"The Game of Rat and Dragon" 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 by American author

Cordwainer Smith Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger (July 11, 1913 – August 6, 1966), better known by his pen-name Cordwainer Smith, was an American author known for his science fiction works. Linebarger was a US Army officer, a noted East Asia scholar, and a ...

, written in 1954J.J. Pierce (ed.), ''

The Best of Cordwainer Smith ''The Best of Cordwainer Smith'' is a collection of science fiction short stories by American author Cordwainer Smith, edited by J. J. Pierce. It was first published in hardback by Nelson Doubleday in July 1975 and in paperback by Ballantine Boo ...

'' (1975), p. 67. and published in ''

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 ...

'' in 1955. It is set in the far future, though no date is given. It occurs in the same universe as other Cordwainer Smith novels, with a passing reference to the super-powerful regulatory 'Instrumentality'. The "dragons" are mysterious aliens which attack human starships and drive the inhabitants insane. Cats guided by telepaths are used to fight the "dragons", because of their very quick reactions. They see the aliens as giant rats, hence the story title. The human telepaths form very strong bonds with these cats, seeing them as almost human. Non-telepaths sometimes mock them for this.

Plot

Human travel in outer space is threatened by strange creatures known as the Dragons. Imperceptible to ordinary people, Dragons are experienced as nothing but a sudden death or insanity. Dragons can only be destroyed by very strong light, but they move too fast for conventional defense methods. Telepathic humans and telepathic cats (who perceive the dragons as rats) are able to sense the creatures within milliseconds. The humans and cats work together as teams to protect interstellar spaceships traveling via ''planoforming'' (a type of faster than light speed travel). The cats ride outside of the spaceships in their own tiny crafts, waiting for the order from their human partner to attack. ''Pin-sets'' (telepathic amplifiers) heighten a telepath's senses and allow the humans to communicate with their partner cats. The cats then destroy the Dragons with "pinlights", miniature nuclear bombs whose blast gives off pure visible radiance that can destroy the dragons. Thanks to the combination of the human mind and the cats' quick reactions, the battle against the Dragons is not only possible, but usually ends in victory. Underhill, Woodley, Father Moontree, and a girl named West are the group of current telepaths fighting the war. The cats fighting alongside them are Captain Wow, Lady May and others. Woodley draws an unremarkable cat, West teams up with Captain Wow, Underhill with Lady May, and Father Moontree gets stuck with an old, unnamed, greedy male cat, who has the best fighting record of them all. While Father Moontree and Woodley are not particularly interested in their partner cats, West thinks Captain Wow is cuddly, and Underhill has a strong connection with Lady May and enjoys being telepathically connected with her. The team travel to the depths of space, searching for their enemy. During an attack, Underhill is unable to follow Lady May's thoughts fast enough and the Dragon touches his mind, sending excruciating pain throughout his body. The battle lasts less than the blink of an eye, and the ship lands safely. Underhill is hospitalized and a doctor tells him that he was within a tenth of a millisecond of going insane, but the only thing that concerns Underhill is his partner, Lady May, and her well-being. A secretly jealous and angry nurse walks in and Underhill compares her to Lady May. Logically, he understands that Lady May is only a cat, but his mind tells him that no woman will ever equal her.

Reception

"The Game of Rat and Dragon" was nominated for the 1956

Hugo Award for Best Short Story The Hugo Award for Best Short Story is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The short story award is available for works of fiction of ...

.1956 Hugo Awards
at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved January 21, 2018

References

Sources

* Hartwell, David G., and Kathryn Cramer. ''The Space Opera Renaissance''. New York: Orb Books, 2007.

External links

Cordwainer Smith official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Game Of Rat And Dragon Short stories by Cordwainer Smith 1955 short stories