Short story about space worker geeks who zone out by 'listening' to radiation from stars












8















This is a short story I desperately want to read this story again, by William Gibson or Bruce Sterling (80% sure it's one of these two).



There's a part where some of the workers in a space setting (asteroid mining?) are described as listening to signals from stars or some such, as a form of entertainment or relaxation.










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    I don't have time to look through all of those guys' stories either, so could you possibly narrow down the time frame a little? Can you give us a definite "no later than" date? Do you remember if you read it in an anthology book, or if it was in an original magazine like Analog or Asimov's or Omni?

    – user14111
    10 hours ago
















8















This is a short story I desperately want to read this story again, by William Gibson or Bruce Sterling (80% sure it's one of these two).



There's a part where some of the workers in a space setting (asteroid mining?) are described as listening to signals from stars or some such, as a form of entertainment or relaxation.










share|improve this question









New contributor




CForbin is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
















  • 2





    I don't have time to look through all of those guys' stories either, so could you possibly narrow down the time frame a little? Can you give us a definite "no later than" date? Do you remember if you read it in an anthology book, or if it was in an original magazine like Analog or Asimov's or Omni?

    – user14111
    10 hours ago














8












8








8


0






This is a short story I desperately want to read this story again, by William Gibson or Bruce Sterling (80% sure it's one of these two).



There's a part where some of the workers in a space setting (asteroid mining?) are described as listening to signals from stars or some such, as a form of entertainment or relaxation.










share|improve this question









New contributor




CForbin is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.












This is a short story I desperately want to read this story again, by William Gibson or Bruce Sterling (80% sure it's one of these two).



There's a part where some of the workers in a space setting (asteroid mining?) are described as listening to signals from stars or some such, as a form of entertainment or relaxation.







story-identification short-stories






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edited 17 mins ago









TheLethalCarrot

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asked 11 hours ago









CForbinCForbin

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CForbin is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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  • 2





    I don't have time to look through all of those guys' stories either, so could you possibly narrow down the time frame a little? Can you give us a definite "no later than" date? Do you remember if you read it in an anthology book, or if it was in an original magazine like Analog or Asimov's or Omni?

    – user14111
    10 hours ago














  • 2





    I don't have time to look through all of those guys' stories either, so could you possibly narrow down the time frame a little? Can you give us a definite "no later than" date? Do you remember if you read it in an anthology book, or if it was in an original magazine like Analog or Asimov's or Omni?

    – user14111
    10 hours ago








2




2





I don't have time to look through all of those guys' stories either, so could you possibly narrow down the time frame a little? Can you give us a definite "no later than" date? Do you remember if you read it in an anthology book, or if it was in an original magazine like Analog or Asimov's or Omni?

– user14111
10 hours ago





I don't have time to look through all of those guys' stories either, so could you possibly narrow down the time frame a little? Can you give us a definite "no later than" date? Do you remember if you read it in an anthology book, or if it was in an original magazine like Analog or Asimov's or Omni?

– user14111
10 hours ago










2 Answers
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8














Cicada Queen by Bruce Sterling. Also identified as the answer to Story with people called "lobsters" who are welded into spacesuits for life? although that didn't mention the listening to stars.



It's the aforementioned Lobsters who listen to the stars. The relevant part of the story is:




The Crowned Pawn was like a ship turned inside out. It centered around a core of massive magnetic engines, fed by drones from a chunk of reaction mass. Outside these engines was a skeletal metal framework where Lobsters clung like cysts or skimmed along on induced magnetic fields. There were cupolas here and there on the skeleton where the Lobsters hooked into fluidic computers or sheltered themselves from solar storms and ring-system electrofluxes.


They never ate. They never drank. Sex involved a clever cyber-stimulation through cranial plugs. Every five years or so they "molted" and had their skins scraped clean of the stinking accumulation of mutated bacteria that scummed them over in the stagnant warmth.


