Deathworld 2: The Ethical Engineer

DEATHWORLD 2:

THE

ETHICAL

ENGINEER

BY

HARRY HARRISON

Copyright © 2017 Read Books Ltd.

This book is copyright and may not be

reproduced or copied in any way without

the express permission of the publisher in writing

Contents

An Introduction to the History of Science Fiction

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

XI

XII

An Introduction to the

History of Science Fiction

The origins of the literary genre of science fiction continue to be hotly debated. Some scholars cite recognisable themes as appearing in the first known work of recorded literature, the Epic of Gilgamesh, (2000 BCE). Science fiction writer, Pierre Versins (1923-2001), argues that this ancient Sumerian epic poem should be included in the genre due to how it deals with the subjects of human reason and the quest for immortality. It also contains a flood scene that can be seen as resembling apocalyptic science fiction. However, other experts in the field prefer to limit the genre’s scope to the period following the Scientific Revolution in the 17th century, claiming that it was only possible to write science fiction once certain major discoveries in astronomy, mathematics, and physics had been made. Wherever we decide to put the pin in the timeline, it is clear that many of the tropes of what is generally considered to be science fiction have sparked the imagination since the early days of literature.

One such theme is that of the space ship. A form of this kind of technology can be found in the Hindu epic poetry of India. In the Ramayana (5th to 4th century BCE) Amazing machines called Vimana travel into space, underwater, and even have advanced weaponry that can destroy cities. Time travel was also foreshadowed in such works as Mahabharatha (8th and 9th centuries BCE) in which a king travels to heaven and on his return finds that many ages have passed in his absence.

The Syrian-Greek writer Lucian (c. CE 125–after CE 180) uses the themes of space travel and alien races to act as mechanisms of satire in True History to make comment on the use of exaggeration within travel literature and debates. These themes are however mainly utilised for comic effect, and as Bryan Reardon, a translator of Lucian comments, it is an account of a fantastic journey – to the moon, the underworld, the belly of a whale, and so forth. It is not really science fiction, although it has sometimes been called that; there is no ‘science’ in it.

Some elements of the genre can also be identified within One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights) (8th-10th century CE) where themes of cosmic travel and immortality appear. Combine this with first millennia tales from Japan, such as Nihongi (720 CE) in which a young fisherman visits an undersea kingdom, staying for three days, only to return home to find himself three hundred years in the future, and it is easy to see that many literary cultures developed themes of what could be called proto-science fiction.

In the 16th century humanist thinker Thomas More (1478-1535) wrote Utopia (1516) in which he describes a fictional island with a perfect society that he uses to espouse his views on political philosophy. This tale gave the name to the Utopia motif that became a theme in sci-fi writing and together with its antithesis, ‘dystopia’, is still used widely in the genre – most notably in George Orwell’s classic work Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).

The 17th and 18th centuries brought with them the ‘Age of Reason’, and a new found interest in scientific discoveries spawned fiction that more closely resembles modern science fiction. Johannes Kepler’s Somnium (The Dream 1634) about a voyage to the moon, is a notable example of this, with influential figures such as Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov citing it as the first true work in the genre. Other works from this era with recognisable tropes are Shakespeare’s The Tempest (1610-11) containing a prototype for the ‘mad scientist story’, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726) with its descriptions of alien cultures, and Louis-Sébastien Mercier’s L’An 2440 (1771) which gives a predictive account of life in the 25th century.

Some authors, such as Brian Aldiss (born 1925) in his book Billion Year Spree (1973), claim that Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein (1918) is actually the first seminal work to which the label SF can be logically attached. Although generally found under the heading ‘Gothic Horror’, its use of futuristic technology and its exploration of the human condition from an outsider’s viewpoint, find it blurring the lines between the genres.

The late 19th century saw the arrival of two undeniably classic authors of sci-fi, Jules Verne (1828-1905) and H. G. Wells (1866-1946). The former produced popular scientific romances such as Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864) and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1869). These classic tales of adventure captured the public imagination and brought him great commercial success, making him what L. Sprague de Camp called the world’s first full-time science fiction novelist. As opposed to Verne’s romantic adventures, Wells tended to use the mechanisms of the genre to provide himself with tools for making social commentary and rarely delved into the hard science of the technology he created. For example, in his classic tale The Time Machine (1895) the technicalities of the machine itself are largely glossed over in favour of the didactic points on English society he intends to make. The difference between these two giants of the genre typifies a debate that continues to this day about how to strike the right balance between exciting story telling and a social message. This time period also found several other notable writers dipping into the genre, with authors such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), and Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935), also making valuable contributions.

The early 20th century saw a critical period in the history of science fiction with the birth of the pulp magazines Amazing stories, Weird Tales, Astounding Stories, and Wonder Stories, among others. It was the work of Hugo Gernsback (1884-1967), writer and editor, in setting up Amazing Stories in 1926 that really spearheaded the movement. He encouraged his authors to produce stories of scientific realism intended to both entertain and inform their readership. This publishing of magazines solely devoted to the genre led to the birth of the ‘Golden Age of Science Fiction’ in the 1940s and 1950s. Under the editorship of John W. Campbell Jr. Astounding Science Fiction had a stable of pioneering authors such as Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988), Isaac Asimov (1920-1992), and Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008). It was characterised by hard science fiction stories that celebrated scientific achievement and progress. This format of short story magazines was continued with publications such as Astounding stories and Galaxy, and still continues today with magazines such as Asimov’s Science Fiction and Strange Horizons.

