User:DoctorWho42/Double Dare

"Double Dare" is a short story by American author Robert Silverberg. It was first published in the November 1956 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction.

Background
In the 1970 collection The Cube Root of Uncertainty, Silverberg wrote in the Introduction: "Cheery tales include "Double Dare" and "Mugwump Four"."

Publication history
"Double Dare" was first published in the November 1956 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. It reappeared in The Cube Root of Uncertainty (1970), The Fifth Galaxy Reader (1961), The Songs of Summer (1979), and To Worlds Beyond (1965).

Plot summary
The spaceship lands on Domerang V. A Domerangi escorts them to their quarters. A month ago, Marner and Kemridge were drinking in a bar. A Domerangi walks in. Kemridge and Marner ask about the lighting. The Domerangi responds they did a pretty fair job for a second-rate technology. Marner takes offense. Kemridge notes Domerangi technology isn't difficult. They will start work tomorrow. Plorvash knocks on the door. The door opens at the word "Plorvash." He outlines the test. Kemridge and Marner have a laboratory. They should solve two problems then a third. Kemridge asks Plorvash about a drink. They find Domerangi lying on the floor holding metal tubes. They go to the lab instead. Plorvash uses a depilator to dissolve his hair. Kemridge asks Plorvash for another. Plorvash presents a self-baiting trap. It attracts pests based on colour sensitivity. There are test animals. Plorvash leaves. Marner tries the depilator but it stings. Kemridge decides it won't take more than a week to solve either. Four days later, they call Plorvash. Domerangi vermin approach a humming device. Jointed arms scoop them up. Plorvash asks about the depilator. Marner says it permanently removed his facial hair. Their counterparts also did well in New York. Marner asks for the third problem. Plorvash presents them a perpetual-motion device. He plugs it in and it works. He unplugs it and it continues to work. Plorvash leaves. They find it simple enough. Marner wants to shut it off completely. In three weeks, they have a prototype. A month later, they build another. It works from a hyperspace function and a stunt in topology. Kemridge points out the black rectangular box in the original. He asks what it is. Plorvash explains the power source would've only lasted another two weeks. Plorvash confesses the Domerangi don't have perpetual-motion machines. Kemridge and Marner were fooled. Kemridge decides it's time to return home. A Domerangi statute meant research done in a Domerangi lab becomes their property. Marner is furious. Plorvash lets them talk with Earth Consul. Culbertson receives them but says they're governed by Domerangi laws. Marner realises they're stuck on Domerang V. He recalls the Domerangi bar. Culbertson tells them the Domerangi engineers are still working on their project. Earth tasked the Domerangi with building an anti-gravity machine. Kemridge asks Marner what he knows about tensor applications and gravitational fields. They decide they'll solve the Domerangi problem.

Reception
In 1971, SF Commentary's Barry Gillam opined "a fifties wit reminiscent of de Camp's nuts and bolts stories." In 1972, Vector's John Bowles called it "another of those stories upholding what appears to be a central tenet of American philosophy, at least exemplified in its sf: that any two red-blooded, hard-drinking American engineers, with their backs to the wall, will always be able to knock together some marvellous new invention to save the day."