They knew no fear. Agoraphobia was a condition easily crushed with drugs. They were self-contained and anarchical. Their greatest pleasure was to sit along a girder and open their amplified senses to the depths of space, watching stars past the limits of ultraviolet and infrared, or staring into the flocculate crawling plaque of the surface of the sun, or just sitting and soaking in watts of solar energy through their skins while they listened with wired ears to the warbling of Van Allen belts and the musical tick of pulsars.







share|improve this answer































    5














    Perhaps you are thinking of Red Star, Winter Orbit which is written by both William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. It takes place on a Soviet space station which, I believe matches the description you provided. Here is the synopsis from Wikipedia:




    The story takes place on the Soviet space station Kosmograd ("Cosmic City"), which consists of a number of Salyuts linked together. The station has both civilian and military roles; the military portion is a base for the operation for two large particle beam weapons for shooting down ICBMs. The civilian side, once a hub for space exploration, is now reduced to a maintenance role for the engineers running the station. Most of the story takes place in one of the Salyuts that has been set aside as the "Museum of the Soviet Triumph in Space". Its caretaker is cosmonaut Colonel Yuri Vasilevich Korolev, the first man on Mars.







    share|improve this answer





















    • 1





      Maybe that's it. Unfortunately, the Wikipedia summary doesn't mention anything about geeks listening to space noise. Maybe you can find something like that in the text of the story? (I didn't see anything on a quick look-through with my weak eyes, but that doesn't mean much.)

      – user14111
      10 hours ago











    Your Answer








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    2 Answers
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    2 Answers
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    8














    Cicada Queen by Bruce Sterling. Also identified as the answer to Story with people called "lobsters" who are welded into spacesuits for life? although that didn't mention the listening to stars.



    It's the aforementioned Lobsters who listen to the stars. The relevant part of the story is:




    The Crowned Pawn was like a ship turned inside out. It centered around a core of massive magnetic engines, fed by drones from a chunk of reaction mass. Outside these engines was a skeletal metal framework where Lobsters clung like cysts or skimmed along on induced magnetic fields. There were cupolas here and there on the skeleton where the Lobsters hooked into fluidic computers or sheltered themselves from solar storms and ring-system electrofluxes.


    They never ate. They never drank. Sex involved a clever cyber-stimulation through cranial plugs. Every five years or so they "molted" and had their skins scraped clean of the stinking accumulation of mutated bacteria that scummed them over in the stagnant warmth.


    They knew no fear. Agoraphobia was a condition easily crushed with drugs. They were self-contained and anarchical. Their greatest pleasure was to sit along a girder and open their amplified senses to the depths of space, watching stars past the limits of ultraviolet and infrared, or staring into the flocculate crawling plaque of the surface of the sun, or just sitting and soaking in watts of solar energy through their skins while they listened with wired ears to the warbling of Van Allen belts and the musical tick of pulsars.







    share|improve this answer




























      8














      Cicada Queen by Bruce Sterling. Also identified as the answer to Story with people called "lobsters" who are welded into spacesuits for life? although that didn't mention the listening to stars.



      It's the aforementioned Lobsters who listen to the stars. The relevant part of the story is:




      The Crowned Pawn was like a ship turned inside out. It centered around a core of massive magnetic engines, fed by drones from a chunk of reaction mass. Outside these engines was a skeletal metal framework where Lobsters clung like cysts or skimmed along on induced magnetic fields. There were cupolas here and there on the skeleton where the Lobsters hooked into fluidic computers or sheltered themselves from solar storms and ring-system electrofluxes.


      They never ate. They never drank. Sex involved a clever cyber-stimulation through cranial plugs. Every five years or so they "molted" and had their skins scraped clean of the stinking accumulation of mutated bacteria that scummed them over in the stagnant warmth.


