| "Allamagoosa" | |
|---|---|
| Short storybyEric Frank Russell | |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction |
| Publication | |
| Published in | Astounding Science Fiction |
| Publication type | magazine |
| Publication date | May 1955 |
"Allamagoosa" is a Hugo-winning humorous science fiction short story by the English author Eric Frank Russell, originally published in the May 1955 issue of Astounding.
The story is a satire on the bureaucratic mindset - in this case in a military setting - and on the second-order complications caused by an attempt to evade it. It has been collected in The Hugo Winners (1962), The Best Of Eric Frank Russell (1978), and Major Ingredients: The Selected Short Stories of Eric Frank Russell (2000), as well as a number of other anthologies.[1]
Shortly after landing at a spaceport in Vega, the military spaceship Bustler is informed of an impending surprise inspection by a famously-strict senior officer. Captain McNaught recalls the crew from leave and begins a tedious line-by-line inventory of the ship's manifest. To his annoyance, communications officer Burman discovers that the list of equipment they were originally issued includes something called an "offog"; however, no one among the crew has any idea what that is, or even what department it might belong to. Misplacing an issued item is a serious infraction, and asking headquarters to identify the item would be similarly incriminating. However, Captain McNaught hits upon a solution: on the assumption that "offog" must simply be a playful technicians' nickname for some obscure, seldom-used piece of gadgetry, he orders communications officer Burman to fabricate a small box, outfit it with blinkenlights, and feed the inspecting officer some technobabble regarding its purpose. The ruse works swimmingly, and the Bustler passes inspection and departs Vega.
Shortly after, the ship is unexpectedly ordered back to Earth for a complete overhaul; alarmed, Burman warns McNaught that the naval shipyard engineers will immediately recognize his device as a fake. The captain solves this second problem by having Burman discreetly dispose of the "offog," blandly notifying headquarters that the item had "came apart under gravitational stress" when the ship passed close to a star. Two days later, an almost-unprecedented emergency transmission recalls Earth's entire spacefleet to the nearest ports; an equally urgent query is directed specifically to the Bustler, demanding full details surrounding the destruction of the device. Horrified, McNaught and Burman belatedly realize that "offog" had been a typo for "off.dog," or "official dog" - the ship's dog, Peaslake, having made several conspicuous appearances in the course of the story. Furthermore, Peaslake's collar, drinking bowl, sleeping basket, and (partially chewed-up) cushion were the items preceding the "offog" on the inventory list, and had been correctly ticked off without McNaught and Burman realizing the connection. The story ends with the pair in a vastly bigger trouble than they would have been in for a mere inventory mixup.
"Allamagoosa" won the 1955 Hugo Award for Best Short Story.[2]
John Joseph Adams has called it "uproariously funny".[3]
James Nicoll has commented that it is "apparently based on an urban legend".[4] In fact, it is essentially a science-fictional retelling of a traditional tall tale, "The Shovewood".[5]
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Hugo Award for Best Short Story (1955–1960)
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