User:DoctorWho42/Neighbor

"Neighbor" is a short story by American author Robert Silverberg. It was first published in the August 1964 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction.

Publication history
"Neighbor" was first published in the August 1964 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. It reappeared in The Cube Root of Uncertainty (1970) and Sundance and Other Science Fiction Stories (1974).

Plot summary
Snow fell last night. Michael Holt looks at Andrew McDermott's metal tower from his command room. He had looked at it for eighty years and hated it. McDermott chose to live next to him. He could have built it elsewhere. Holt goes to the control console of the armament panel. He daydreams. McDermott had provoked him. He goes to the command room to broadcast an ultimatum. McDermott attacked but Holt's deflector screens absorbed it. Holt would destroy him. The fifty lords of the planet would give Holt what was McDermott's. McDermott is calling. The last time he called was fifty years ago. McDermott wants Holt to visit him. Holt brings up how McDermott Keep stains his view. McDermott tells Holt he could destroy it after he's gone. McDermott is paralysed from a stroke. It happened a year ago but he never said. McDermott promises conditions. Holt remains sceptical. McDermott offers a test shot. Holt goes to the weaponry control console. He aims a shot at a tree which becomes a stump. Holt shoots an outbuilding in McDermott Keep. He could destroy McDermott if he wanted. Holt will visit McDermott. He meets with his family in Holt Keep's grand hall. His family is shocked. No one dares speak though. Holt goes to the car. Holt's car glides past trees. They cross the border and approach McDermott Keep. Holt exits his car as his robots help him. McDermott's voice tells Holt he is on the third floor. He gives Holt directions. It looked like a museum. They enter an oval room. Machines keep McDermott alive. He tells Holt he looks well for his age. Holt asks what he wanted. He would like him to kill him. Holt thinks he is joking. Holt asks McDermott if he could ask one of his family to do it. McDermott has outlived all his family. McDermott tries to provoke Holt. Holt gets up and departs. Holt's car accelerates past the snow plain. Holt thinks about McDermott. He tells his family McDermott is sick. Holt moves past them and ascends to the command room. He looks at McDermott Keep. McDermott Keep attacks. The screens deflect the bombardment. Holt dismisses a counter attack. He knows McDermott is trying to provoke him. Holt needed someone alive to hate. He continues looking at McDermott Keep. He goes from the control panel to his chair. He listens to the attack.

Reception
In 1971, SF Commentary's Barry Gillam notes "one notices a kind of studied, conscious pessimism creeping into the stories" and that it anticipates Silverberg's "Flies" and Thorns. In 1972, Vector's John Bowles appraised Silverberg with "since about 1963, however, he's been developing into quite a different writer. Early signs can be seen in "The Sixth Palace", "Neighbor" and "The Shadow of Wings": not outstanding stories but solid enough."