Download The Answer by H. Beam Piper. A post-apocalyptic short story exploring truth, war, and retribution. Available in PDF, EPUB, and MOBI formats.
The Answer Summary
The Answer by Henry Beam Piper is a taut, provocative science fiction short story that delves into the chilling aftermath of a nuclear exchange between Earth and the lunar colony. As the dust of war settles, a small scientific team confronts the truth of who really started the devastation—and why.
The Answer Excerpt
Short Summary: After nuclear ruin, scientists uncover a secret that could upend the morality of war. The truth, it seems, was not what anyone expected.
"We found the crater... and the isotope signatures tell a story that doesn’t fit our history."
Set years after the war between Earth and Luna, The Answer follows a team of researchers examining a lunar impact site. They believe they are confirming Earth’s righteous retaliation—but their findings reveal something far more disturbing. The truth about who fired first, and why, upends assumptions and ethics alike.
Piper’s narrative is tight and quietly haunting. Without grand battles or aliens, he crafts a parable about misinformation, vengeance, and the tragic ease with which fear becomes violence. The story’s conclusion is both logical and deeply ironic: the answer is not what anyone wanted, but precisely what they needed to face.
The Answer exemplifies Piper’s talent for compact, cerebral storytelling—a science fiction that lingers as a moral question, not just a technological marvel.
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