The Incredible Slingshot Bombs
Ben Hopper, owner and sole staff of the Summit Press, accompanies Sheriff Tim Hoskins during a hunt for Tommy Britten, a moron whom loafers at Brock’s Tavern have taught to call himself Tommy Sonofagun. Sim Brock has sworn out a warrant accusing Tommy of blowing up his barn. Hoskins has also been injured after Tommy fired a slingshot pellet at his car: the pellet blew the car sky high, scattering pieces of its motor far away. Ellen Briscoe, known among the mountaineers as the Relief Lady, refuses to believe Tommy is malicious. Yet Ben, Ellen, and the sheriff watch Tommy flee from four bloodhounds and destroy them with a brilliant, devastating blast. As the posse closes in, Ellen fears that frightened men may shoot Tommy if he tries to run. She persuades Ben to help her reach Tommy’s cave first. At the cave, Ellen calms Tommy with candy. He proudly calls his explosive ammunition “firecrackers” and trades one for another candy bar. The pellet is no larger than a big pea, but when Ben fires it from Tommy’s sling, it produces an immense explosion. Tommy reveals that he has plenty more and agrees to show Ben and Ellen where he gets them in exchange for a barrel of candy. Tommy leads them beneath a transmission-line tower. Passing through the arch formed by its legs, they abruptly enter a windowless building lit by a soft blue glow and filled with hooded, largely automatic machinery. A hopper holds the tiny explosive pellets, which the machine is manufacturing. Tommy treats the place as ordinary, saying only that he found it there. Two stern men in glittering clothes enter, call Tommy a thief, and order the intruders to halt. Ben runs with Ellen and Tommy, and they reappear outside by the tower. The men follow and fire a streak of light past them. Tommy answers with his slingshot, killing the men and knocking down the tower. The falling high-line cables unleash bursting flame and arcs of fire. Tommy, carrying a pocketful of pellets, is struck when the cables fall; the pellets explode together in a colossal blast. Ben is knocked unconscious, while Ellen is injured but able to walk. In the hospital, Ben and Ellen recount the events to Sheriff Hoskins. Ben concludes that leakage from the tower accidentally made them the first time travelers in human history. He believes the building exists in the future, where men speak a strange kind of English and manufacture tiny atomic bombs, perhaps for airplanes or interplanetary war. Tommy had blundered into that future arsenal and innocently taken the bombs for shooting rocks. Hoskins learns that only pieces of Tommy were found. He decides that the official account will describe the affair as attempted sabotage, and Ben prints the same version, while privately recognizing that people of his century would not accept time travel.
By Robert Moore Williams · First published 1941 · Genre: Science Fiction, Time Travel Fiction, Atomic Fiction · 7,092 words
First lines
It was only a slingshot, but it hurled more death than a thousand-pound bomb. Where did Tommy Sonofagun get those deadly pellets?
"You go over to the other ridge," the sheriff said to the two deputies. "If he tries to get out that way, stop him. But remember, we want him alive, _if we can get him that way_."
What this Textopian page supports
The Incredible Slingshot Bombs is listed on Textopian as a novella by Robert Moore Williams, dated 1941 CE.
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- Work type: Novella
- Author: Robert Moore Williams
- Date: 1941 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Science Fiction, Time Travel Fiction, Atomic Fiction, Science Fiction Thriller, Adventure Fiction
- Length: 7,092 words
- Structure: 1 section, 215 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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- Work identity for The Incredible Slingshot Bombs by Robert Moore Williams
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Genres
- Science Fiction — The story centers on an apparent time-travel anomaly, future technology, an automated arsenal, and miniature atomic explosives that exceed contemporary scientific knowledge.
- Time Travel Fiction — A leaking electrical transmission tower seemingly creates a passage into a future building, making accidental movement across time the story's central speculative revelation.
- Atomic Fiction — The plot is driven by tiny, extraordinarily destructive pellets identified as future atomic bombs, reflecting wartime-era fears about unprecedented weapons.
- Science Fiction Thriller — The narrative uses pursuit, escalating explosions, armed pursuers, hidden technology, and a dangerous escape to create sustained suspense.
Tags
science fiction · time travel · atomic bombs · future technology · accidental time portal · rural Appalachia · wartime America · World War II home front · mountain community · small-town newspaper editor · sheriff and posse · manhunt