The heart of the snake

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The story The Heart of the Snake (Russian Сердце Змеи) by Ivan Jefremow was published in 1959 under the title Cor Serpentis ( Сердце Змеи ) and from 1964 as Сердце Змеи . It belongs to the cycle The Great Ring . In this story, Jefremov discusses the thesis that all highly developed forms of life must have a human-like shape due to the general laws of development of the cosmos, the possibility of a form of life whose biochemistry is based on hydrogen fluoride. This story acts as a link between the novels The Andromeda Nebula and The Hour of the Taurus .

action

The eight members of the crew of the spaceship Tellurium are on their way to a carbon star 300 light-years away from Earth to study the formation of a sun. 300 light years, this is not only a long way to go, but also means that the cosmonauts will only return to earth after 700 years, 700 years that only made them age a few years. Not even the great-grandchildren of their friends and relatives will be alive. How will the future earth receive it? Despite these considerations, the cosmonauts have no doubts about the purpose of their enterprise.

Your spaceship, smaller than previous long-range spaceships, offers enough space for sports and art. Highly developed technology ensures medical care.

When the expedition wants to return to earth, it receives the search beam of a strange spaceship. In the time between the first radio contact and the meeting, the team discusses the old American science fiction story First Contact by Murray Leinster . In it a similar situation is described, but how different the course is. In the story, mistrust and fear determine the encounter - the people of the Great Ring, on the other hand, have been dreaming of their brothers in space for generations. They firmly believe that civilizations that fly far into the cosmos must be so sophisticated that they know no aggression.

The spaceships meet and an understanding is reached quickly. Outwardly, the aliens are like humans. But their organism is based on fluorine instead of oxygen. Direct contact is not possible, the strangers, who have been looking for civilizations of the same kind in space for a long time, remain alone. Then they receive the call for help from another spaceship. Everything already seems ready for departure, the biologist has a vision. She draws up a grandiose plan - converting the fluorine metabolism into an oxygen-based metabolism. A plan that in thousands of years could lead the fluorine people into the community of galactic races.

The spaceships separate, the alien ship rushes to the aid of the wrecked spaceship, while the tellurium continues on its way to Earth ...

expenditure

  • The heart of the snake. Translated from the Russian by Hilde Angarowa. Publishing House for Foreign Language Literature Moscow [1961]
  • The heart of the snake. Scientific and fantastic story. Translated by Herbert Berthold. Series: The New Adventure 174f. New Life, Berlin 1960 (2 × 32 pages)
  • that. in Johannes Mittenzwei, ed .: Fantastic space trips. Neues Leben, Berlin 1961, pp. 311–381 (with afterword, biographical note, foreign words explanation, subject and person index for the entire volume. Scientific and technical editing of the text & the note by Siegfried Oberländer )
  • that. in Soviet literature vol. 20, no. 5, 1968 (pp. 3–67; without notes)
  • as Ivan A. Efremov: Encounter in Space. Deutscher Militärverlag, Berlin 1969 (1st - 85th thousand, with 79 pages)
  • The heart of the snake, in Edwin Orthmann, ed .: The diamond maker. Scientific and fantastic stories from all over the world. New Life, Berlin 1972 (abridged)
  • that. in Horst Pukallus, ed., Theocrit's blue window. Science fiction stories from Eastern Europe. Heyne TB 3618, Munich 1978 ISBN 3-453-30527-2
  • The heart of the snake. Transl .: NN, in Sputnik (magazine) vol. 8, no. 7, 1974 (greatly abbreviated excerpt; pp. 146–173)

Possibility of confusion

  • Film: "Mechte navstrechu" or "Mejscht Nawstretschu", in German "Treffen im All" (English "A Dream Come True", or "Encounter in Space") Russia, 1963 ImdB-Info

Web links