12

The story was more or less about 2 people being in space for a long period of time in a small space. They had been living like this for either many months to possibly even years. Towards the end of the story the company they worked for wants the 2 workers to stay away from each other after returning to their home planet because theirs records indicate that once crew return they often seek each other out to kill one another. I had heard the story on youtube once.

It was part of a collection of short sci-fi stories but I can not recall the name of the story, author, or even collection. I had at the time also been listening to a Mindwebs playlist I found on youtube but I am fairly certain this story did not air on the actual Mindwebs radio show.

Any help is appreciated!

0

1 Answer 1

19

This is probably The Hated by Frederik Pohl.

It concerns space crew cooped up together on a long mission to Mars. They get on each other's nerves big-time. They are psychologically conditioned to not kill each other on the trip, but the conditioning is not permanent. When they return they are assigned different parts of the country to live in so that they don't ever encounter each other again.

And afterwards, when we're back on Earth - this is what you won't read about in the articles - they keep us apart. ...The whole country's marked off. Six sections....They try to keep it so each man's home town is in his own section...

But, they hate each other so much they sometimes break the rules and go into another man's section to try and find and kill him (which is what the plot of the story concerns).

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.