Uller Uprising Part 1
Uller Uprising.
by Henry Beam Piper, John D. Clark and John F. Carr.
Introduction to
_ULLER UPRISING_
by John F. Carr
With the publication of this novel, _Uller Uprising_, all of H. Beam Piper's previously published science fiction is now available in Ace editions. _Uller Uprising_ was first published in 1952 in a Twayne Science Fiction Triplet--a hardbound collection of three thematically connected novels. (The other two were Judith Merril's _Daughters of Earth_ and Fletcher Pratt's _The Long View_.) A year later it appeared in the February and March issues of _s.p.a.ce Science Fiction_, edited by Lester Del Rey.
The magazine version, which was abridged by about a third, was believed by many bibliographers to be the only version--and as a novella it was too short for book publication. The Twayne version had a small print run and is so scarce that few people have seen it. Those bibliographers who knew of its existence a.s.sumed that both versions of _Uller_ were the same. It was through a telephone conversation with Charles N. Brown, publisher of _Locus_ and correspondent with Piper, that I learned about the Twayne edition and its greater length. Brown allowed me to photocopy his original, for which we owe him a debt of thanks; because the Twayne version is not only novel length, but far better than the shorter one that appeared in _s.p.a.ce Science Fiction_.
Probably the most surprising and interesting thing about the Twayne edition is the essay that forms the introduction to that volume, and is reprinted here. The essay is by Dr. John D. Clark, an eminent scientist of the fourties and fifties and one of the discoverers of sulfa, the first "miracle drug." It describes in great detail the planetary system of the star Beta Hydri, and gives the names of those planets: Uller and Niflheim. A publisher's note states that Clark's essay was written first, and given to the contributors as background material for a novel they would then write.
The fans of H. Beam Piper seem to owe a great debt to Dr. Clark.
_Uller Uprising_ became the foundation of Piper's monumental Terro-Human Future History; the first story where we encounter the Terran Federation. In it we learn about Odin, the planet that will one day be the capital of the First Galactic Empire; and humble Niflheim, which in more decadent times will become a common expletive, a word meaning h.e.l.l. This is also where Piper introduced and explained the Atomic Era dating system (A.E.). _Uller Uprising_ is set in the early years of the Terran Federation's expansion and exploration, an epoch of great vitality. In "The Edge of the Knife" Piper compares this time of discovery to the Spanish conquest of the Americas. This feeling of vigor and unlimited possibilities runs through all the early Federation stories: _Uller Uprising_, "Omnilingual," "Naudsonce,"
"When in the Course--," and, to a lesser degree, in the late Federation novels, _Little Fuzzy_, _Fuzzy Sapiens_, and _Fuzzies and Other People_. (See _Federation_ by H. Beam Piper for a good overview of this period.)
In these stories we see Terro-Humans at their best and at their worst: Individual heroism and bravery in the face of grave danger in _Uller Uprising_; Federation law and justice in _Little Fuzzy_ and its sequels; and, in "Omnilingual" and "Naudsonce," the spirit of science and rational inquiry. Yet we also see colonial exploitation and subjugation in _Uller Uprising_ and "Oomphel in the Sky," the greed and corruption of Chartered land companies in _Little Fuzzy_, and political corruption in _Four-Day Planet_. These stories are about a living Terro-Human culture, not a utopia.
It was Piper's attention to historical realism and his use of actual historical models that have helped his work to pa.s.s the test of time and have led to his becoming the favorite of a new generation of readers more than twenty-five years after his death.
_Uller Uprising_ is the story of a confrontation between a human overlord and alien servants, with an ironic twist at the end. Like most of Piper's best work, _Uller Uprising_ is modeled after an actual event in human history; in this case the Sepoy Mutiny (a Bengal uprising in British-held India brought about when rumors were spread to native soldiers that cartridges being issued by the British were coated with animal fat. The rebellion quickly spread throughout India and led to the ma.s.sacre of the British Colony at Cawnpore.). Piper's novel is not a mere retelling of the Indian Mutiny, but rather an a.n.a.lysis of an historical event applied to a similar situation in the far future.
Like many philosophers and social theorists before him, Piper attempted to chart the progress of human-kind; unlike most, however, he did not envision or try to create a system of ethics that would end all of humanity's problems. The best he could offer was his model of the self-reliant man: The man who "actually knows what has to be done and how to do it, and he's going to go right ahead and do it, without holding a dozen conferences and round-table discussions and giving everybody a fair and equal chance to foul things up for him."
Piper brought his own ideas and judgments about society and history into all of his work, but they appear most clearly in his Terro-Human Future History. While not everyone will agree with Piper's theories they give his work a bite that most popular fiction lacks. One cannot read Piper complacently. And one can often find a wry insight sandwiched in between the blood and thunder.
Other future histories may span more centuries or better illuminate the highlights of several decades, but until a rival is created with more historical depth and attention to detail, H. Beam Piper's Terro-Human Future History will stand as the Bayeux Tapestry of science fiction histories.
In many ways--certainly during his lifetime--Piper was the most underrated of the John W. Campbell's "Astounding" writers. He was probably also the most Campbellian; his _self-reliant man_ is almost a mirror image of Campbell's "Citizen."
Piper died a bitter man, a failure in his own mind; shortly before his death he believed he could no longer earn a living as a writer without charity from his friends or the state.
Now he's the cornerstone of Ace Books. Had he lived long enough to finish another half dozen books, he would have been among the sf greats of the sixties....
But maybe he does know, after all. Jerry Pournelle, who was very much influenced by Piper and in many ways considers himself Beam's spiritual descendant--and incidently was John W. Campbell's last major _discovery_--has said that sometimes, when he's gotten down a particularly good line, he can hear the "old man" chuckle and whisper, _atta boy_.
