"Proxima Centauri" 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 uni ...

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 American writer

Murray Leinster Murray Leinster (June 16, 1896 – June 8, 1975) was a pen name of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an American writer of genre fiction, particularly of science fiction. He wrote and published more than 1,500 short stories and articles, 14 movie ...

, originally published in the March 1935 issue of ''

Astounding Stories ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...

''. Unusually for the time, the story adhered to the laws of physics as they were known by showing a starship that was limited by the

speed of light The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted , is a universal physical constant that is important in many areas of physics. The speed of light is exactly equal to ). According to the special theory of relativity, is the upper limit ...

and took several years to travel between the stars. In his comments on the story in '' Before the Golden Age'', Isaac Asimov thought that "Proxima Centauri" must have influenced

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...

's later story "

Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. ...

" and stated that it influenced his own ''

Pebble in the Sky ''Pebble in the Sky'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov, published in 1950. This work is his first novel — parts of the ''Foundation'' series had appeared from 1942 onwards in magazines, but ''Foundation'' was not pu ...

''.

Plot summary

Earth's first starship, the ''Adastra'', is approaching Proxima Centauri after a seven-year voyage. The voyage was marred by a mutiny among the crew, and the ship is still divided between a small group of officers that controls the ''Adastra'' and the remainder of the crew, whom the officers refer to disparagingly as Muts, short for mutineers. A young Mut, named Jack Gary, has been picking up and studying transmissions from a race native to the Proxima Centauri system, which has earned him the confidence of Captain Bradley; the love of Bradley's daughter, Helen; and the hatred of the ''Adastra's'' first officer, Commander Alstair, who also has romantic designs upon Helen. Much to Alstair's disgust, Captain Bradley raises Jack to officer status in recognition of his work with the Centaurian transmissions. Shortly after the elderly Bradley's death, Jack discovers that a Centaurian spaceship is approaching the ''Adastra'', and he suspects that its intention is hostile. The Centaurians confirm his suspicions when they fire a radiation beam at the ship. Although the ''Adastra'' has not been harmed, Alstair has the ship play dead to fool the Centaurians into thinking they have succeeded in wiping out the crew. The Centaurian ship docks with the ''Adastra'', and a boarding party attacks the crew. The boarding party is defeated, and the Centaurian ship departs. Studying the captured leader of the Centaurian boarding party makes it clear that the Centaurians are mobile carnivorous plants that feed on animals and that they look on the crew of the ''Adastra'' as a highly-valuable food source. Now that the ''Adastra'' has entered their system, the Centaurians can trace their course back to Earth. As a fleet of Centaurian ships approaches the ''Adastra'', Jack learns that Earth has launched a second starship for Proxima Centauri. The defenseless ''Adastra'' is surrounded by the Centaurian fleet and boarded. The entire crew is consumed by Centaurians except for Alstair, Jack Gary, Helen Bradley, and half-a-dozen officers. The Centaurian leader orders all the ''Adastra's'' records, equipment, and animals sent on board an automated ship, along with Jack and Helen. While Alstair and the remaining officers pilot the ''Adastra'' to Proxima Centauri I, the Centaurian homeworld, the automated ship will be flown to Proxima Centauri II, an Earthlike world that has long since been stripped of its native animal life and abandoned by the Centaurians. After Jack and Helen land on Proxima Centauri II and release the animals there, Alstair reaches the Centaurian homeworld. Alstair rigs the ''Adastras engines to explode, which sets off a chain reaction that will destroy the Centaurian homeworld and exterminate the Centaurians. That leaves Jack and Helen to await the arrival of the next ship from

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

Reception

L. Sprague de Camp Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and works of non-fiction, including biog ...

dismissed the story as "bottom of the trunk," with no virtues beyond "fast action."

Everett F. Bleiler Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" ...

reported that the story contains "some good material, some cliche, and some nonsense," concluding that it "seems much less successful" than when it was originally published.

, ''Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years'', Kent State University Press, 1998, p.248

Story notes

As Asimov notes in '' Before the Golden Age'', earlier writers such as

E. E. Smith Edward Elmer Smith (May 2, 1890 – August 31, 1965), publishing as E. E. Smith, Ph.D. and later as E. E. "Doc" Smith, was an American food engineer (specializing in doughnut and pastry mixes) and science-fiction author, best known for the '' ...

had ignored the light-speed barrier in writing about interstellar travel. Leinster not only worked within the constraints of the

theory of relativity The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in ...

but also even calculated that a trip to Proxima Centauri would take seven years if the ship traveled under a constant acceleration and deceleration of one gravity. Leinster also notes that such an acceleration would bring the ship to a significant fraction of the speed of light, but he fails to take account of the resulting

time dilation In physics and relativity, time dilation is the difference in the elapsed time as measured by two clocks. It is either due to a relative velocity between them ( special relativistic "kinetic" time dilation) or to a difference in gravitational ...

, which would reduce the subjective length of the trip by at least two years. Asimov also writes, "The thing I remember most clearly over the years about 'Proxima Centauri' is the peculiar horror I felt at the thought of a race of intelligent plants that lusted after animal food. It is almost an unfailing recipe for a startling science fiction story to begin by inverting some thoroughly accepted situation, something so ordinary as to be almost disregarded. Of course, animals eat plants, and of course, animals are quick and more or less intelligent, while plants are motionless and utterly passive (except for a few insect-eating plants, which can be disregarded). But what if intelligent and carnivorous plants fed on animals, eh?"

Publication history

*''Sidewise in Time'', edited by Murray Leinster, Shasta, 1950 *''Conquest of the Stars'', Malian Press, 1952 *''Monsters and Such'', edited by Murray Leinster, Avon, 1959 *'' Before the Golden Age'', edited by Isaac Asimov, Doubleday, 1974 *''The Best of Murray Leinster'', edited by Brian Davis, Corgi, 1976 *''The Best of Murray Leinster'', edited by J.J. Pierce, Del Rey, 1978 *'' The Road to Science Fiction 2: From Wells to Heinlein'', edited by

James Gunn James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an American filmmaker and executive. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with ''Tromeo and Juliet'' (1997). He then began working as a directo ...

, Mentor, 1979 *''First Contacts'', edited by Joe Rico, NESFA Press, 1998

References

External links

* {{isfdb title, id=47474, short=y
"Proxima Centauri"
on the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Fiction set around Proxima Centauri Science fiction short stories 1935 short stories Works originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact Works by Murray Leinster