02371cam a22003973u 4500 77357 UtSlPG 20260610134807.0 m cr n 260607r20251956utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d UtSlPG en iso639-1 PS Merwin, Sam, Jr., 1910-1996 Testing Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg, 2025 1 online resource : multiple file formats text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Produced from Fantastic Universe, March 1956 (Vol. 5, No. 2.). Release date is 2025-11-27 Sean/IB and Tom Trussel Testing by Jr. Sam Merwin is a science fiction short story written in the mid-20th century. It centers on the discovery of a small human colony on a supposedly uninhabited planet chosen for a planet-destroying weapons test, raising urgent ethical and political dilemmas. A sidelined military pilot, Echelon Leader Hannibal Pryor, surveys Rigel IV ahead of a “planet-buster” demonstration and is stunned to find a remote human settlement, Leith on Nevis, led by a wise patriarch known as the Dominie. The colony holds an ancient, valid charter that should halt the test, but Pryor’s delay—and the fleet’s ruthless move to destroy his ship—prevent timely communication. Working overnight with the Dominie, he manages to alert Interstellar Control, yet the superweapon is already inbound. Accepting their likely doom, the Dominie hopes their sacrifice will expose the illegal test and avert a wider interstellar war, while Pryor, chastened and admiring, stands with the villagers as the end approaches. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Originally published: New York: King-Size Publications, Inc., 1956 Science fiction Short stories Life on other planets -- Fiction Space colonies -- Fiction Weapons -- Fiction Hunter, Mel, 1927-2004 Produced from Fantastic Universe, March 1956 (Vol. 5, No. 2.). https://archive.org/details/Fantastic_Universe_v05n02_1956-03/page/n3/mode/2up https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77357 118077 118077