Introduction
Dr. John D. Clark
THE SILICONE WORLD
1. THE STAR AND ITS MOST IMPORTANT PLANET
The planet is named Uller (it seems that when interstellar travel was developed, the names of Greek G.o.ds had been used up, so those of Norse G.o.ds were used). It is the second planet of the star Beta Hydri, right angle 0:23, declension-77:32, G-0 (solar) type star, of approximately the same size as Sol; distance from Earth, 21 light years.
Uller revolves around it in a nearly circular orbit, at a distance of 100,000,000 miles, making it a little colder than Earth. A year is of the approximate length of that on Earth. A day lasts 26 hours.
The axis of Uller is in the same plane as the orbit, so that at a certain time of the year the north pole is pointed directly at the sun, while at the opposite end of the orbit it points directly away.
The result is highly exaggerated seasons. At the poles the temperature runs from 120C to a low of-80C. At the equator it remains not far from 10C all year round. Strong winds blow during the summer and winter, from the hot to the cold pole; few winds during the spring and fall. The appearance of the poles varies during the year from baked deserts to glaciers covered with solid CO_{2}. Free water exists in the equatorial regions all year round.
2. SOLAR MOVEMENT AS SEEN FROM ULLER
As seen from the north pole--no sun is visible on Jan. 1. On April 1, it bisects the horizon all day, swinging completely around. April 1 to July 1, it continues swinging around, gradually rising in the sky, the spiral converging to its center at the zenith, which it reaches July 1. From July 1 to October 1 the spiral starts again, spreading out from the center until on October 1 it bisects the horizon again. On October 1 night arrives to stay until April 1.
At the equator, the sun is visible bisecting the southern horizon for all 26 hours of the day on January 1. From January 1 to April 1, the sun starts to dip below the horizon at night, to rise higher above it during the day. During all this time it rises and sets at the same hours, but rises in the southeast and sets in the southwest. At noon it is higher each day in the southern sky until April 1, when it rises due east, pa.s.ses through the zenith and sets due west. From April 1 to July 1, its noon position drops down to the north, until on July 1, it is visible all day, bisected by the northern horizon.
3. CHEMISTRY AND GEOLOGY OF ULLER
Calcium and chlorine are rarer than on earth, sodium is somewhat commoner. As a result of the shortage of calcium there is a higher ration of silicates to carbonates than exists on earth. The water is slightly alkaline and resembles a very dilute solution of sodium silicate (water gla.s.s). It would have a pH of 8.5 and tastes slightly soapy. Also, when it dries out it leaves a sticky, and then a gla.s.sy, crackly film. Rocks look fairly earthlike, but the absence or scarcity of anything like limestone is noticeable. Practically all the sedimentary rocks are of the sandstone type.
All rivers are seasonal, running from the polar regions to the central seas in the spring only, or until the polar cap is completely dried out.
4. ANIMAL LIFE
As on Earth life arose in the primitive waters and with a carbon base, but because of the abundance of silicone, there was a strong tendency for the microscopic organisms to develop silicate exoskeletons, like diatoms. The present invertebrate animal life of the planet is of this type and is confined to the equatorial seas. They run from amoeba-like objects to things like crayfish, with silicate skeletons. Later, some species of them started taking silicone into their soft tissues, and eventually their carbon-chain compounds were converted to silicone type chains, from
| | | | | | | | --C--C--C-- to O--Si--O--Si--O--Si, | | | | | | | |
with organic radicals on the side links. These organisms were a transitional type, with silicone tissues and water body fluids, resembling the earthly amphibians, and are now practically extinct.
There are a few species, something like segmented worms, still to be seen in the backwaters of the central seas.
A further development occurred when the silicone chain animals began to get short-chain silicones into their circulatory systems, held in solution by OH or NH_{2} groups on the ends and branches of the chains. The proportion of these compounds gradually increased until the water was a minor and then a missing const.i.tuent. The larger mobile species were, then, practically anhydrous. Their blood consists of short-chain silicones, with quartz reinforcing for the soft parts and their armor, teeth, etc., of pure amorphous quartz (opal). Most of these parts are of the milky variety, variously tinted with metallic impurities, as are the varieties of sapphires.
These pure silicone animals, due to their practical indestructibility, annihilated all but the smaller of the carbon animals, and drove the compromise types into odd corners as relics. They developed into a fish-like animal with a very large swim-bladder to compensate for the rather higher density of the silicone tissues, and from these fish the land animals developed. Due to their high density and resulting high weight, they tend to be low on the ground, rather reptilian in look.
Three pairs of legs are usual in order to distribute the heavy load.
There is no sharp dividing line between the quartz armor and the silicone tissue. One merges into the other.
The dominant pure silicone animals only could become mobile and venture far from the temperate equatorial regions of Uller, since they neither froze nor stiffened with cold, nor became incapacitated by heat. Note that all animal life is cold-blooded, with a negligible difference between body and ambient temperatures. Since the animals are silicones, they don't get sluggish like cold snakes.
5. PLANT LIFE
The plants are of the carbon-metabolism, silicate-sh.e.l.l type, like the primitive animals. They spread out from the equator as far as they could go before the baking polar summers killed them. They have normal seasonal growth in the temperate zones and remain dormant and frozen in the winter. At the poles there is no vegetation, not because of the cold winter, but because of the hot summer. The winter winds frequently blow over dead trees and roll them as far as the equatorial seas. Other dead vegetation, because of the highly silicious water, always gets petrified unless it is eaten first. What with the quartz-speckled hides of the living vegetation and the solid quartz of the dead, a forest is spectacular.