The Long Watch
Encyclopedia
"The Long Watch" is a science fiction
short story
by Robert A. Heinlein
. It is about a military officer who faces a coup d'état
by a would-be dictator.
Originally named "Rebellion on the Moon", the story appeared in the December 1949 American Legion
Magazine. It appears in Heinlein's short story collections, The Green Hills of Earth
and The Past Through Tomorrow
. While it is included in collections of Future History
stories and appears on Heinlein's timeline chart, "The Long Watch" does not appear to share continuity
with the history, but with Space Cadet
published a year earlier.
Dahlquist enters the bomb bunker, modifies a bomb to detonate by hand
, and threatens to blow up himself and the bombs. He negotiates with Towers, pretending to be still naïve; he hopes to give the government time to stop the coup. Dahlquist is growing tired, however, and if he falls asleep the conspirators may regain control. He decides to disable the bombs beyond the plotters' ability to repair them, despite the danger. The only way to do so is to open them up and break the half-globes of plutonium at the core
of each bomb. Dahlquist does so, but in the process exposes himself to a fatal dose of radiation. He dies "very happy."
The coup collapses and Towers shoots himself. The Patrol recovers Dahlquist's radioactive body and places it in a lead coffin. As Earth mourns the hero, his body is entombed in a marble monument, with an honor guard beyond the limit of safe approach
.
, Ezra Dahlquist is one of "[t]hose who helped create the Tradition of the Patrol". New recruits view a display about his heroism, "the day shameful and glorious in the history of the Patrol". At every Patrol roll call
, his name is called with those of three other Patrol heroes. A skeptical candidate to become a Patrol cadet comments that Dahlquist disobeyed his commanding officer in performing the acts he is commended for, and that if things had gone the other way, Dahlquist would have been deemed a traitor.
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 Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
. It is about a military officer who faces a coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
by a would-be dictator.
Originally named "Rebellion on the Moon", the story appeared in the December 1949 American Legion
American Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
Magazine. It appears in Heinlein's short story collections, The Green Hills of Earth
The Green Hills of Earth (short story collection)
The Green Hills of Earth is a collection of science fiction short stories by Robert A. Heinlein published in 1951, although it includes short stories published as early as 1941. The stories are part of Heinlein's Future History. The title story is the tale of an old space mariner reflecting upon...
and The Past Through Tomorrow
The Past Through Tomorrow
The Past Through Tomorrow is a collection of Robert A. Heinlein's Future History stories.Most of the stories are part of a larger storyline of a rapidly collapsing American sanity, followed by a theocratic dictatorship...
. While it is included in collections of Future History
Future History
The Future History, by Robert A. Heinlein, describes a projected future of the human race from the middle of the 20th century through the early 23rd century. The term Future History was coined by John W. Campbell, Jr. in the February 1941 issue of Astounding Science Fiction...
stories and appears on Heinlein's timeline chart, "The Long Watch" does not appear to share continuity
Continuity (fiction)
In fiction, continuity is consistency of the characteristics of persons, plot, objects, places and events seen by the reader or viewer over some period of time...
with the history, but with Space Cadet
Space Cadet
Space Cadet is a 1948 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein about Matt Dodson, who joins the Space Patrol to help preserve peace in the Solar System. The story translates the standard military academy story into outer space: a boy from Iowa goes to officer school, sees action and adventure,...
published a year earlier.
Plot summary
In 1999, Lieutenant John Ezra Dahlquist is a member of the Space Patrol, an international organization with the custody and, if necessary, use of all Earth's remaining nuclear weapons. A young bomb officer and physicist at the Patrol's lunar base, he is apolitical and is devoted to his wife and young daughter. Dahlquist's commanding officer Colonel Towers asks to meet with him. Towers and others want to overthrow the Earth government, and plan to use the bombs to destroy "an unimportant town or two" so Earth takes them seriously. Dahlquist tells Towers that he will cooperate, but he does not want his family to live in a world run by the plotters and plans to stop the coup by preventing the bombs' use.Dahlquist enters the bomb bunker, modifies a bomb to detonate by hand
Dead man's switch
A dead man's switch is a switch that is automatically operated in case the human operator becomes incapacitated, such as through death or loss of consciousness....
, and threatens to blow up himself and the bombs. He negotiates with Towers, pretending to be still naïve; he hopes to give the government time to stop the coup. Dahlquist is growing tired, however, and if he falls asleep the conspirators may regain control. He decides to disable the bombs beyond the plotters' ability to repair them, despite the danger. The only way to do so is to open them up and break the half-globes of plutonium at the core
Pit (nuclear weapon)
The pit is the core of an implosion weapon – the fissile material and any neutron reflector or tamper bonded to it. Some weapons tested during the 1950s used pits made with U-235 alone, or in composite with plutonium, but all-plutonium pits are the smallest in diameter and have been the standard...
of each bomb. Dahlquist does so, but in the process exposes himself to a fatal dose of radiation. He dies "very happy."
The coup collapses and Towers shoots himself. The Patrol recovers Dahlquist's radioactive body and places it in a lead coffin. As Earth mourns the hero, his body is entombed in a marble monument, with an honor guard beyond the limit of safe approach
Range (particle radiation)
In passing through matter, charged particles ionize and thus lose energy in many steps, until their energy is zero. The distance to this point is called the range of the particle...
.
Connection with other Heinlein stories
In Space CadetSpace Cadet
Space Cadet is a 1948 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein about Matt Dodson, who joins the Space Patrol to help preserve peace in the Solar System. The story translates the standard military academy story into outer space: a boy from Iowa goes to officer school, sees action and adventure,...
, Ezra Dahlquist is one of "[t]hose who helped create the Tradition of the Patrol". New recruits view a display about his heroism, "the day shameful and glorious in the history of the Patrol". At every Patrol roll call
Roll call
Roll call is the calling of the names of people from a list to determine the presence or absence of the listed people . The term applies to the calling itself, to the time moment of this procedure, and to a military signal that announces it Roll call is the calling of the names of people from a...
, his name is called with those of three other Patrol heroes. A skeptical candidate to become a Patrol cadet comments that Dahlquist disobeyed his commanding officer in performing the acts he is commended for, and that if things had gone the other way, Dahlquist would have been deemed a traitor.
External links
- Full text of story at WebscriptionsWebscriptionsWebscriptions is a web services company that has sold e-books without DRM since 1999. It is closely associated with Jim Baen's Baen Books. Purchasers can download the same e-book in five different formats, even long after the initial purchase...
- Heinlein Reader's Discussion Group on 'The Long Watch' and 'Gentlemen, Be Seated'
- Alexei Panshin's review of this and other Heinlein stories
- The Triumph of Prophecy: Science Fiction and Nuclear Power in the Post-Hiroshima Period by Albert L. Berger