Battle Station

Battle Station collects short science fiction stories and nonfiction articles about the future of military space operations written by six-time Hugo Award winning author Ben Bova, whose hard science fiction has predicted the Space Race, virtual reality, the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars), and more.

From the Foreword:

"The sixteen stories and articles in this book deal with the prospects of war and peace in orbit, together with other glimpses of possible futures. Most of them treat directly with the military aspects of space. Others are devoted to allied facets of the human race’s expansion into the solar system.

The nonfiction articles are based on the latest factual information available at the time of their writing, interpreted through my own experiences and opinions. The fiction shows what mere facts cannot: how tomorrow’s technology will affect individual human lives. ...

In the sixteen works assembled here you will see:

•How an International Peacekeeping Force might actually work--even when betrayed from within.

•How energy projectors firing pinpoint beams of light may spell doom for the "ultimate" weapon.

•How baseball may become a tool for international diplomacy.

•How computers may one day replace politicians.

•How telephones may become small enough to be implanted in your skull.

•How benign extraterrestrials may have already influenced human history.

Nobody wants the military in space. But they will be there. They are already there. If we are wise, we will see to it that they serve to protect the peace and defend the human race against attack."