Mr. Spaceship: Short Story

By Philip K. Dick

In a distant future where humans are at war with an alien species called the Yuks, scientists have developed the ultimate weapon—a spacecraft controlled by a human brain.

Philip K. Dick was an American science-fiction novelist, short-story writer and essayist. His first short story, “Beyond Lies the Wub,” was published shortly after his high school graduation. Some of his most famous short stories were adapted for film, including “The Minority Report,” “Paycheck,” “Second Variety” (adapted into the film Screamers) and “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” (adapted into the film Total Recall).

HarperCollins brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperCollins short-stories collection to build your digital library.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Dec 31, 2013
• ISBN: 9781443433211

Philip K. Dick

Over a writing career that spanned three decades, PHILIP K. DICK (1928–1982) published 36 science fiction novels and 121 short stories in which he explored the essence of what makes man human and the dangers of centralized power. Toward the end of his life, his work turned to deeply personal, metaphysical questions concerning the nature of God. Eleven novels and short stories have been adapted to film, notably Blade Runner (based on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), Total Recall, Minority Report, and A Scanner Darkly, as well as television's The Man in the High Castle. The recipient of critical acclaim and numerous awards throughout his career, including the Hugo and John W. Campbell awards, Dick was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2005, and between 2007 and 2009, the Library of America published a selection of his novels in three volumes. His work has been translated into more than twenty-five languages.

Book preview

Mr_Spaceship_resized.jpg

Mr. Spaceship

Philip K. Dick

HarperPerennialClassicsLogo.jpg

CONTENTS

Mr. Spaceship

About the Author

About the Series

Copyright

About the Publisher

Mr. Spaceship

Kramer leaned back. You can see the situation. How can we deal with a factor like this? The perfect variable.

Perfect? Prediction should still be possible. A living thing still acts from necessity, the same as inanimate material. But the cause-effect chain is more subtle; there are more factors to be considered. The difference is quantitative, I think. The reaction of the living organism parallels natural causation, but with greater complexity.

Gross and Kramer looked up at the board plates, suspended on the wall, still dripping, the images hardening into place. Kramer traced a line with his pencil.

See that? It’s a pseudopodium. They’re alive, and so far, a weapon we can’t beat. No mechanical system can compete with that, simple or intricate. We’ll have to scrap the Johnson Control and find something else.

Meanwhile the war continues as it is. Stalemate. Checkmate. They can’t get to us, and we can’t get through their living minefield.

Kramer nodded. It’s a perfect defense, for them. But there still might be one answer.

What’s that?

Wait a minute. Kramer turned to his rocket expert, sitting with the charts and files. The heavy cruiser that returned this week. It didn’t actually touch, did it? It came close but there was no contact.

Correct. The expert nodded. The mine was twenty miles off. The cruiser was in space-drive, moving directly toward Proxima, line-straight, using the Johnson Control, of course. It had deflected a quarter of an hour earlier for reasons unknown. Later it resumed its course. That was when they got it.

It shifted, Kramer said. But not enough. The mine was coming along after it, trailing it. It’s the same old story, but I wonder about the contact.

Here’s our theory, the expert said. We keep looking for contact, a trigger in the pseudopodium. But more likely we’re witnessing a psychological phenomena, a decision without any physical correlative. We’re watching for something that isn’t there. The mine decides to blow up. It sees our ship, approaches, and then decides.

Thanks. Kramer turned to Gross. Well, that confirms what I’m saying. How can a ship guided by automatic relays escape a mine that decides to explode? The whole theory of mine penetration is that you must avoid tripping the trigger. But here the trigger is a state of mind in a complicated, developed life-form.

The belt is fifty thousand miles deep, Gross added. It solves another problem for them, repair and maintenance. The damn things reproduce, fill up the spaces by spawning into them. I wonder what they feed on?

Probably the remains of our first-line. The big cruisers must be a delicacy. It’s a game of wits, between a living creature and a ship piloted by automatic relays. The ship always loses. Kramer opened a folder. I’ll tell you what I suggest.

Go on, Gross said. I’ve already heard ten solutions today. What’s yours?

"Mine is very simple. These creatures are superior to any mechanical system, but only because they’re alive. Almost any other life-form could compete with them, any higher life-form.

