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"It's hard to tell stories about critters that are not human. John W. Campbell tried it, in "Twilight," and everybody says it's a wonderful story, and nobody ever reads it twice."
- Jerry Pournelle
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| Way Station | ||
| A device used to transport individuals across the galaxy. |
The way station is one of a series of stations that make travel across the galaxy possible. It was established on earth by an alien race. The station keeper is chosen from the indigenous sapient species of the planet.
| Ulysses said, "We are a traveling people. We need a travel station here. We want to turn this house into a station and you to keep the station...
"We could not build a station, for then we'd have people asking who was building it and what it might be for. So we are forced to use an existing structure and change it for our needs. But inside only. We leave the outside as it is, in appearance, that is. For there must be no questions asked..." "But traveling..." "From star to star," said Ulysses. "Quicker than the thought of it... It will be no more than a switching and a resting point. No one on Earth can buy a ticket..." |
| Technovelgy from Way Station,
by Clifford Simak. Published by Doubleday in 1963 Additional resources -
|
Enoch Wallace, the station keeper for earth, fought in the Civil War. A field that surrounds the station cancels the effects of aging for those inside.
The machinery of the station allows travelers to materialize in special chambers (or tanks, for aquatic travelers). The keeper of the station prepares the necessary accomodations for travelers.
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Tech news articles related to Way Station
Tech news articles related to works by Clifford Simak
Way Station-related
news articles:
- Cell Phone Tower Equipment Sheds Way Station-Style
- Stellar Navigation Based On Network Analysis
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'The pitiless M rays pierced Earth and steel and densest concrete as if they were so much transparent glass...'
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'
'Nanny is different,' Tom Fields murmured... 'she's not like a machine. She's like a person.'
'We made a crude , small cell and were delighted - and, I admit, somewhat surprised - to find it worked.'
'...we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.'
'The clothes and jewelery drew their tiny power requirements from her movements.'
'At the end of each appendage's eight fingers there are tinier appendages...'
'We want to do something to help those who are suffering from tooth loss or absence,' said lead researcher Katsu Takahashi.
