or having to sleep in an elevator.
Yurkovsky disapproves, but gives a part of his own food supply to the hungry physicists.
He says that such scientists should be a role model for Yuri.
Planetoid Bamberga has deposits of precious space pearls. Capitalists run a mine on Bamberga. In the drive to maximize profits the miners work more than six-hours a day despite health risks due to high levels of radiation in the mine. This causes illness and premature death. The local safety-inspector, a Hungarian Communist, protests. But he is ignored and harassed. After his arrival, Yurovsky arrests the mine's director and tells the workers to elect a replacement. The miners emphatically protest. Despaired, Yurkovsky leaves the meeting with the miners. However, one of the miners returns the string of space pearls that Yurkovsky accidentally left behind. The returned pearls are worth a large sum of money and Yurkovsky thinks that there is still hope for the miners.
Back on the spaceship, Yuri and Zhilin watch an action film
about the heroes of space exploration, and the young Yuri becomes excited. Zhilin explains the movie overly simplifies the picture and the life is much more complicated and a lot less glamorous than how it is portrayed. He alludes to the events in The Land of Crimson Clouds
.
The next stop of the tour is Diona space observatory
; the researchers there produce valuable scientific contributions. However, personal relationships deteriorate.
Yuri gets into a fight with one of the young researchers. It turns out that two of the senior scientists were spreading rumors about the others to further their scientific careers. Yurkovsky orders them back to Earth and even suggests one of them to kill himself. He says that these two men managed to deceive the rest of the crew so successfully because many people in Communist society are not accustomed to others blatantly lying to them, and they are too proud to try to figure out the truth for themselves.
Yurkovksy spaceship approaches Saturn
and stops at Ring One space station. From there, Yuri is supposed to go to Ring Two: his worksite. Yurkovksy is getting too old for space travel. In all likelihood, this trip is the last of his space flights. He did a lot of research on the rings of Saturn and now he wants to see them close. The same is true for his navigator: Krutikov. Yurkovsky and Krutikov take a rocket to fly near the rings. As they approach the rings, Yurkovsky notices an unusual rock formation, and urges Krutikov to fly closer, despite the danger of a meteorite
collision. Bykov orders them, over the radio, to stop. Yet, anxious to find out more about the discovery, Yurovsky attacks Krutikov and breaks the radio. Krutikov yields and descends to the rock formation. Bykov is speeding toward them on a spaceship that is supposed to leave for Ring Two space station. Yuri is on board.
The rocket of Yurovsky and Krutikov gets hit but a meteorite and they die. Yuri is injured
and hospitalized..
He ponders how people will think of the new discovery as very important, but they will not remember the people who made it; he wishes that no discovery were made and the two people were still alive.
Bykov and Zhilin return to Earth and meet a sick Dauge. He tells Bykov that a new expedition to planet Transpluton, also known as Cerberus, is planned, and he is offered to lead it. Bykov agrees apathetically. Zhilin, however, thinks that he would prefer to stay on Earth, because "that is what is most important shall always remain on Earth."
.
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
title: Стажёры, Stazhory), is one of the early novels of Russian science fiction writers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. It is set in the Noon Universe
Noon Universe
The Noon Universe is a fictional future setting for a number of hard science fiction novels written by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. The universe is named after Noon: 22nd Century, the chronologically first novel from the series...
following The Land of Crimson Clouds
The Land of Crimson Clouds
The Land of Crimson Clouds is a 1959 science fiction novel by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, most likely, set in the Noon Universe.-Plot summary:...
and Destination Amalthea, hundreds of years before the other Noon novels.
This is the Strugatsky brothers' final hard-SF
Hard science fiction
Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail, or on scientific accuracy, or on both. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell, Jr.'s Islands of Space in Astounding Science...
novel, and it gives reasons why they decided to move into social science fiction
Social science fiction
Social science fiction is a term used to describe a subgenre of science fiction concerned less with technology and space opera and more with sociological speculation about human society...
instead.
Plot summary
The novel's main character is Yuri Borodin, a young space welderWelding
Welding is a fabrication or sculptural process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. This is often done by melting the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material that cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes...
. His mother
was sick and Yuri missed the spaceship
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
that was to transport him
to his new work site. He gets a ride to his destination on a ship piloted
by some of the characters of The Land of Crimson Clouds
The Land of Crimson Clouds
The Land of Crimson Clouds is a 1959 science fiction novel by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, most likely, set in the Noon Universe.-Plot summary:...
.
When the novel starts Yurkovsky and Grisha Bykov - Bykov's son - (see Characters in early Strugatsky novels) and Dauge say goodbye to Bykov senior and leave on a mission from international spaceport
Spaceport
A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching spacecraft, by analogy with seaport for ships or airport for aircraft. The word spaceport, and even more so cosmodrome, has traditionally been used for sites capable of launching spacecraft into orbit around Earth or on interplanetary trajectories...
Mirza-Charle. Meanwhile, Yuri Borodin is also in the spaceport, trying to find a ride. Spaceport authorities direct him to the port director, but he is currently out of town. Disappointed Yuri wanders into a Capitalist
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
-run bar, where the owner-cum-bartender is engaged in an ideological debate with a Russian Communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. Yuri befriends the Russian, Ivan Zhilin, and tells him of his problems. Ivan suggests Yuri to go to the spaceport hotel in the evening, and try to convince the astronauts who stay there to take him along. Yuri does so and meets Bykov and Yurkovsky. Yurkovsky, currently serves as a Chief Inspector. He plans to make a tour of several planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
s and planetoids. Bykov is
piloting his ship. They agree to give Yuri a ride.
