# Ask the guy who is pretty good at SF Story Identification **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [September 7, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417 "2008-09-07T00:08:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 78
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1541 "2024-08-27T05:11:28Z")
Nope. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1542 "2024-08-27T07:27:52Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > This is a RAH short story. Or maybe a novelette. IIRC it was in a thinish PB with two others. Are you sure it’s Heinlein? _For Us, The Living_ had the “person from the past wakes up” element, though I don’t remember the society being heavily armed, and it was a full-length novel that I’m pretty sure never got published with other stories between the same covers. After that, the pickings start to get slimmer. _Door Into Summer_, for the “sleeper awakes” element, but no heavily armed society? _Puppet Masters_ had heavily armed vigilantes at one point, but no person waking from the past. Any more details? ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1543 "2024-08-27T10:53:29Z")
A text search of my Heinlein ebook collection [large but not comprehensive] finds brassards in two… Puppet Masters has ‘VIG-brassards’ for the heavily armed anti-slug vigilantes. Most men were wearing straps-codpieces, really-as the cops had been, but I was not the only man in New Brooklyn stark naked to his shoes. One in particular I remember; he was leaning against a street roof stanchion and searching with cold eyes every passer-by. He was wearing nothing but slippers and a brassard lettered with “VIG”-and he was carrying an Owens mob gun under his arm. Beyond This Horizon has ‘brassards-of-peace’ for the minority who chose to go unarmed. They were exchanging bows and were about to resume their seats, when a shouted remark from the balcony booth directly opposite interrupted them. “Where’s your brassard?” They both looked toward the source of the disturbance; one of a party of men - armed citizens all apparently, for no brassards were to be seen - was leaning out of the booth and staring with deliberate rudeness. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1544 "2024-08-27T10:57:17Z")
> [@vbob](#): > > Beyond This Horizon has ‘brassards-of-peace’ for the minority who chose to go unarmed. As well as the _police-and-you-get-both_ bit: “The occasional man with a brassard was almost certainly out at this hour because his business required him to be. The same rule applied without exception to the few armed men who also wore brassards - proclaiming thereby their unique status as police monitors, armed but immune to attack.” ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1545 "2024-08-27T10:58:50Z")
And in Horizon, the police are armed and wear brassards, and the hero and his girlfriend are endangered by a group trying to kill them ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1546 "2024-08-27T14:14:38Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Anyway, some dude with the past wakes up, and in a society where nearly everyone carries a gun. If no gun, a brassard, unless you are police and you get both- except our hero who also gets both- then people try to kill him What’s the point of the brassard? Is it supposed to mean that nobody’s allowed to shoot at you? If so, does that mean that everybody is allowed to shoot at anyone who’s armed? If not, what would wearing one do except to say that you’re easy game, in which case why would anyone wear one? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1547 "2024-08-27T15:53:41Z")
In Horizon, someone who wears a brassard is safe from being shot in matters of honor, but is not likewise not a full adult who can assert a right to not be insulted, etc. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1548 "2024-08-27T19:52:44Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Beyond This Horizon? > [@vbob](#): > > Beyond This Horizon has ‘brassards-of-peace’ for the minority who chose to go unarmed. > > They were exchanging bows and were about to resume their seats, when a shouted remark from the balcony booth directly opposite interrupted them. “Where’s your brassard?” They both looked toward the source of the disturbance; one of a party of men - armed citizens all apparently, for no brassards were to be seen - was leaning out of the booth and staring with deliberate rudeness. > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > As well as the _police-and-you-get-both_ bit: “The occasional man with a brassard was almost certainly out at this hour because his business required him to be. > [@Andy\_L](#): > > And in Horizon, the police are armed and wear brassards, and the hero and his girlfriend are endangered by a group trying to kill them I guess that has gotta be it, altho the wiki article doesnt mention the gun angle much. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2024, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1549 "2024-08-29T03:05:28Z")
I remember reading a book, which would have come out in the late Seventies or early Eighties, about a crewed mission to the Sun. There’s a race of flat, intelligent, extreme-gravity-and-heat-resistant aliens which lives on the surface of the Sun. Astronauts from Earth are able to study and communicate with the aliens from their heavily-shielded ship, which can get very close to the Sun. Near the end of the mission, one of the aliens, studying a female astronaut who has become a friend, realizes that she is in the very early stages of breast cancer. The alien is able to use solar energy to somehow destroy the still-tiny cancer and cure her. The astronaut has a brief moment of pain in her breast but is then fine. Ring a bell for anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2024, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1550 "2024-08-29T03:10:57Z")
You are remembering some details of _Dragon’s Egg_ by Robert L. Forward (and misremembering others). ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2024, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1551 "2024-08-29T09:28:07Z")
Yeah, I remember that. It was a neutron star. The sequel “Starquake” wasn’t as good. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2024, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1552 "2024-08-29T20:21:54Z")
Ah, thanks! Yes, I think that’s it: [Dragon's Egg - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon%27s_Egg) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1553 "2024-08-30T00:41:45Z")
Okay, this is a science essay, not a story, but written by a noted SF Author. I think it was Clarke, or possibly Asimov. It was speculating about the possible future development of a device similar to a Star Trek style replicator. The quote was along the lines of, the first one will be very expensive to build. The second one will be free. It may have been written before Star Trek TNG was broadcast, and probably didn’t use the word “Replicator”. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1554 "2024-08-30T00:46:44Z")
I have a hard time imagining Clarke or Asimov either one making that big of a blunder. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1555 "2024-08-30T00:47:37Z")
What blunder? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1556 "2024-08-30T12:19:08Z")
I suspect that Chronos means that while the development costs for the second assembler may be zero, the material and energy costs still exist. This quote sounds familiar, btw, but I can’t quite place it ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1557 "2024-08-30T13:10:17Z")
Plus amortization, wages for the operator, rent for the place the replicator operates in… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1558 "2024-08-30T17:34:43Z")
And don’t even get me started on work permits, regulatory approval and taxes! ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1559 "2024-08-30T18:33:27Z")
Is there truly nstaafl? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1560 "2024-08-30T18:38:07Z")
That’s what Mannie tells me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417.md?page=77) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417.md?page=79)