The second half of the 20th century saw sci-fi becoming evermore mainstream and accepted as a reputable literary genre. Work’s such as Frank Herbert’s (1920-1986) Dune (1965), with its complex interweaving of future galaxies, political intrigue, and religion, did much to raise its respectability. It was during the 1960s that a new movement appeared. Dubbed ‘The New Wave’ it stretched the genre, approaching topics such as sexuality and contemporary political issues, as in J. G. Ballard’s (1930-2009) cautionary tales of future societies. It was this movement that inspired the change in direction of science fiction in the film industry, where it started exploring worrisome futures like those portrayed in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and A Clockwork Orange (1971).

Following on from ‘The New Wave’ was ‘Cyberpunk’ with authors such as William Gibson (born 1948) focussing on themes of an imagined underworld of the future and the ‘punks’ that inhabited it.

All of these developments of have given modern science fiction a diverse canon from which to draw. At the beginning of the 21st century, the genre shows no sign of disappearing, and the popularity of both novels and short story magazines online is a testament to its enduring appeal.

This work is part of our Vintage Sci-Fi Classics Series, a series in which we are republishing some of the best stories in the genre by some of its most acclaimed authors. Enjoy.

THE

ETHICAL

ENGINEER

BY

HARRY HARRISON

ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN SCHOENHERR

That mores is strictly a matter of local custom cannot

be denied. But that ethics is pure opinion also...?

Maybe there are times for murder, and theft and slavery....

All nature is but art, unknown to thee;

All chance, direction which thou canst not see;

All discord, harmony not understood;

All partial evil, universal good:

And, spite of pride, in erring reasons spite,

One truth is clear, Whatever is, is right.

Alexander Pope

Essay on Man

I

Jason dinAlt looked unhappily at the two stretchers as they were carried by. Are they at it again? he asked.

Brucco nodded, the scowl permanently ingrained now on his hawklike face. We have only one thing to be thankful for. That is—so far at least—they haven’t used any weapons on each other.

Jason looked down unbelievingly at the shredded clothing, crushed flesh and broken bones. The absence of weapons doesn’t appear to make much difference when two Pyrrans start fighting. It seems impossible that this damage could be administered bare-handed.

Well it was. Even you should know that much about Pyrrus by now. We take our fighting very seriously. But they never think how much more work it makes for me. Now I have to patch these two idiots up and try to find room for them in the ward. He stalked away, irritated and annoyed as always. Jason usually laughed at the doctor’s irascible state, but not today.

Today, and for some days past, he had found himself living with a persistent feeling of irritation, that had arrived at the same time as his discovery that it is far easier to fight a war than to administer a peace. The battle at the perimeter still continued, since the massed malevolence of the Pyrran life forms were not going to call a truce simply because the two warring groups of humans had done so. There was battle on the perimeter and a continual feeling of unrest inside the city. So far there had been very little traffic between the city Pyrrans and those living outside the walls, and what contact there had been usually led to the kind of violence he had just witnessed. The only minor note of hope in this concert of discord was the fact that no one had died—as yet—in any of these fearsome hand-to-hand conflicts. In spite of the apparent deadliness of the encounters all of the Pyrrans seemed to understand that, despite past hatreds, they were all really on the same side. A distant rumble from the clouded sky broke through his thoughts.

There is a ship on the radar, Meta said, coming out of the ground-control office and squinting up at the overcast. I wonder if it is that ecology expedition that Brucco arranged—or the cargo ship from Ondion?

We’ll find out in a few minutes, Jason said, happy to forget his troubles for the moment in frank admiration, since just looking at Meta was enough to put a golden edge on this gloom-filled day. Standing there, head back searching the sky, she managed to be beautiful even in the formless Pyrran coverall. Jason put his arms around her waist and exacted a great deal of pleasure from kissing the golden length of her up-stretched throat.

Oh, Jason ... not now, she said in exasperation. Pyrran minds, by necessity, run along one track at a time, and at the present moment she was thinking about the descending spaceship. With a quick motion, scarcely aware of her action, she pulled his hands from her and pushed him away, an easy enough thing for a Pyrran girl to do. But in doing so she half fractured one of his wrists, numbed the other, and knocked Jason to the ground.

Darling ... I’m sorry, she gasped, suddenly realizing what she had done, bending quickly to help him up.

Get away, you lady weight-lifter, he growled, pushing aside the proffered hand and struggling to his feet. When are you going to realize that I’m only human, not made of chrome steel bars like the rest of your people.... He stifled the rest of his words in disgust, at himself, his temper, this deadly planet and the cantankerousness of its citizens that was scratching away at his nerves. He turned and stamped away, angry at himself for taking out his vile mood on Meta, but still too annoyed to make peace.

Meta watched him leave, trying to say something that would end this foolish quarrel, but unable to. The largest blank in the Pyrran personality was an almost complete lack of knowledge of human nature, and her struggle to fill in the gaps—gaps she was only just beginning to realize existed—was a difficult one. The stronger emotions of hate and