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"What has allowed so many Psychopathic Personalities to rise so high in corporations and government, is that they are so decisive. Unlike normal people, they are never filled with doubts, for the simple reason that they cannot care what happens next."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
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| Atomic Automatic | ||
| Fires a special, rocket-like bullet. |
It fires a "steam bullet" which makes a "screaming hiss" as it goes by.
| He turned to face one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen - a golden-haired bit of femininity whose shapely form was further accentuated by a range costume, consisting of a tight-fitting pair of breeches and a glistening shirt made of glass cloth. Strapped to her feet were large discs which, Conavan judged, were to give her better support on this planet of uncertain footing and weak gravitational attraction.
In her hand she held an atomic automatic,* still smoking. * This gun is not unlike the old-time Colt automatic of the year 1940. The atomic gun, however, uses a lead bullet of tremendous range. Steam, generated inside the lead pellet and fired through the rear like a rocket-tube blast, gives this gun a range of over a mile. It is equipped with telescopic sights. |
| Technovelgy from Revolt on Io,
by Jack West. Published by Amazing Stories in 1940 Additional resources -
|
Some of them are fancy:
Compare to the electro-bullets from Pirates of the Gorm (1932) by Nat Schachner and the self-guided rocket bullets from The Planet Strappers (1961) by Raymond Z. Gallun and to the smart bullet from Runaway (1985), by Michael Crichton.
The one who had spoken, also a Venusian, was an enormous fat man whose large belly shimmied like gelatin when he shifted his footing. He wore a silver coin-studded black leather belt almost a foot wide. Two ivory handled atomic automatics snuggled in holsters attached to the belt.
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'...the rocket’s landing-arms automatically unfolded.'
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
'...the combined Wind-Suncatcher, like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
'I went to the control room where the three other men were manipulating their mechanical men.'
'The low-slung monorail car, straddling its single track, bored through the shadows on a slowly rising course.'
'It was a smooth ovoid floating a few inches from the floor...'
'... he thrust in his charging arm to replenish his store of energy.'
'...the terrible Jovian gravity that made each movement an effort.'