      They knew no fear. Agoraphobia was a condition easily crushed with drugs. They were self-contained and anarchical. Their greatest pleasure was to sit along a girder and open their amplified senses to the depths of space, watching stars past the limits of ultraviolet and infrared, or staring into the flocculate crawling plaque of the surface of the sun, or just sitting and soaking in watts of solar energy through their skins while they listened with wired ears to the warbling of Van Allen belts and the musical tick of pulsars.







      share|improve this answer


























        8












        8








        8







        Cicada Queen by Bruce Sterling. Also identified as the answer to Story with people called "lobsters" who are welded into spacesuits for life? although that didn't mention the listening to stars.



        It's the aforementioned Lobsters who listen to the stars. The relevant part of the story is:




        The Crowned Pawn was like a ship turned inside out. It centered around a core of massive magnetic engines, fed by drones from a chunk of reaction mass. Outside these engines was a skeletal metal framework where Lobsters clung like cysts or skimmed along on induced magnetic fields. There were cupolas here and there on the skeleton where the Lobsters hooked into fluidic computers or sheltered themselves from solar storms and ring-system electrofluxes.


        They never ate. They never drank. Sex involved a clever cyber-stimulation through cranial plugs. Every five years or so they "molted" and had their skins scraped clean of the stinking accumulation of mutated bacteria that scummed them over in the stagnant warmth.


        They knew no fear. Agoraphobia was a condition easily crushed with drugs. They were self-contained and anarchical. Their greatest pleasure was to sit along a girder and open their amplified senses to the depths of space, watching stars past the limits of ultraviolet and infrared, or staring into the flocculate crawling plaque of the surface of the sun, or just sitting and soaking in watts of solar energy through their skins while they listened with wired ears to the warbling of Van Allen belts and the musical tick of pulsars.







        share|improve this answer













        Cicada Queen by Bruce Sterling. Also identified as the answer to Story with people called "lobsters" who are welded into spacesuits for life? although that didn't mention the listening to stars.



        It's the aforementioned Lobsters who listen to the stars. The relevant part of the story is:




        The Crowned Pawn was like a ship turned inside out. It centered around a core of massive magnetic engines, fed by drones from a chunk of reaction mass. Outside these engines was a skeletal metal framework where Lobsters clung like cysts or skimmed along on induced magnetic fields. There were cupolas here and there on the skeleton where the Lobsters hooked into fluidic computers or sheltered themselves from solar storms and ring-system electrofluxes.


        They never ate. They never drank. Sex involved a clever cyber-stimulation through cranial plugs. Every five years or so they "molted" and had their skins scraped clean of the stinking accumulation of mutated bacteria that scummed them over in the stagnant warmth.


        They knew no fear. Agoraphobia was a condition easily crushed with drugs. They were self-contained and anarchical. Their greatest pleasure was to sit along a girder and open their amplified senses to the depths of space, watching stars past the limits of ultraviolet and infrared, or staring into the flocculate crawling plaque of the surface of the sun, or just sitting and soaking in watts of solar energy through their skins while they listened with wired ears to the warbling of Van Allen belts and the musical tick of pulsars.








        share|improve this answer












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        share|improve this answer










        answered 2 hours ago









        John RennieJohn Rennie

        30.6k288138




        30.6k288138

























            5














            Perhaps you are thinking of Red Star, Winter Orbit which is written by both William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. It takes place on a Soviet space station which, I believe matches the description you provided. Here is the synopsis from Wikipedia:




            The story takes place on the Soviet space station Kosmograd ("Cosmic City"), which consists of a number of Salyuts linked together. The station has both civilian and military roles; the military portion is a base for the operation for two large particle beam weapons for shooting down ICBMs. The civilian side, once a hub for space exploration, is now reduced to a maintenance role for the engineers running the station. Most of the story takes place in one of the Salyuts that has been set aside as the "Museum of the Soviet Triumph in Space". Its caretaker is cosmonaut Colonel Yuri Vasilevich Korolev, the first man on Mars.







            share|improve this answer





















            • 1





              Maybe that's it. Unfortunately, the Wikipedia summary doesn't mention anything about geeks listening to space noise. Maybe you can find something like that in the text of the story? (I didn't see anything on a quick look-through with my weak eyes, but that doesn't mean much.)

