Funeral song from Io
December 1, 2008 2:47 PM Subscribe
"ID this SF story" filter: I read this story in middle school out of a scifi anthology. It was about a human soldier who was launched into space in a capsule with an onboard computer, containing all the knowledge of the Earth, as well as enough supplies to last him indefinitely.
For some reason he misses his target, and he and the computer drift though space for eons. They come up with an idea, where when he dies, the computer nutures the bacteria which inevitably colonize his body, creating a new human body through a slow process of artificial selection. The capsule finally crash lands on a planet, where the computer begins building a civilization through the same slow process. Eventually, the computer is destroyed, but not before colonizing this new planet, a new Earth. The one possibly identifying detail I have is that at the end, the new civilization sings a funeral song from Io, which had been sung at the begninning of the story as well.
For some reason he misses his target, and he and the computer drift though space for eons. They come up with an idea, where when he dies, the computer nutures the bacteria which inevitably colonize his body, creating a new human body through a slow process of artificial selection. The capsule finally crash lands on a planet, where the computer begins building a civilization through the same slow process. Eventually, the computer is destroyed, but not before colonizing this new planet, a new Earth. The one possibly identifying detail I have is that at the end, the new civilization sings a funeral song from Io, which had been sung at the begninning of the story as well.
I think it might be "The Longer Voyage" by Michael Cassuit but I can't find a damn thing about the man or the story online to confirm except that it appeared in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fourteenth Annual Collection.
posted by Kattullus at 7:09 PM on December 1, 2008
posted by Kattullus at 7:09 PM on December 1, 2008
Okay, so Wikipedia was wrong... it's Cassutt, and I found a review and it's not the right story. I'll keep digging (weirdly enough I was just thinking about the same story the other day).
posted by Kattullus at 7:12 PM on December 1, 2008
posted by Kattullus at 7:12 PM on December 1, 2008
Alright, I've read through story-by-story reviews of every single SF annual best of collection that I've read and I couldn't find it. Though I was reminded of a lot of great SF stories I'd forgotten. I'll try to figure out where I read it.
posted by Kattullus at 8:46 PM on December 1, 2008
posted by Kattullus at 8:46 PM on December 1, 2008
Response by poster: I guess I'll never find out.
posted by wayofthedodo at 3:14 PM on December 2, 2008
posted by wayofthedodo at 3:14 PM on December 2, 2008
I've pretty much given up on finding the story. I say take your question to rec.arts.sf.written and they'll probably tell you right away. They're monsters of story identifications over there. Tell me when they tell you because I've grown pretty obsessed.
posted by Kattullus at 9:16 PM on December 2, 2008
posted by Kattullus at 9:16 PM on December 2, 2008
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posted by Kattullus at 7:00 PM on December 1, 2008