Patch by William Shedenhelm
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"Patch" by William Shedenhelm is a science fiction short story published in the early 1950s. The narrative revolves around the character Pop Gillette, an old space pilot who refuses to let modern automation replace his skills. Set in a future where space travel and automatic piloting are the norm, the story highlights themes of nostalgia for traditional roles and the impending risks of reliance on technology. In the story, Pop Gillette is
called to help with a distress signal from All-Planetary Liner Twelve, which has suffered damage and cannot land safely. Understanding the urgency of the situation, Pop offers his unique expertise and devises a creative solution using makeshift materials to patch the large hole in the ship's hull. His ingenuity shines through as he uses bedsheets as a mold to create a metal patch from frozen mercury, demonstrating both his pilot skills and adaptability. The narrative concludes with Pop's successful landing of the damaged liner, underscoring the importance of experience and lateral thinking in a world increasingly dominated by technology. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Shedenhelm, William |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | McWilliams, Al, 1916-1993 |
| Title | Patch |
| Series Title | Produced from Planet Stories Fall 1950 |
| Credits |
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net |
| Reading Level | Reading ease score: 92.0 (5th grade). Very easy to read. |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Science fiction |
| Subject | Short stories |
| Subject | Rescues -- Fiction |
| Subject | Space ships -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 63934 |
| Release Date | Dec 1, 2020 |
| Last Update | Oct 18, 2024 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 320 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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