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SF short story, maybe titled "House by side of the road", about a human at a remote interstellar site guarding against alien invasion

Science Fiction & Fantasy Asked by Ed Thompson on December 1, 2020

SF short story, maybe "House by the Side of the Road"? Human at remote interstellar site as first defense line against alien invasion, probably 1970s.

2 Answers

I'll take a wild swing here. I wonder if this couldn't be Clifford D. Simak's 1973 story "Construction Shack".

This isn't about a defense station in interstellar space. I am going primarily by the suggested publication date and the misremembered title, which sounded like something Simak might make up.

"Of course not," said Tyler. "Pluto never was a planet."

Instead, three astronauts are sent on a remote probe to Pluto and find an alien artifact.

But apparently things haven't turned out to plan.

Answered by Spencer on December 1, 2020

Organic Marble mentioned Keith Laumer as a possibility. Laumer wrote a story that appeared in the April 1967 issue of Galaxy called 'Thunderhead'. Earth is at war with a spider-like race called the Djann. 20 years before the story opens, Lt. Carnaby had been dropped on an isolated Rim world to man a one-person sensor station. Unknown to him, the ship that set up the station was destroyed and the military authorities have forgotten it even exists. For years the Terran fleet has blockaded the Djann home system, but a Djann ship filled with eggs has pieced the blockade and is headed into the galaxy to set up shop somewhere else. Carnaby lures the ship to his planet with a phony Djann distress signal and then must face its crew alone...

Answered by Lee Eckhardt on December 1, 2020

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