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"We were essentially being shell-shocked by rapid change. That was one of the things you needed science-fiction writers for back in the Sixties, because we could cope with the future."
- Peter Watts
 |
| Spetsdöd | ||
| A unique gun that is part of the shooter. |
The spetsdod is a very sophisticated weapon, consisting of a semi-adhesive block of plastic, a 6" barrel, and a reloading port for magazines of various sorts. The plastic adheres to the flesh of the wielder when a chemical is added to the mixture to make it pliant. The barrel is then braced in the material, behind the index finger on the hand, and a second chemical is added to the plastic, causing it to become firm and fixed in position - for the duration of its use, a part of the wielder. It is this very facility with which this weapon can be used that makes it so dangerous. Should a person who is not fully proficient with the weapon attempt to wield it, he more often than not ends up shooting either himself of his comrades. The reason for this are simple; to fire the spetsdod, one merely points. A self-regenerating chemical compound exists at the very tip of the barrel which reacts to the fingernail of the wielder. This reaction causes the weapon to fire. It is the very simplicity of this trigger which makes the weapon so deadly, either to the wielder or to his foes. Until one has truly become proficient in the use of the spetsdod (i.e., specialized) one stands a good chance of firing unintentionally.
| It was a difficult shot, but a man with a Spetsdöd could cut a dragonfly in half in mid-air - and hit both pieces as they fell. Point-shooting had been brought to a peak higher than craft, if not art, with the invention of the Spetsdöd: the word itself meant "point death." |
| From The Man Who Never Missed,
by Steve Perry. Published by Not Known in 1985 Additional resources -
|
Thanks to Trey Palmer for contributing this item.
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