# Title of a Sci-Fi short story **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 27, 2013, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/title-of-a-sci-fi-short-story/672365 "2013-10-27T10:43:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/title-of-a-sci-fi-short-story/672365/1 "2013-10-27T10:43:00Z")
I am looking for the title of a short Sci-Fi story that I read a long time ago. It was part on an anthology of stories by famous Sci-Fi authors, so I expect that the author is regarded as one of the top guys in the field. The story is about first contact, an alien is being sent into exile and crash lands on a planet. A human ship has just discovered the planet and find the alien. The humans and the alien are then playing lots of mind games and finally (I think) the alien wins and is able to leave the planet. I remember the story to be hilariously funny, for instance, none of the humans want to be the first to speak to the alien, because whatever they say, it must be more memorable than “A small step for man…”, so they send some journalists to make first contact. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/title-of-a-sci-fi-short-story/672365/2 "2013-10-27T11:06:39Z")
**Moderator Action** Moving thread from General Questions to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/title-of-a-sci-fi-short-story/672365/3 "2013-10-27T11:09:51Z")
Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/title-of-a-sci-fi-short-story/672365/4 "2013-10-27T12:21:47Z")
It’s not this, is it? The plot is similar but doesn’t quite match up in a lot of the details. “First Contact” by Murray Leinster > **[First Contact (novelette)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Contact_%28novelette%29)** > > "First Contact" is a 1945 science fiction novelette by American writer Murray Leinster, credited as one of the first (if not the first) instances of a universal translator in science fiction. It won a retro Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 1996. > Two technologically-equal species are making first contact in deep space. Both desire the technology and trade the other can provide, but neither can risk the fate of the home planet based on unfounded trust. > It was among the stories selected in 1970 by... ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/title-of-a-sci-fi-short-story/672365/5 "2013-10-27T15:55:20Z")
If it’s an older story maybe it’s by Eric Frank Russell. He wrote some real corkers. ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/title-of-a-sci-fi-short-story/672365/6 "2013-10-27T16:18:16Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > It’s not this, is it? The plot is similar but doesn’t quite match up in a lot of the details. > > “First Contact” by Murray Leinster > [First Contact (novelette) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Contact_%28novelette%29) Nope, not that one, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/title-of-a-sci-fi-short-story/672365/7 "2013-10-27T21:35:15Z")
Thought of another tidbit I remembered: The main “bad” guy on the human side was a military guy who earned his stripes defending New York against the notorious homosexual brigade during the war or something like that. Does that kind of humor ring a bell? ---
**Author:** ![ChrisM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@ChrisM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisM)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/title-of-a-sci-fi-short-story/672365/8 "2013-10-27T23:38:38Z")
Something by Robert Sheckley, maybe? Though no particular title comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/title-of-a-sci-fi-short-story/672365/9 "2013-10-28T20:02:39Z")
Could be Sheckley, but I just read that he wrote over 400 short stories, so will be a pleasure to find out if it was him…