The Woman Obsession

The Woman Obsession by William Campbell Gault

Horse "Johnny" Collins, one of only three Level-One navigators in the galaxy, serves as navigator aboard a Gideon Shipping vessel piloted by the narrator, "Slide Rule Sam," on the Mars-Jupiter run through asteroid alley. Collins is a former All-Earth fullback turned space navigator, restless and unconventional, who chafes at the rationed, discipline-bound, robot-dominated society Earth's scientists have built, where the Massago-Lust and rationed women have replaced ordinary human relationships. During a run through the asteroid belt, Collins claims to see a naked, waving woman on an asteroid where none should exist, and insists Sam verify it later. Sam dismisses this as a mirage and records the incident, along with Collins's insubordinate remarks about the scientist-controlled society, in the ship's log. Tension between the two men continues through the Jupiter landing, where robot master Van Elling and Collins seem to conspire to delay departure so Collins can get another look at the asteroid; Sam suspects sabotage in the robot-hauler breakdowns on the ramp. On the return trip, Sam himself glimpses the same dark-haired, unclothed woman through the scanner at Collins's prompting, but denies seeing anything and vows to record only Collins's supposed misconduct. Collins reveals he intends to keep the discovery secret, believing the ship's mission is to find worlds that can support human life, and that Sam, out of self-interest, will suppress the sighting rather than damage his own standing with the company. Back at Mars and then Earth, Van Elling and Collins face a disciplinary board. Collins pleads space insanity, takes blame for the robot troubles to protect Van, and via his lawyer tries to argue that possible extraterrestrial life outweighs the insubordination charges. Sam testifies under oath that there was no sign of life or even an asteroid at the location Collins had fixed, protecting his own position while ensuring no one else gains access to the powerful scanner he now controls. He had spent the four days before the trial quietly studying navigation, positioning himself to take over the Mars-Jupiter scanner post personally. Van Elling is dismissed; Collins is held for further review on suspicion of subversive, capitalist-sympathizing background from his college days. Later, word reaches Sam that Collins never faced the higher tribunal: Van Elling bought an old atomic two-seater ship, and the pair broke out of custody (Embardo) and were spotted far out in space. Sam speculates about who would win out between the two men for the one woman he assumes exists at the asteroid, reflecting that Van would be no physical match for the fullback Collins. Recognizing the woman's face from old news photographs, Sam identifies her as Elsbeth Parrish, a "Live for Love" agitator and "science hater" who had toured the schools denouncing the ruling powers and gained converts, and who had vanished with a stolen Interplan Rocket Sedan a week before her scheduled deportation trial to Mars, presumed lost in space by the government. Understanding now why Collins had confessed and behaved submissively after the sighting — tricking Sam into swearing under oath that the asteroid held no life, thus clearing Collins's path to return there safely — Sam realizes his own future now depends on keeping the secret. On his next run through asteroid alley, now serving as navigator himself, Sam trains the scanner's magnification on the asteroid's coordinates and locates it precisely. He finds both Collins and Van Elling there, looking back at him and smiling, and discovers not one woman but three, all beautiful, matched two men to three women.

By William Campbell Gault · First published 1954 · Genre: Science Fiction, Romance, Psychological Drama · 5,129 words

First lines

Surely Collins was an idiot. He / kept dreaming of women in a / world that knew nothing of love's / delight. But where there's life --

_Few writers possess William Campbell Gault's sensitive capacity for balancing delicacy with daring in themes which gracefully skirt the edge of the outrageous, and open up entire new worlds of speculation which future historians will most assuredly encounter in their travels time and time again. Seldom has he written a story more imaginatively audacious than this._

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The Woman Obsession is listed on Textopian as a short story by William Campbell Gault, dated 1954 CE.

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science fiction · space travel · asteroid belt · Mars · Jupiter · future society · dystopian · totalitarian government · robots · human desire · forbidden love · obsession

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