There was only one issue of
Star Science Fiction, published in January 1958. In that magazine was a story called "
S as in Zebatinsky" by
Isaac Asimov. In the 1970s I read the version of this story called "Spell My Name with an S" that appeared in
Nine Tomorrows. I finally read the original version of the story from 1958.
Negative Energy. I love the idea of aliens who are watching Earth, but in "S as in Zebatinsky" we get the dreaded "energy beings". 😞 I say "dreaded" because I despise science fiction stories written by authors (such as Margaret St. Clair) who simply throw up their hands and pretend that minds can exist without any physical structure. Asimov tells us that two aliens named Haround and Mestack normally exist as energy vortices in hyperspace, but for a time Mr. Haround lived as a numerologist on Earth.
In "S as in Zebatinsky" we are told that by studying Earth and using his computer to calculate alternative futures, Haround finds a way to prevent a nuclear war on Earth.
Can I accept Asimov's "energy beings" if they have some sort of internal structure provided by their energy "vortices"? Ug. I'm holding my nose.
While reading about Haround's exploits in "S as in Zebatinsky", I could not prevent myself from thinking about Harlan's work as a time travel technician in Asimov's novel The End of Eternity.
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Alternate Reality 1; image source
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For his fictional science of
psychohistory, Asimov imagined that it might be possible to mathematically predict the future of Humanity. In "S as in Zebatinsky" we never see Haround's computer and it may be that he simply claimed to have a computer, so I suppose he may have actually used time travel technology or some other means to learn about the future rather than calculate it.
Reality Change. Harlan: "You will alter Primitive history?"
Noÿs: "You know what a Minimum Necessary Change is like... if I send a letter to Italy then a man will begin to experiment with the neutronic bombardment of uranium..." Near the end of The End of Eternity, Noÿs hints that her tinkering with Time will result in a future Earth with "a radioactive crust".
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Alternate Reality 2; image source
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Other Means. What might constitute another means of learning about the future? One of Asimov's great Sci Fi plot devices is what I call the
Reality Viewer. In Asimov's time travel novel,
The End of Eternity, the girl from the future,
Noÿs, says: "
We don't calculate alternate Realities. We view them. We see them in their state of non-Reality."
I love the idea that there can be multiple Realities, different versions of Earth's historical timeline as depicted in The End of Eternity. Asimov depicted an end to Reality Changes when Eternity was destroyed, but for my Exode Saga, I allow just a few more Reality Changes. The on-again, off-again nuclear warfare described by Asimov in "S as in Zebatinsky" shows that Asimov was also tempted to imagine additional Reality Changes.
Mind Transfer. The other key Sci Fi plot device in "S as in Zebatinsky" is mind transfer. Sadly, since "S as in Zebatinsky" is a short story, we readers learn nothing about how it is possible for Haround to instantiate his mind inside a human body on Earth.
For my own stories (example) in which I make use of mind transfer as a plot device, I imagine that there are sub-nanoscopic femtobots or zeptites that can "encode" a mind and allow it to "occupy" a human body. This is facilitated by the fact that within the Exodemic Fictional Universe, human brains contain a zeptite endosymbiont: human brains evolved as a mixture of cells and nanites, so it is not too difficult to "graft in" a new nanite-encoded mind.
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new for 1958: fallout
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Gamma-Ray Reflection. For "S as in Zebatinsky", Asimov needed to invent a way to cause a nuclear war that could, under the right conditions, be easily averted.
Back in March, I mentioned that in Asimov's 1951 story "Breeds There a Man" readers were presented with the idea that humans could invent a "force field" that would make it possible to survive a nuclear war. "Breeds There a Man" also included the idea of space aliens who were watching Earth and waiting for a nuclear war.
By 1958, with increasing numbers of atmospheric nuclear bomb tests being conducted, "
nuclear fallout" had become a major topic for discussion and Asimov used "
gamma-ray reflection" as his fictional plot device that could start a nuclear war.
Yes Dear. The plot of "S as in Zebatinsky" hinges on the idea that a physicist would visit a "numerologist" and take his advice. Asimov wants readers to believe that Zebatinsky only goes to the "numerologist" because his wife suggests that he do so.
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Geniac home logic circuit kit
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We can also imagine that Zebatinsky is made much more likely to go along with the name change suggested by Haround because Haround denies being a numerologist and claims that he is a mathematician who uses a computer that can "calculate possible futures". In fact, Haround tells Zebatinsky that he "builds computers" and experimentally "studies probable futures". Readers of "S as in Zebatinsky" might have wondered about a mathematician claiming to "build computers", but by 1957 Sci Fi magazines such as
Galaxy were running ads for "Geniac", with the tag-line: "Build 125 computers at home".
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Zebatinsky is suckered in!
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These were not programmable computers with memory storage, only electrical circuits, but the Geniac kit may have opened the door for Asimov to include the idea of building computers in his story.
Haround tells Zebatinsky that he will find a modification of the name "Zebatinsky" that will satisfy Zebatinsky's desire for a better job. Zebatinsky, a physicist, is part of a huge government-controlled team of scientists doing secret nuclear physics research. Actually, Haround is hard at work trying to draw attention to the fact that Soviet scientists are working on gamma-ray reflection technology that will allow them to survive a nuclear war. Asimov puts it this way: the Russians would willingly sacrifice 10 large cities destroyed by nuclear blast as long as their population could be protected from nuclear fallout by using gamma-ray reflection technology. The first nuclear-armed
ICBM was not deployed until 1959, so Asimov was probably expecting his readers to be thinking in terms of a nuclear war in which bombs reached targets by means of airplanes.
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Haround makes use of a human body.
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It turns out that Zebatinsky has a distant relative who is doing secret research on gamma-ray reflection for the Soviets. The US government only begins funding gamma-ray reflection research after their man Zebatinsky changes his name to Sebatinsky and draws their attention to the other Zebatinsky who is working for the Russians. Readers are expected to believe that this discovery by U.S. intelligence allows the nuclear balance of terror to continue, preventing a nuclear war.
Zebatinsky asks Haround why he does not make better use of his ability to calculate the future; why charge people like Zebatinsky a mere $50.00 for a name change when he could calculate and engineer more lucrative changes to Earth's timeline? Haround basically just replies that he is happy in what he does and would not want to draw attention to himself. Since Zebatinsky quietly accepts everything he is told, I was expecting telepathy and mind control to come into the story, but no. Not only is a nuclear war averted by Haround's meddling, but Sebatinsky gets what he wants, a job as a university professor.
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What, me gamble?
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In "S as in Zebatinsky", we are told that Haround and his friend Mestack are simply having fun and placing bets on Haround's ability to make major alterations to Earth's historical timeline that are caused by tiny interventions that won't ever be noticed by the "Watchman". This raises an odd issue: what might energy beings in hyperspace use for money? The whole thing is as silly as the Star Trek episode "The Gamesters of Triskelion" in which disembodied aliens bet quatloos.
Next: The 4th Law of Motion
Coming Soon: Chapter 12 of Meet the Phari.
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