Their first stop is Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
. The Russian colonists
Space colonization
Space colonization is the concept of permanent human habitation outside of Earth. Although hypothetical at the present time, there are many proposals and speculations about the first space colony...
there are battling an alien life form the giant slug. As the colonists are planning a large-scale slug hunt, they realize that some of the buildings in the area are not human-made. Since the buildings look so much like the simple prefabricated
Prefabrication
Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located...
structures set up by the colonists, everyone just assumed they were left there by previous expeditions. Some colonists lament the lack of initiative that has descended over the colony in recent years, and Yurkovsky agrees. The raid on slugs, carried out in part using the weapons brought by Yurkovsky, is reasonably successful, and the colonists cheer up.
On the way to research station
Space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
Einomia, the spaceship crew runs an emergency drill, and Yuri, while stressed and confused, holds up to the pressure.
A lot of physicists
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
want to work on Einomia due to the unique research opportunities
that it provides. The station is severely overcrowded but the scientists gladly put up with the inconveniences such as food shortages or having to sleep in an elevator.
Yurkovsky disapproves, but gives a part of his own food supply to the hungry physicists.
He says that such scientists should be a role model for Yuri.
Planetoid Bamberga has deposits of precious space pearls. Capitalists run a mine on Bamberga. In the drive to maximize profits the miners work more than six-hours a day despite health risks due to high levels of radiation in the mine. This causes illness and premature death. The local safety-inspector, a Hungarian Communist, protests. But he is ignored and harassed. After his arrival, Yurovsky arrests the mine's director and tells the workers to elect a replacement. The miners emphatically protest. Despaired, Yurkovsky leaves the meeting with the miners. However, one of the miners returns the string of space pearls that Yurkovsky accidentally left behind. The returned pearls are worth a large sum of money and Yurkovsky thinks that there is still hope for the miners.
Back on the spaceship, Yuri and Zhilin watch an action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
about the heroes of space exploration, and the young Yuri becomes excited. Zhilin explains the movie overly simplifies the picture and the life is much more complicated and a lot less glamorous than how it is portrayed. He alludes to the events in The Land of Crimson Clouds
The Land of Crimson Clouds
The Land of Crimson Clouds is a 1959 science fiction novel by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, most likely, set in the Noon Universe.-Plot summary:...
.
The next stop of the tour is Diona space observatory
Observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...
; the researchers there produce valuable scientific contributions. However, personal relationships deteriorate.
Yuri gets into a fight with one of the young researchers. It turns out that two of the senior scientists were spreading rumors about the others to further their scientific careers. Yurkovsky orders them back to Earth and even suggests one of them to kill himself. He says that these two men managed to deceive the rest of the crew so successfully because many people in Communist society are not accustomed to others blatantly lying to them, and they are too proud to try to figure out the truth for themselves.
Yurkovksy spaceship approaches Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
and stops at Ring One space station. From there, Yuri is supposed to go to Ring Two: his worksite. Yurkovksy is getting too old for space travel. In all likelihood, this trip is the last of his space flights. He did a lot of research on the rings of Saturn and now he wants to see them close. The same is true for his navigator: Krutikov. Yurkovsky and Krutikov take a rocket to fly near the rings. As they approach the rings, Yurkovsky notices an unusual rock formation, and urges Krutikov to fly closer, despite the danger of a meteorite
Meteorite
A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives impact with the Earth's surface. Meteorites can be big or small. Most meteorites derive from small astronomical objects called meteoroids, but they are also sometimes produced by impacts of asteroids...
collision. Bykov orders them, over the radio, to stop. Yet, anxious to find out more about the discovery, Yurovsky attacks Krutikov and breaks the radio. Krutikov yields and descends to the rock formation. Bykov is speeding toward them on a spaceship that is supposed to leave for Ring Two space station. Yuri is on board.
The rocket of Yurovsky and Krutikov gets hit but a meteorite and they die. Yuri is injured
and hospitalized..
He ponders how people will think of the new discovery as very important, but they will not remember the people who made it; he wishes that no discovery were made and the two people were still alive.
Bykov and Zhilin return to Earth and meet a sick Dauge. He tells Bykov that a new expedition to planet Transpluton, also known as Cerberus, is planned, and he is offered to lead it. Bykov agrees apathetically. Zhilin, however, thinks that he would prefer to stay on Earth, because "that is what is most important shall always remain on Earth."
Release details
The novel has been published in English (Space Apprentice), Hungarian (Újonc a világűrben). The original Russian edition also included the short story, "The Gigantic Fluctuation", and the English edition featured a foreword by Theodore SturgeonTheodore Sturgeon
Theodore Sturgeon was an American science fiction author.His most famous novel is More Than Human .-Biography:...
.
- Стругацкий, Аркадий и Борис. СТАЖЕРЫ: Науч.-фантаст. повесть. Предисл. изд-ва; Худож. А.Билюкин. - М.: Мол. гвардия, 1962.
- Strugatsky, Arkady and Boris. Space Apprentice. Translated by Antonina W. Bouis. London: MacMillan Publishers, 1981.
- Strugatsky, Arkady and Boris. Probationers. Translated by Boris Pogoriller. Available online.
- Sztrugackij, Arkagyij és Borisz. Újonc a világűrben. Translated by Gyula Füzesi. Budapest: Európa, 1965.