Showing results for "The Piper" in Hard Science Fiction

Conn Maxwell returns from Terra to his poverty-stricken home planet of Poictesme, “The Junkyard Planet”, with news of the possible location of Merlin, a military super-computer rumored to have been abandoned there after the last war. The inhabitants hope to find Merlin, which they think will be their ticket to wealth and prosperity. But is Merlin real or just an old rumor? And if they find it, will it save them - or tear them apart?

"There are incredible things still undiscovered; most of the important installations were built in duplicate as a precaution against space attack. I know where all of them are. But I could find nothing, not one single word, about any giant strategic planning computer called Merlin!" Nevertheless the leading men of the planet didn't believe him. They couldn't - the search for Merlin had become an abiding worldwide obsession. Merlin meant everything to them: power, pleasures and profits unlimited.