In Space No One Can Hear You Scream

Peter Phillips

Say you’re an intrepid space explorer and your ship happens to crash on an uncharted planet—but then you receive radio transmissions from someone outside who’s actually speaking your language. Your obvious reaction would be to take heart and await help. And the ones sending those transmissions are very eager to help, but unfortunately both you and they have not understood the grim realities of the situation . . .

Peter Phillips (1920-2012) was born in London, England. He made a big splash with his story, “Dreams are Sacred” in the September 1948 issue of Astounding Science-Fiction. The story, in which the narrator’s psyche is sent into the mind of a patient who has withdrawn from reality, is now recognized as a classic, and was soon followed by another remarkable story, Manna, in the February 1949 issue of the same magazine. The two stories were noted for striking originality of concept and cheerfulness of outlook. The first quality is certainly true of the story which follows, but “Lost Memory” has an outlook which is anything but cheerful.