Short story or possibly book where humans on a planet are work animals for a different race. It turns out that it was a human colony that was overrun by this race a long time ago. I believe it is the song "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" that has importance in this story. A man and woman end up entering tower that turns out to be human space ship and launching it. They are on their way back to Earth with a message "colony {colony name} needs assistance."
asked Jan 23, 2015 at 20:21
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2what kind of species is this other race, are they humanoid, ect.– HimarmJan 23, 2015 at 20:27
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They are definitely not humanoid, but I can't remember for sure how they are described. It is possible they were some kind of big insect, but I'm not sure.– farhangfarhangfarJan 23, 2015 at 20:45
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1 Answer
This is The Silk and the Song (1956) by Charles L. Fontenay.
A preview may be found here.
It was released in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1956
It's about a group of humans who are enslaved by aliens, generations after a disastrous landing on their planet. They teach their kids a song to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" which turns out to contain instructions for operating the dormant rocket.
Twinkle, twinkle, golden star,
I can reach you, though you’re far.
Shut my mouth and find my head,
find a worm that’s striped with red,
feed it to the turtle shell,
then go to sleep for all is well.
