Identifying a half-remembered sci-fi short story

October 30, 2015 10:07 PM

I vaguely recall a sci-fi short story about an astronaut crawling through air vents and accidentally shooting his own ship. This was in an anthology of sci-fi (and maybe fantasy or horror) short stories published sometime before 2000.

These are the only plot details I can remember: the protagonist astronaut was crawling through air vents while investigating or infiltrating or escaping–not a clue which one–some kind of building on an alien planet. Later, he fled through a forest with a laser weapon and inadvertently shot holes in his own ship, thus stranding himself there.

I'm pretty sure that I read this in the early-90s, certainly before 2000, but the anthology could have been published long before that. Ironically, I remember this as being one of the weaker stories in the anthology, but I'm hoping that by locating the short story, I can then track down the anthology.

posted by Woodroar to Media & Arts (2 answers total)

Best answer: Probably not what you're looking for, as I'm pretty sure that it doesn't include any crawling through air vents, but "The Gun Without a Bang" is a widely read science fiction short story that includes, as a plot element, the protagonist accidentally disabling his own ship by damaging it with a handheld weapon. At least at one time it was included in a mid-grade-level "Great Books" collection, so if it's the story you read you might have encountered it there..
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:18 AM on November 2, 2015

Response by poster: I think I must be conflating two different short stories, because that's basically the second part of the plot as I remember it. And I'm hoping it helps track down the anthology. Thank you!
posted by Woodroar at 1:09 PM on November 2, 2015