              – user14111
              10 hours ago
















            5














            Perhaps you are thinking of Red Star, Winter Orbit which is written by both William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. It takes place on a Soviet space station which, I believe matches the description you provided. Here is the synopsis from Wikipedia:




            The story takes place on the Soviet space station Kosmograd ("Cosmic City"), which consists of a number of Salyuts linked together. The station has both civilian and military roles; the military portion is a base for the operation for two large particle beam weapons for shooting down ICBMs. The civilian side, once a hub for space exploration, is now reduced to a maintenance role for the engineers running the station. Most of the story takes place in one of the Salyuts that has been set aside as the "Museum of the Soviet Triumph in Space". Its caretaker is cosmonaut Colonel Yuri Vasilevich Korolev, the first man on Mars.







            share|improve this answer





















            • 1





              Maybe that's it. Unfortunately, the Wikipedia summary doesn't mention anything about geeks listening to space noise. Maybe you can find something like that in the text of the story? (I didn't see anything on a quick look-through with my weak eyes, but that doesn't mean much.)

              – user14111
              10 hours ago














            5












            5








            5







            Perhaps you are thinking of Red Star, Winter Orbit which is written by both William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. It takes place on a Soviet space station which, I believe matches the description you provided. Here is the synopsis from Wikipedia:




            The story takes place on the Soviet space station Kosmograd ("Cosmic City"), which consists of a number of Salyuts linked together. The station has both civilian and military roles; the military portion is a base for the operation for two large particle beam weapons for shooting down ICBMs. The civilian side, once a hub for space exploration, is now reduced to a maintenance role for the engineers running the station. Most of the story takes place in one of the Salyuts that has been set aside as the "Museum of the Soviet Triumph in Space". Its caretaker is cosmonaut Colonel Yuri Vasilevich Korolev, the first man on Mars.







            share|improve this answer















            Perhaps you are thinking of Red Star, Winter Orbit which is written by both William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. It takes place on a Soviet space station which, I believe matches the description you provided. Here is the synopsis from Wikipedia:




            The story takes place on the Soviet space station Kosmograd ("Cosmic City"), which consists of a number of Salyuts linked together. The station has both civilian and military roles; the military portion is a base for the operation for two large particle beam weapons for shooting down ICBMs. The civilian side, once a hub for space exploration, is now reduced to a maintenance role for the engineers running the station. Most of the story takes place in one of the Salyuts that has been set aside as the "Museum of the Soviet Triumph in Space". Its caretaker is cosmonaut Colonel Yuri Vasilevich Korolev, the first man on Mars.








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            share|improve this answer



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            edited 17 mins ago









            TheLethalCarrot

            48.6k18259306




            48.6k18259306










            answered 11 hours ago









            Invent PaloozaInvent Palooza

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            • 1





              Maybe that's it. Unfortunately, the Wikipedia summary doesn't mention anything about geeks listening to space noise. Maybe you can find something like that in the text of the story? (I didn't see anything on a quick look-through with my weak eyes, but that doesn't mean much.)

              – user14111
              10 hours ago














            • 1





              Maybe that's it. Unfortunately, the Wikipedia summary doesn't mention anything about geeks listening to space noise. Maybe you can find something like that in the text of the story? (I didn't see anything on a quick look-through with my weak eyes, but that doesn't mean much.)

              – user14111
              10 hours ago








            1




            1





            Maybe that's it. Unfortunately, the Wikipedia summary doesn't mention anything about geeks listening to space noise. Maybe you can find something like that in the text of the story? (I didn't see anything on a quick look-through with my weak eyes, but that doesn't mean much.)

            – user14111
            10 hours ago





            Maybe that's it. Unfortunately, the Wikipedia summary doesn't mention anything about geeks listening to space noise. Maybe you can find something like that in the text of the story? (I didn't see anything on a quick look-through with my weak eyes, but that doesn't mean much.)

            – user14111
            10 hours ago










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