"Cold War" is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

by British writer Arthur C. Clarke, first published in 1956, and later anthologized in ''

Tales from the White Hart ''Tales from the White Hart'' is a collection of short stories by science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, in the "club tales" style. Thirteen of the fifteen stories originally appeared across a number of different publications. "Moving Sp ...

''. Like the rest of the collection, it is a

frame story A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

set in the fictional "White Hart" pub, where Harry Purvis narrates the secondary tale.

Plot

The story narrated by Purvis describes a scheme allegedly designed by the state of California to discredit Florida's claim to being America's sunniest state. A friend of Purvis', who was once a submarine commander, is hired to captain a submarine carrying an ice-machine out into the Atlantic Ocean, and create a small ice-berg there. The iceberg would then drift to the Florida coast, and the resulting news sensation would then damage Florida's reputation for being warm. While creating the iceberg, however, they happen to choose a spot that was close to an American missile testing range, and a missile comes down near them. Assuming that it is an airplane in trouble, they investigate, only to find that a Russian submarine is trying to appropriate the missile. They manage to frighten away the Russians, and rescue the missile. The iceberg scheme is abandoned.

Publication

Originally published in the magazine ''

Satellite Science Fiction ''Satellite Science Fiction'' was an American science-fiction magazine published from October 1956 to April 1959 by Leo Margulies' Renown Publications. Initially, ''Satellite'' was digest sized and ran a full-length novel in each issue with a ...

'', the piece was later published as the twelfth story in Clarke's collection ''

''. ''Galaxy'' reviewer Floyd C. Gale praised the collection as "as light and frothy a conglomeration of sidesplitters as it has been my good fortune to read.""Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf", ''

Galaxy Science Fiction ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Editi ...

'', June 1957, p.108

References

External links

* Short stories by Arthur C. Clarke 1957 short stories Tales from the White Hart {{1950s-sf-story-stub