Early Bird (Cogswell)
Encyclopedia
"Early Bird" is a science fiction
short story written in 1973 by Theodore R. Cogswell and Theodore L. Thomas
. The story was first published in Astounding: The John W Campbell Memorial Anthology
. It takes place within the same universe as Cogswell's 1952 novel The Spectre General
and features the character Major Kurt Dixon of the Imperial Space Marines.
Protectorate, the Empire's trade
routes start being invaded by the Kierans. The Kierans are an alien
race that use ships equipped with a seemingly invincible weapon that clouds the brains of the crew of the ships that try to follow them. Major
Kurt Dixon is given command of a scout patrol that follows a Kieran ship to its home base, but he is "fogged" and left unconscious.
Dixon's ship is equipped with an experimental computer
that generates a cybernetic personality to support him on long lonely space patrols. The computer, known as Zelda, manages to land the ship on an unchartered planet
, inhabited by huge organo-metallic creatures that prey on each other with awesome weaponry and computerised defences.
Whilst the ship is disabled on the planet, it becomes a part of a mating
process between two of these creatures. The 'sperm' of one creature homes in on the 'egg' laid by another creature. As part of a 'selection of the fittest' process, Dixon and his ship are modified, acquiring vastly improved mental and physical powers. Dixon discovers that he can now out-manoeuver the Kierans. He realises that the entire patrol fleet can do the same thing; the newly improved fleet then proceeds defeat the Kierans.
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 written in 1973 by Theodore R. Cogswell and Theodore L. Thomas
Theodore L. Thomas
Theodore Lockard Thomas is an American chemical engineer and attorney who wrote more than 50 science fiction short stories, published between the early 1950s to the late 1970s...
. The story was first published in Astounding: The John W Campbell Memorial Anthology
Astounding: The John W Campbell Memorial Anthology
Astounding: The John W. Campbell Memorial Anthology is a 1973 festschrift honoring noted science fiction and fantasy editor John W. Campbell, in the form of an anthology of short stories by various science fiction authors, edited by Harry Harrison...
. It takes place within the same universe as Cogswell's 1952 novel The Spectre General
The Spectre General
"The Spectre General" is the first science fiction story of Theodore Cogswell. It was initially published in the June 1952 issue of Astounding magazine...
and features the character Major Kurt Dixon of the Imperial Space Marines.
Synopsis
After the Marines have defeated the GalacticGalactic
Galactic is a funk and jazz jam band from New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.-Origins and background:Originally formed in 1994 as an octet and including singer Chris Lane and guitarist Rob Gowen, the group was soon pared down to a sextet of: guitarist Jeff Raines, bassist Robert Mercurio,...
Protectorate, the Empire's trade
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
routes start being invaded by the Kierans. The Kierans are an alien
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
race that use ships equipped with a seemingly invincible weapon that clouds the brains of the crew of the ships that try to follow them. Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
Kurt Dixon is given command of a scout patrol that follows a Kieran ship to its home base, but he is "fogged" and left unconscious.
Dixon's ship is equipped with an experimental computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
that generates a cybernetic personality to support him on long lonely space patrols. The computer, known as Zelda, manages to land the ship on an unchartered 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,...
, inhabited by huge organo-metallic creatures that prey on each other with awesome weaponry and computerised defences.
Whilst the ship is disabled on the planet, it becomes a part of a mating
Mating
In biology, mating is the pairing of opposite-sex or hermaphroditic organisms for copulation. In social animals, it also includes the raising of their offspring. Copulation is the union of the sex organs of two sexually reproducing animals for insemination and subsequent internal fertilization...
process between two of these creatures. The 'sperm' of one creature homes in on the 'egg' laid by another creature. As part of a 'selection of the fittest' process, Dixon and his ship are modified, acquiring vastly improved mental and physical powers. Dixon discovers that he can now out-manoeuver the Kierans. He realises that the entire patrol fleet can do the same thing; the newly improved fleet then proceeds defeat the Kierans.