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"At its best, SF is the medium in which our miserable certainty that tomorrow will be different from today in ways we can't predict, can be transmuted to a sense of excitement and anticipation, occasionally evolving into awe."
- John Brunner
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| Motor Torpedo | ||
| A terrestrial torpedo, driven by ion beams. |
| "This little tube along the top of the torpedo is a
telescope sight. You will peer through, get the cross
hairs squarely upon your target, and hold them there.
Then press this nickeled lever. That starts the projectile
inside the case to spinning so that inertia will hold it
true. Then, being certain that the aim is correct, press
the red button. The torpedo is thrown from the case by
compressed air, and a positive ray mechanism drives it true to the target. When it strikes, about fifty pounds of Dr. Trainor's new explosive, trainite, will be set off...
Bill balanced his torpedo, peered through the telescope, and pressed the lever. The hum of a motor came from the heavy tube. "All ready?" the Prince inquired. "Ready," each man returned. "Fire !" Bill pressed the red button. The tube drove heavily backward in his hands, and then was but a light, sheetmetal shell. He saw a little gleam of white light before him, against the right blue globe, a diminishing point. It was the motor ray that drove the torpedo speeding toward its mark. |
| Technovelgy from The Prince of Space,
by Jack Williamson. Published by Amazing Stories in 1931 Additional resources -
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'... he had tightened the chest to gain maximum pumping action from the motion of breathing.'
'...a prayer wheel swung into view and began spinning at a furious pace.'
'And are all the people willing to be governed by a machine?'
'It's an old model,' Rawlins said. 'I'm not sure what to do.'
'the robot-boss was busy at the lip of the new lode instructing and egging the men on to greater speed...'
'He rode the bike with an intense lack of physical grace...'
