Robots Soldiers

 

cover art by Ed Emshwiller

My nephew Josiah is visiting one day when I happen to muse aloud about what might make a good entry for my Thursday post.

"The Defenders," he immediately said.

"No," I replied. "Thursday is for non-comic book stuff. Books, movies, and so on."

But he didn't mean the comic book. He had recently run across the short story "The Defenders," by Philip K. Dick, published in June 1953 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction.

Well, it seems as if impeccable taste in fiction runs in the family. "The Defenders" is an entertaining and clever science fiction tale.

It is set eight years after nuclear war has broken out between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. In both countries (and presumably the rest of the world's population) move underground to escape the destruction and radiation. Robots called "leadys" are sent to the surface to fight. The "leadys" send down reports, while the humans manufacture weapons and sending them up to their robotic soldiers.

But something funny is going on. On a regular basis, a robot comes down from the surface to report on the war personally. The robot stays in a shielded room because it would be highly radioactive. The last time a robot reported, though, someone noticed that it was not in fact radioactive. 

That doesn't seem possible. Something funny is going on and the robots are apparently being less than honest about conditions on the surface.

Several humans are assigned to venture up to the surface. I won't go into detail as to what they find there, but trust me that the author manages to put in a fun plot twist.

You can find the story online HERE. 

And, as an added bonus, you can listen to the X Minus One adaptation of the story HERE.