Early Bird (Cogswell)

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"Early Bird" is a science fiction short story by Theodore R Cogswell and Theodore L Thomas. The story was first published in Astounding: The John W Campbell Memorial Anthology.

[edit] Plot introduction

The humorous story is laid in the same universe as the author's novel The Spectre General and concerns Major Kurt Dixon of the Imperial Space Marines.

[edit] Plot summary

After the Marines have mopped up the remains of the Galactic Protectorate, the Empire's trade routes start being invaded by the Kierans, an alien race using ships equipped with a seemingly invincible weapon that 'fogs' the brains of the crew of the ships that try to follow them. Dixon is given command of a scout patrol that manages to follow 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. His computer, known as 'Zelda', manages to land the ship on an unchartered planet, inhabited by gigantic 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, and as part of 'selection of the fittest', Dixon's ship and Dixon himself are 'improved' with greater and faster mental powers and better physical attributes. Disbelievingly, Dixon takes off and finds that he can now out-manoeuver and out-fight the Kierans. He realises that the entire patrol fleet can do the same thing; the newly improved fleet then proceeds to take on and defeat the Kierans.