The Worm Faces Invasion
The invasion of the worm faces (orig. Have Spacesuit - Will Travel ) is a youth novel by Robert A. Heinlein . The book was first published in Germany in 1960, German alternative titles are Raumjäger , Piraten im Raum and Kip survives on Pluto . The story was nominated for the Hugo Award in 1959 .
action
The story is about Clifford “Kip” Russel, a talented boy who wins a discarded spacesuit in a soap company competition . Over the course of the summer, Kip repairs the suit he calls "Oscar". But he assumes that he will have to sell Oscar again in order to be able to attend college with the money he has earned.
One night, Kip wears the spacesuit and tests the radio he has installed in the suit. Suddenly, a voice calls itself Peewee and asks for instructions on how to land . To Kip's astonishment, a spaceship lands, from which a young girl (Peewee) and a small, furry extraterrestrial life form with big eyes alight. Shortly afterwards, Kip loses consciousness and all three are kidnapped.
Your extraterrestrial kidnapper is described by the protagonist because of his appearance as a “worm face”, consequently he calls the species “worm faces”. Worm Face has three eyes, four tentacle-like arms and a three-part jaw. In captivity, Kip meets Peewee and the “mother” who tried to escape to Earth together.
The mother is described as a 150 centimeter tall, tarsier- like creature that communicates in a kind of bird song, which Kip and Peewee are nevertheless able to understand. Peewee reports how she was captured on the moon by Wurmface's two human helpers and that her father is a renowned scientist on earth.
Peewee, Kip and the mother manage to escape in their spacesuits. They attempt to escape to the nearby human moon base, with Peewee almost choking. All three are captured again by their pursuers, but this time taken to an outpost on Pluto . Here, Kip states that the worm faces must have technology that is far superior to humans, because no human ship could have covered the route in such a short time. Wurmface's human helpers can also be found in the cell, but they disappear shortly afterwards, apparently to be eaten by Wurmface and his fellow species.
The mother succeeds in gaining access to a workshop under the pretext of manufacturing technical devices for the worm faces. There she stole enough materials to make two bombs and an emergency transmitter. If you try to activate it outside the space station, it freezes. The transmitter is activated later by Kip, which also almost freezes to death. A short time after the activation ends, a space ship out of the home system of the Babushka, the Vega , and saves Peewee, Kip and the mother.
On Wega 5, the mother's home planet, Kip's frostbite must be treated for a long time while he is tied to his bed. The mother herself is quickly recovered because freezing does no harm to her body. During his stay, Kip is studied by a “little professor” who wants to find out as much as possible about people and the earth. Kip and Peewee learn as best they can about the mother's species, but cannot fully understand either the form of government or the level of technology. After his treatment, the mother tells Kip that he and Peewee have to go to court.
The court, a panel of a multitude of species chaired by a cybernetic being, wants to determine whether the wormface species as well as humans pose a threat to their community. To this end, a worm face is first listened to, which, due to its arrogance and aggressiveness towards the other species, ensures that its home system is “rotated” by 90 degrees out of space-time . Kip assumes it is just some kind of banishment until he learns that the planet will lose its star in the process and in all likelihood will freeze.
Then the fate of humanity is negotiated. In addition to Kip and Peewee, two other samples from human history were taken - a Roman legionnaire and a Neanderthal . Before the trial, the court finds that the Neanderthals are not an ancestor of modern humans and sends them back to space-time. The legionnaire is heard first and his testimony about his activities in the Roman legion, his service to Caesar and the treatment of prisoners and barbarians are recorded in the record. After a few more questions, he begins to call the court to fight and delivers an aggressive speech in which he expresses his opinion on this witchcraft. He, too, is transported back into his space-time according to the order of the court.
Kip's and Peewee's statements are recorded and Kip is questioned by the court. He knows what is at stake and quotes in his fiery speech, citing the art of people as an example of their creative minds and abilities. As with the negotiation of the Wumface, other species are given the opportunity to speak out for humanity in this process. The mother and a representative of a green, ape-like species argue that mankind is still extraordinarily young and deserves a chance to develop further. The court decides to postpone a final decision to several radium half-lives, i.e. a few thousand years.
Kip and Peewee are allowed to return to earth and learn from the Wegans records which, as Peewee's father Professor Reisfeld notes, contain groundbreaking physical equations. When Reisfeld learns of Kip's plans for the future, Kip arranges a full scholarship for him at MIT .
Adaptations
According to Variety, Harry Kloor's Plan 9 Productions is planning a film adaptation of the book.
Footnotes
- ^ Robert A. Heinlein: The Invasion of Worm Face , Heyne, 1983
- ↑ Have Spacesuit - Will Travel . In: Fictionfantasy . Retrieved July 3, 2011.
- ↑ 1959 Award Winners & Nominees . In: Worlds Without End . Retrieved July 3, 2011.
- ↑ Jupiter 9 'Travels' to sci fi . In: Variety . Retrieved on July 3, 2011. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
