Language: English
Published in: 1952
Categorie(s): Fiction, Science Fiction, Short Stories
Word count: 4,795 words (≈ 19 minutes)
Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/29132
Copyright: Please read the legal notice included in this e-book and/or check the copyright status in your country.
Nothing moved or stirred. Everything was silent, dead. Only the gun showed signs of life ... and the trespassers had wrecked that for all time. The return journey to pick up the treasure would be a cinch ... they smiled.
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Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:50:30 +0100
THE GUN is one of PHILLIP K. DICK's earlier SF stories. It first appeared in PLANET STORIES in September of 1952.
The Gun is a pretty straightforward tale. I have read many cautionary SF tales like it, in which a weapon of mass destruction is left switched on and under the control of a computer long after its makers have been reduced to ash.
Still, the writing is concise and one can see that Dick knew how to construct a "traditional" SF tale long before he started writing the experimental works for which most readers know and love him.