"Cease Fire" is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

short story by

Frank Herbert Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. (October 8, 1920February 11, 1986) was an American science fiction author best known for the 1965 novel ''Dune'' and its five sequels. Though he became famous for his novels, he also wrote short stories and worked a ...

. It was first published in ''

Astounding Science Fiction ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...

'' in 1958, and was included in the anthology of notable stories, ''A Century of Science Fiction'' (1962), edited by

Damon Knight Damon Francis Knight (September 19, 1922 – April 15, 2002) was an American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He is the author of "To Serve Man", a 1950 short story adapted for ''The Twilight Zone''.Stanyard, ''Dimensions Behind t ...

. It has also been published as part of later collections of Herbert's best stories, such as ''

Eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

''.

Plot

The story is set in 1972, during a low level war against an unnamed enemy being waged somewhere in the arctic region of the American continent. Both sides have "life detection" technology, that can detect living creatures at a distance. The American side has an electromagnetic shield that can conceal people from the detectors. Hulser is a scientist conscripted into the army. His wife is expecting their first child. He is manning a forward observation post using detectors and his own shield to spot enemy activity. His detector registers small life forms that may or may not be foxes or wolves. Hulser wonders if the enemy has a shield that merely reduces the apparent size of the person wearing it in the detector. Thinking about his own shield, and need to protect him against chemical reactions it would induce in his body, he realizes that the technology can be used to remotely detonate explosives, giving his side an overwhelming advantage and ending the war. Deciding that the detector is registering enemy soldiers, he calls in a mortar strike and then is embroiled in a full-scale fire fight. Panicking, he spends the rest of his time demanding to be pulled out. The story describes Hulser's efforts to get out of combat and have his idea taken seriously. Convinced of his cause, he stands up to his sergeant and bullies his commanding officer, earning him a cell in the brig. There he is contacted by a prominent scientist who starts to believe his idea. Eventually there is a successful demonstration attended by top military officers and a mysterious civilian that they defer to. Although the war will be won, they are strangely pessimistic. In the final scene they explain that although war with explosives is no longer possible, war will continue with even worse weapons, such as chemical poisons and disease agents. They give Hulser a copy of a book, saying that he and his children will need it. It is a copy of the unexpurgated works of "the master of treachery and deceit",

Niccolò Machiavelli Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli ( , , ; 3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527), occasionally rendered in English as Nicholas Machiavel ( , ; see below), was an Italian diplomat, author, philosopher and historian who lived during the Renaissance. ...

External links

* 1958 short stories {{1950s-sf-story-stub