From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Gateway to Strangeness
Gateway to Strangeness
Gateway to Strangeness However, a mistake repairing a malfunctioning nav-
igational device causes them to miss their rendezvous,
Author(s) Jack Vance first with Mars, then with any other planet whose gravity
Genre(s) Science fiction novelette could halt their outward flight. (Their solar sail can only
propel them away from the Sun.) Their "radio" turns out,
Publisher Amazing Stories
when unpacked, to be Belt’s bottles of liquor, so they can-
Publication date 1962 not call for rescue. It seems that they are doomed. One
man commits suicide, while two others become cataton-
Gateway Strangeness", Dust
"Gateway to Strangeness also titled "Dust of Far SunsSuns" ic. Henry Belt insists that he is fated to die in space and
Sail 25",
and "Sail 25 is a science fiction novelette by Jack Vance. offers no way out of their predicament.
It was first published in the August 1962 edition of Amaz- The three remaining men come up with a way to re-
ing Stories magazine. turn safely to Earth. Belt tells them that he will recom-
mend them for advancement. As they prepare to debark,
Plot one of the trainees presents the other two with replace-
ment parts for the navigational device. They mysterious-
Eight space trainees apprehensively await their new in- ly appeared at the end of the trip.
structor, Henry Belt. Despite the many strange and out-
rageous stories they have heard about him, including his
legendary drunkenness, one of them notes that all of the
References
top men in space seem to have trained under Belt. • *Gateway to Strangeness publication history at the
Since they are too many for their ship, Belt first as- Internet Speculative Fiction Database
signs each man to build two devices using identical piles
of assorted parts. Two men become utterly frustrated by
the nearly impossible tasks and are dropped. The other
External links
six board a small spaceship propelled solely by a solar sail • Jack Vance home page and archive
for a flight to Mars. Belt leaves the navigation entirely in • Jack Vance at the Internet Speculative Fiction
their hands. All the while, he makes careful note of their Database
faults (according to his idiosyncratic standards), record-
ing their demerits in his little black book.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gateway_to_Strangeness&oldid=415422453"
Categories:
• 1962 short stories
• Novelettes
• Science fiction short stories
• Short stories by Jack Vance
• Works originally published in Amazing Stories
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