# ID short story **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 1, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-short-story/670111 "2013-10-01T17:36:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TheZenPaperboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@TheZenPaperboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheZenPaperboy)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-short-story/670111/1 "2013-10-01T17:36:59Z")
This was a story I read in the 70’ or 80’s. It was a science fiction story from the Golden Age, I think. It was in an anthology. The plot was that some space travelers came across a space ship that had been lost. The people were powering the space ship manually by pulling something in unison that made the motor work. I think that the people who found them left them to there own devices to return home using this power system. Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-short-story/670111/2 "2013-10-01T18:01:07Z")
Oh spit. I remember this one. Their drive had failed but they had a sort of space anchor doohickey, and they were basically kedging themselves home across interstellar space. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-short-story/670111/3 "2013-10-02T00:45:37Z")
"The Long Way Hom e " by Fred Saberhagen , I think. ---
**Author:** ![TheZenPaperboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@TheZenPaperboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheZenPaperboy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-short-story/670111/4 "2013-10-02T01:17:04Z")
That’s it. I was able to find it online. It was strange that when I was reading it that it was totally unfamiliar. But then I came to the end and that was what I remembered. Except that they do interfere. So, thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-short-story/670111/5 "2013-10-02T22:07:00Z")
Welcome. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-short-story/670111/6 "2013-10-03T14:52:33Z")
A great plot . . . people who spent thousands of years, walking back to earth. But I bet Saberhagen was paid by the word. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-short-story/670111/7 "2013-10-03T15:48:04Z")
Every short story writer is paid by the word. There are a few exceptions where they’re paid a flat fee, but that only is for the very top-end markets ( **Playboy, The New Yorker, The Atlantic** or very low end ($5 a story). If an author stretches things out unnecessarily, the story will be rejected. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-short-story/670111/8 "2013-10-03T17:23:12Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Every short story writer is paid by the word. > > There are a few exceptions where they’re paid a flat fee, but that only is for the very top-end markets ( **Playboy, The New Yorker, The Atlantic** or very low end ($5 a story). If an author stretches things out unnecessarily, the story will be rejected. There’s a story about Mickey Spillane - someone asked him why Mike Hammer had to empty ‘Betsy’ every time he fired it. “Listen,” Spillane said, “I get paid by the word. Every time I type ‘bang!’ I get three cents. If you think I’m going to end a scene with fifteen cents’ worth of unused ammunition, you’re crazy.” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-short-story/670111/9 "2013-10-04T04:44:34Z")
“The Long Way Home” is such a slow read, for a simple concept. But I guess it’s appropriate for people walking their way home through space. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-short-story/670111/10 "2013-10-04T10:09:24Z")
And it is the [sample chapter](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CDEQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.baenebooks.com%2Fchapters%2F1439132690%2F1439132690.htm&ei=VZBOUvizDJPC4APfroGQBg&usg=AFQjCNHD5adfjWDLd9gDvpstdmKuczuS1A&bvm=bv.53537100,d.dmg) for the collection as published by Baen as an ebook …