# Can you identify this SF short story? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2005, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-sf-short-story/331275 "2005-11-16T06:08:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-sf-short-story/331275/1 "2005-11-16T06:08:56Z")
Please help me identify this science fiction short story. (No, it’s not _The Last Question_, nor is it _Flowers for Algernon_.) 🙂 The story is told from the point-of-view of an artificial intelligence on a mission to another star. The spaceship controlled by the AI is loaded with frozen human and animal embryos, as well as frozen plant seeds. The AI splits itself into three minds shortly after launch to help preserve itself over the millennia-long journey, with at least 2 of the 3 minds needing to agree on any action. Upon reaching its final destination and landing on a habitable planet, it realizes that it has forgotten its mission. At that point, a relay thaws and a backup program activates. The AI then realizes it will know more in 9 months… I read the story about 20-25 years ago in a paperback book consisting of a collection of short stories. The book probably dates from the mid 1970s, but I could easily be off by a decade either way. I believe the collection of stories in the book were award winners (Hugo, Nebula, or perhaps something else) but am not positive. Can you identify the story and/or author? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-sf-short-story/331275/2 "2005-11-16T17:29:56Z")
Sounds like an interesting story. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-sf-short-story/331275/3 "2005-11-16T18:03:02Z")
The story is almost definitely “Long Shot.” Both Vernor Vinge and Charles Sheffield come to mind as possible authors; I don’t recall. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-sf-short-story/331275/4 "2005-11-16T18:23:28Z")
Long Shot was written by Vernor Vinge with a publication date of 1972. It was most recently republished in “The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge” in 2002. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-sf-short-story/331275/5 "2005-11-16T19:05:27Z")
_Long Shot_ seems to be ringing a bell. I’ll check it out. Thanks very much for the assistance! ---
**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:** [November 16, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-sf-short-story/331275/6 "2005-11-16T20:23:50Z")
It was also published in a collection (edited by Asimov, I believe) called _Machines that Think_, along with a number of other stories about computers and artificial intelligences. Quite possible that’s where the OP read it; it’s where I did (along with numerous other good stories). ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-sf-short-story/331275/7 "2005-11-17T00:03:03Z")
It’s also in Vinge’s collection _True Names and Other Dangers_ (1981, reprinted Baen 1991). Thanks for the catch, **Dante** ; I remembered the story but (obviously) not the writer. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-sf-short-story/331275/8 "2005-11-17T00:16:31Z")
I just wanted to pop in and say that I _like_ Vernor Vinge’s stories!! ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-sf-short-story/331275/9 "2005-11-17T00:49:10Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > I just wanted to pop in and say that I _like_ Vernor Vinge’s stories!! So do I; I’ve actually read and liked a number of his other stories, such as the Peace War series. I’m pretty sure this is the book I was thinking of in which I read _Long Shot_, though the cover is unfamiliar. I probably had a reprint, or the paperback may have had a different cover. [Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year, Second Annual Collection. ed. del Rey, 1973.](http://www.bestsf.net/reviews/delrey2.html) ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-sf-short-story/331275/10 "2005-11-17T00:51:27Z")
By the way, I can’t thank you all enough for coming up with that story title. I’ve been trying to track it down for years, but lost the paperback in which I’d first read it.