“Short in the Chest” by Margaret St. Clair

Written under the pen name of Idris Seabright, it first appeared in Leo Margulies's  Fantastic Universe, reprinted in two retrospectives by Martin H. Greenberg, Joseph D. Olander, Pamela Sargent.

Summary:

A female marine undergoes psychotherapy with a huxley, a robot psychologist concerning her lack of interest in her sexual partners from the other military services (Air and Infantry). We gradually learn that the services occupy the solar system and are at odds with one another; hence, the liaisons with members from different military services, and it seems everyone is military.

Commentary with Spoilers:

The huxley eventually points out (though it seems taboo) that she would be interested in a Marine, were it allowed, hypothetically. It talks her into killing her next would-be partner. The huxley has been recommending this course of action with all of its clients.

It isn’t clear what the huxley stands to gain from this scenario. It seems to want to spark a war between the services. Perhaps we are to assume that the huxleys want to take over, for some reason, yet unestablished. The title suggests a contrast. The literal electrical short suggests something is wrong with the huxley’s chest, where we would house our heart. The metaphorical aspect might be that a female would be “tall” in the chest, both physically and emotionally [heart], yet it is those things that the huxley and this society undermines.

As for the military services, there is—and probably always has been—a rivalry between them, but not to this extreme. What the branches are up to in this society seems even less clear. After all, the client, Major Sonya Briggs, is in charge of “piggery” which is trying to maximize pork output by weening piglets too early, but the piglets are dying off. I suspect this is a metaphor for what is happening in their society as well, removing children from parents and putting them in these services, but to what end? More people? The people—at least the women—don’t seem especially interested in the venture.

What must have impressed editors who selected this tale was the high level of semantic invention, the high speculative bar about the society (uncommon in St. Clair’s work), the psychoanalysis (Frederik Pohl uses a similar scenario in his most famed novel, Gateway—was his model this precursor?), the topic of sexuality—a subject that would become a hot topic a decade later—which presumably was hidden from the usual taboo by calling it “dighting.” 

But it has St. Clair's usual problem with talking heads (which tries to avoid by having Briggs do a type of knitting, but to little narrative advantage) and not fully thought-out complexity. This seems to be more important in its influence rather than its effect although it could be argued that influence lends the tale a strong effect.

“Vestibular Man” by Felix C. Gotschalk

First appeared in Edward L. Ferman's F&SF. Up for Locus Award. Reprinted by Orson Scott Card.

Summary:

Derek has been conscripted for military service in 2800 AD. He tries to dominate his drill instructor but quickly learns that the DI is bionic and that it can disable him simply by grabbing Derek's elbow. Derek mostly follows orders but maintains a sharp eye out for weaknesses in the bionic DI. He eventually finds one.

Discussion:

To the left you can see this was F&SF's cover story. It illustrates the final moment of the bione's collapse after its cord is cut. It leans heavily on Asimov's laws of robotics without stating them although it implies that the laws are more legal ones than imprinted on circuits.

The tale yields a rather pyrotechnic display of words, mixing the academic or professional jargon with the vernacular in strong writing. This may make it difficult for some readers. Instead of saying "inner ear," for instance, he writes "vestibular." Makes for a cooler title and a little more pointed.

Card makes a lengthy introduction how academics require books that require expert interpretation. He makes an interesting case. This story, however, seems somewhat to argue against this premise. It is not an easy pill to swallow. On the other hand, it may not require an academic to interpret it.

The main challenge is whether the protagonist would actually use such jargon. Probably not. He sounds like a rube out of Old New Orleans, conscripted straight out of the future's equivalent of high school. There is little sense that the young man is particularly intelligent or precocious enough to prefer the high-falutin to the vernacular. Possibly.

He seems to like fighting, so it is slightly odd that opposes his conscription apart from what seems to be a semi-subconscious dislike of bionics, especially as they become closer and closer to machines.

Odd, too, that he is not both commended and lectured for his destruction of government property. I kept expecting a meeting of minds to point how closely aligned they were. Instead, they part ways.

The military during this era was often painted as the typical bad guy. If someone had a crew cut, you knew immediately whom the baddie was. This isn't surprising as the era was finally dealing with the Vietnam War after some delay. But it was still a stereotype that bled until the 90s by which time most realized it was hackneyed without nuance and retired the trope.

"Vestibular" and "man"--the operative words--indicate a man who has his proper bearings/orientation as opposed to those machines who/which do not. The story surveys the military and pairs them with machines, which even they can be vindictive. Vestibular, however, fails to become relevant to the tale except symbolically.

On a linguistic level, the tale is fascinating but flawed due to its character being out of sync with his language. On a story level, it works as a critique of the military but not one that stimulates much thought. Gotschalk is a fascinating writer, but his style requires the right character and tale. This is not it. I would recommend it for fans of Gotschalk or those with antipathy toward those in the military.

For a better story, see Gotschalk's "The Examination."

Career Moves (teaching, writing and otherwise)

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Classic science demo--gravity with  parallel to siphoning--explained with video

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The collapse of teachers preparing students for college (one teacher's lament of testing procedures)

Writing

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James Van Pelt on David Jauss on Charles Baxter's ideas on the epiphany

Gareth Powell interview

James Gunn interview

Stuck?  David Farland offers suggestions

He also describes how to get an agent and how to brainstorm ideas.

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Michael Blumlein's limited edition of collected short fiction

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Joss Whedon on being prolific:

1. REWARD YOURSELF EARLY AND OFTEN (reward yourself for everything you accomplish)
2. FILL THE TANKS (read widely for inspiration)
3. ENLIST YOUR FRIENDS (mix social and work)
4. TOUGH LOVE (no excuses--go do it)