I can confirm the above. The entire premise of that novelette was all about technological stalemate so to speak (possible inspired by Cold War concepts). While

I can confirm the above. The entire premise of that novelette was all about technological stalemate so to speak (possible inspired by Cold War concepts). While I tend to allow old sci-fi authors some liberties (eg. I never blame pre-nuclear H. G. Wells for claiming what stars are cooling down with time, while just the same claim from relatively modern Jack Vance is unforgivable), the overall storytelling quality is really mediocre. The novelette is might be notable from something like 100 years of Sci-Fi retrospective, but definitely not of something like Gold Collection. I read it just because I generally read a lot sci-fi, that «First Contact» unlikely worth looking for it specifically