Free Before They Were Giants by James L. Sutter

our deal, Jason. I’m giving you the satellite’s power, and you’re going to allow exploration of the cities. You won’t be able to prevent your people from rummaging through the cities now; and you won’t be able to keep the outsiders from joining you, not once you get out from behind your own fences.”
     
    “You can’t do this! You…”
     
    Tom snapped off the radio. He looked at it for a second or two, then smashed a heavy-booted foot against the console. Glass and metal crashed satisfactorily.
     
    Okay, Tom thought, it’s done. Maybe Jason’s right and I’m crazy, but we’ll never know now. In a year or so they’ll be set up outside of Philadelphia, and a lot better for it. I’m forcing them to take the long way back, but it’s a better way. The only way, maybe.
     
    He leaned back in the seat and stared out the observation port at the completed satellite. Already it was taking in solar energy and beaming it Earthward.
     
    In ten years they’ll send another ship up here to check the gadget and make sure everything’s okay. Maybe they’ll be able to do it in five years. Makes no difference. I’ll still be here.
     
    ~ * ~
     
    Ben Bova
     
     
    F
    or more than half a century, Dr. Ben Bova has put the science in science fiction. A technical editor on Project Vanguard, the mission by which the United States successfully launched the second artificial satellite in response to the Soviet Sputnik, Dr. Bova never left the cutting edge of scientific knowledge, and neither has his writing. In his catalogue of more than 120 books, both fiction and nonfiction, Bova predicted the 1960s Space Race, solar power satellites, virtual reality, human cloning, stem cell therapy, the Strategic Defense Initiative of the 1980s, and countless other advancements which have either come to pass or are even now standing on our doorstep. He’s the President Emeritus of the National Space Society, and a frequent commentator for both television and radio, with articles in such publications as Scientific American and The New York Times.
     
    Yet as much as his ideas and breadth of knowledge have assisted him on his path, Ben Bova is known first and foremost for his writing and editing. A past president of the Science Fiction Writers of America, Ben Bova boasts a list of awards that read like a who’s-who in science fiction: the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the Isaac Asimov Memorial Award, the Robert A. Heinlein Award, and the 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arthur C. Clarke foundation “for fueling mankind’s imagination regarding the wonders of outer space.” After John Campbell’s death, Bova took over editorship of Analog Science Fiction, the longest-running science fiction magazine in the world, and also spent time as the editor of OMNI, winning a grand total of six Hugo Awards for Best Editor. A teacher of science fiction and film at both Harvard and Hayden Planetarium in New York City, Bova writes to entertain, to educate, and to ensure that humanity’s wonder continues to exceed its grasp—yet always with the science to back it up. Such meticulousness is evident even in his first published SF story, “A Long Way Back.” Though not the first story he ever published—that honor going to several pieces published right after high school by Campus Town, a teenage magazine he helped run—nor the first SF story ever sold (which was lost forever when the magazine that bought it folded before printing it), “A Long Way Back” represents Bova’s first foray onto the science fiction scene.
     
    Looking back, what do you think still works well in this story? Why?
     
    I think two technical points in the story have held up quite well: the idea that energy is the key to civilization and the idea of solar power satellites. Remember, this story was written some 10 years before Philip Glaser actually made the first technical proposal of the solar power satellite concept. The human conflict between Tom and Jason