User:DoctorWho42/One Station of the Way

"One Station of the Way" is a short story by American author Fritz Leiber. It was first published in the December 1968 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction.

Publication history
"One Station of the Way" was first published in the December 1968 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. In 1969, it reappeared in the books Best SF: 1968 or The Year's Best Science Fiction No. 2 edited by Brian W. Aldiss and Harry Harrison and The Eleventh Galaxy Reader edited by Frederik Pohl.

Plot
A bright star appears over Finiswar. Three hominids dismount their cameloids and revere it. Wife and Husband are close. It disappears. Ahead, Wife saw the star. She hears the hearts of Husband and their children. Two giant serpents appear. One white while the other black. They have several stubby feet along their sides. The white serpent inspects Wife. She wonders if this is love. What does the dark serpent mean? She feels excitement. The First Mate, the black serpent, complains to the Captain, the white one. The Captain compares his work to mustardseed. The First Mate thinks he is sentimental for Terra comparisons. The Captain considers Terra a success. They bicker. Terra killed their savior but ideas of love persist. The First Mate calls it a failure. The last report said they were fearful, greedy, and about to destroy themselves. The Captain counters they haven't yet. Love requires risk. The First Mate says his survey probes haven't returned. The Captain thinks he can't find love that way. The First Mate responds that love was never there. Wife feels an alien seed along her razor teeth. She realises it is the Captain's. She lets it in. She smiles. Husband asks why. Wife tells him it is because the star did not burn them. Husband knows. The Captain knows too. He compares the three hominids to the Three Kings. The First Mate shoots at one then another. The Captain shoots at the First Mate's arm. The last hominid spears the Captain. He dodges but it catches his neck. The First Mate shoots at the hominid. The Captain tears the spear out. Wife and Husband kneel. The First Mate hisses they were going to kill Husband and rape Wife. His survey is over. In the Inseminator's control room, the Captain and First Mate argue. The Captain wonders why he was attacked. The First Mate tells says he stood out more. He concludes his report. Finiswar's mode of reproduction is parthenogenesis. It can occur between different species. The Captain tells him Wife will bear a daughter that would preach love. The First Mate thinks females would follow Wife and bear a generation of monsters. They will last one generation at most. The Captain concedes it will end with love. The First Mate thinks it will end with death. The Captain tells him he is under arrest and should return to quarters.

Reception
In 1969, Analog Science Fiction / Science Fact's P. Schuyler Miller counted "One Station of the Way" among "some other good ones." In 1970, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction's Joanna Russ decided "Budget Planet" and "One Station of the Way" "are colorful and active enough, there seems to me to be no point in flogging dead fundamentalist doctrines so late in the day. That alone is not enough point for a story."