Reviews for Mr. Spaceship

[drled_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Synopsis: 'The story is set in the distant future, where humanity is at war with "Yuks", an alien life form which does not use mechanical spaceships nor constructions. Instead, it relies on life forms. The war has been going on for a long time, and humanity has not been able to come up with a solution against the life-form based ships and mines that the Yuks use. One day, a team of researchers led by Philip Kramer decide to build a spaceship which is powered by a human brain. They find the ideal candidate, Kramer's old professor, a dying man who volunteers to donate his brain to the project.The spaceship is built and on the first test run into outer space, the team discovers that the professor made some changes to the ship, giving him—or rather, his brain—full control over the ship. Sensing trouble, the team flees the ship, leaving the empty ship, piloted by the professor, into outer space. Later, the spaceship returns and kidnaps Kramer and his wife, and on board the ship, the professor's brain informs them that they'll be looking for a new planet to colonize, to start over, as the professor sees no hope in humanity and what it has become- a species which desires, above all else, war.'Review: I wasn't impressed, but at the time it was published it was innovative.

[willie3_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I do not remember reading anything by Philip K. Dick that would be rated less than 5 stars. I like this new edition, though I would have liked to seen it published in hc. Looking forward to what Hamish Robertson and his Echo series has planned for the future.

[arkrayder · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interesting idea.

[pgiunta_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

During a war between Earth and an alien race known as the Yucconae, humans learn that the enemy is using organic starships and mines with the ability to strategize and make tactical decisions.To combat this, Earth scientists design a ship operated by a human brain. A terminally ill university professor is approached and, after reviewing the theoretical and technical specs of the project, agrees to allow his brain to be integrated with the ship. However, as the mission commences, the professor takes full control of the ship with a different agenda in “mind.”

[wez-13 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Mr. Spaceship is a complex short story. It introduces us early to the familiar Terrans, who are at war with The Yucconae of the neighbouring Proxima Centauri system. The Terrans are trying to create a spaceship that is able to navigate through an area of space packed with Yuk mines, with the goal to end the war. To achieve this the terrans have to take a novel approach. They replace the ship's guidance circuitry, the commonly used Johnson system, with a radical alternative.The story stands up to modern times, for the most part, with the exception of the protocols normally associated with developing such a technology. We could assume these were bypassed to get their prototype out as fast as possible, being under the threat of war and all that.Characters and their relationships develop rapidly without feeling rushed. And there is a nice twist at the end.Dick explores a couple of themes in this work. You could enjoy it as a good piece of science fiction, or you could dig into it and uncover layers of symbolism. Either way you look at it, this is a good, quick read for fans of science fiction. Highly Recommended!A brief summary of themes in this work, and open to interpretation, are:Boundary of ConsciousnessIt is repeatedly stated that the brain would not retain consciousness, however this clearly turns out otherwise. This resembles the Brain in a Vat thought experiment, which postulates that a disembodied brain connected to a computer that simulates the senses (input), would experience normal consciousness. In Dick's story, the professor's brain is placed in the ship, its sensors become his senses, its engine and thrusters, his limbs. However Dick's work predates the Brain Vat experiment [1] by two decades. That idea is not new however. Descartes proposed a similar concept through a different tale: an evil demon projects life as an illusion, we the targets of this spell, are thus unable to tell it apart from reality. This thought experiment makes us question the nature of reality, and the boundary where consciousness ends.1: Harman, Gilbert 1973: Thought, Princeton/NJ, p.5Incomprehensible PowerTheir creation, the ship, did not turn out as they hoped. The professor's brain had its own agenda, and the makers of this sentient ship were at its unpredictable mercy. The moment they realised they created something beyond their control, they bailed, leaving the machine to its own devices. During times of war, humans have dabbled with powers and consequences beyond our comprehension: The chemical weapons of World War I; the nuclear weapons of World War II. This theme highlights the dangers inherent in such risky ventures, and if we keep on this destructive path, a day will come that will be our last.Omnipotence and BenevolenceThe professor's brain, with its grass roots mentality, decides to kidnap his student (Phil) and ex-wife (Dolores). The brain wants to start a new world, seeding it with a man and a woman, guiding the new civilisation with hopes of not repeating the same mistakes our ancestors made. This theme posits the idea that our world may have begun in a very similarly way. In fact, this work may even be the creation story of Earth in an alternate universe. Granted this is a polarising theme, and Dick was pretty brave to explore it at the time. It leaves us with a hopeful feeling at the end, knowing that this powerful ship chose an enlightened path. It also raises the question that a powerful entity (Mr. Spaceship) was itself created by imperfect beings, and that omnipotence and benevolence are choices; the professor could very well have followed the destructive path which he was built for.