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Niven & Pournelle's Footfall also had an Orion-type ship. It was a desperation tactic on the part of the overmatched Earthlings, but it worked.
by CurtMonash 12y ago
Niven & Pournelle's Footfall also had an Orion-type ship. It was a desperation tactic on the part of the overmatched Earthlings, but it worked.
- antimagic 12y agoIf I remember currectly, the Fthip dropships used a similar (but cleaner) pulse technology. They even claimed to have taught us the trick...
- marktangotango 12y agoHa! Great reference, iirc the humans put a pusher plate under a battle ship (uss missouri?), launched into orbit and pummeled the aliens. I also recall something about fighter craft and 16 inch cannons. Great read.
- CurtMonash 12y agoI recall mainly the jury-rigged pipes that a character based on one of Niven/Pournelle's friends kept working at the cost of his own heroic death. Apparently they asked him what the fate of his character should be, and he picked death. Based on physical appearance, he surely was also the prototype for the question-asker in "What Can You Say About Chocolate-Covered Manhole Covers?" That basically obscure story was big in my life because it's one of the things that introduced me to Roger Zelazny (it referenced his Agnostic's Prayer).