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"[Science fiction is] nightmares and visions, always outlined by the barely possible."
- Gregory Benford
 |
| Needle Gun | ||
| A weapon that fires thin slivers of metal. |
This is as far as I know the first use of this term in science fiction. This term has been used to describe a hand-held gun that fired flechette rounds. Also, the term was used in the 19th century to denote a rifle that used a needle to fire a paper cartridge containing a round.
| “I shall kill you three with the poisoned
needle-gun, and my men will immediately
give you burial in space. You and your
officers. Captain, will watch me with such
composure as you may have at your command, and realize that I will brook no interference whatever; that I do not and shall
not hesitate to eliminate anyone who annoys
me.”
The two Martians returned from the corridor, empty handed. The Planetchief’s countenance hardened. Vic Vincennes saw him lift his needle-gun at pointblank range, and felt an intolerable weight falling upon him, crushing the very life from him. He crumbled to the floor, overcome with nausea. The room seemed to be spinning, the sickness more acute and more horrible. Then unconsciousness. |
| Technovelgy from In the Spacesphere,
by Charles Cloukey. Published by Wonder Stories in 1931 Additional resources -
|
From The Empress of Mars (1939) by Russ Rocklynne:
From Slacker's Paradise, by Malcom Jameson, published by Astounding S-F in 1941:
From Lucky Starr and the Moons of Jupiter, by Isaac Asimov, published by Doubleday in 1957:
Readers might also check out the needle pipe from Ray Cummings 1928 story Beyond the Stars for an earlier use of this concept, and a bit more detail on other uses.
I rammed home the final plunger, and the bee-wing took off flapping up into the thin air and forward with such speed that in a matter of seconds Cammint was a dot of light in the darkness, and the city of Jador was sprawled in fantastic shadows below. I went blind, without lights, never knowing when some similar craft might blunder out of the encircling darkness full tilt into me. I set my course for the Royal Palace, and had my forward needle guns set for any who dared offer me hindrance.
Her armament was so inadequate as never to have given him a qualm. It consisted simply of a 10 mm. needle gun, fit only to detonate a stray mine.
This was another one of those times when Bigman was glad he carried a needle-gun even in the face of Lucky's disapproval. Lucky considered it an unreliable weapon, as it was too hard to focus accurately, but Bigman would sooner doubt the fact that he was as tall as any six-footer as doubt his own skill. When Summers didn't turn at Bigman's shout, Bigman clenched his fist about the weapon (of which only half-inch of snout, narrowing to a needlepoint, showed between the second and third fingers of his right hand) and squeezed just tightly enough to activate it.
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'The observation vehicle was of that peculiar variety used in conveying a large number of people across rough terrain.'
'The real border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.'
'I ... set my automatic astronomical instruments to searching for a habitable planet.'
'...haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?'
'... oblongs were all over the floor and surfaces.'
