Second Sight

by Alan E. Nourse

Psi-high! Amy Ballantine has a talent . . . and sometimes it lets her know more than she needs to know. Guess I must be good enough looking. I can read it from almost every fellow that comes near me. I wonder why? I mean, why me -- and not Marjorie over in the Main Office? She's a sweet girl, but she never gets a second look from the guys. There must be some fine differential point I'm missing somewhere, but I don't think I'll ever understand it! But now the interest being expressed is not just the usual appraising and yearning -- for someone out there is talking about how her talents might be used -- and she's not at all sure she likes how things are shaping up. Alan Nourse (1928-92) was one of the most beloved of practitioners of science fiction during the form's Golden Age. This volume includes a double-handful of his stories from the period, including "An Ounce of Cure," "Meeting of the Board," "The Dark Door," "Circus," "The Link," "My Friend Bobby," "Image of the Gods," "Second Sight," "The Native Soil," "Letter of the Law," "The Coffin Cure," and "PRoblem."

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction

17 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 28, 2014

About the author

Alan Edward Nourse was an American science fiction (SF) author and physician. He also wrote under the name Dr. X
He wrote both juvenile and adult science fiction, as well as nonfiction works about medicine and science.
Alan Nourse was born to Benjamin and Grace (Ogg) Nourse. He attended high school in Long Island, New York. He served in the U.S. Navy after World War II. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1951 from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. He married Ann Morton on June 11, 1952 in Lynden, New Jersey. He received a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree in 1955 from the University of Pennsylvania. He served his one year internship at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle, Washington. He practiced medicine in North Bend, Washington from 1958 to 1963 and also pursued his writing career.
He had helped pay for his medical education by writing science fiction for magazines. After retiring from medicine, he continued writing. His regular column in Good Housekeeping magazine earned him the nickname "Family Doctor".
He was a friend of fellow author Avram Davidson. Robert A. Heinlein dedicated his 1964 novel Farnham's Freehold to Nourse. Heinlein in part dedicated his 1982 novel Friday to Nourse's wife Ann.

His novel The Bladerunner lent its name to the Blade Runner movie, but no other aspects of its plot or characters, which were taken from Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? In the late 1970s an attempt to adapt The Bladerunner for the screen was made, with Beat Generation author William S. Burroughs commissioned to write a story treatment; no film was ever developed but the story treatment was later published as the novella, Blade Runner (a movie).
His novel Star Surgeon has been recorded as a public domain audio book at LibriVox
His pen names included "Al Edwards" and "Doctor X".

He died in Thorp, Washington.

Reviews

[Phil Giunta · Rating 3 out of 5]

A twenty-three-year-old telepath named Amy Ballantine has lived most of her life in a lab under the protection of the psychiatrist, Michael Lambertson. One of the institution’s directors, Aarons, forces Amy to work with “normal” humans who show even the slightest psi potential and help them to develop their abilities by “dragging it out of them.”

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I greatly enjoyed this short story featuring a young women with a very sought after psi gift. My only complaint is that it was a short story. The main character was very engaging, and I would have liked to continue reading her story.

[Tony Ciak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scifi short story by a master.

[Richie Kercenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in the epistolary form, this little tale gives a pertinent analysis of the role played by language and difference in the creation of alienation.
The narrative voice, recording the events of the story in the form of a personal journal, belongs to a young woman with "special abilities" and "special needs". It is only at the end of the tale that we learn she's, in fact, both deaf and blind.
Having surmounted her limitations by generating a "telepathic" form of communication, her accomplishments brand her as alien among Mankind, and she finds herself treated as a curiosity in the scientific field. Thus, the story shows how alienation can be created through a difference in language or socially acceptable characteristics and norms

[Chris Aldridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part of LibriVox Short Science Fiction Collection 002 &08 . An interesting story about the exploitation of a gifted young woman by a mysterious group of academics and secret government sponsored authorities. Some of her shadowy captors are sympathetic to her personal fate, others treat her simply as a resource akin to the Manhattan Project in strategic importance. Trapped by these people and alternately rebelling against and then accepting of her fate, she attempts to come to terms with her extraordinary powers despite longing for freedom. I enjoyed this discussion of personal but hopeless rebellion against an implied threat both of a sinister retribution that would be dealt out by a xenophobic public, and a secret security force that would track her down to continue her “experimental work”. They would justify their actions as providing her with protection and maintaining national security. Psychic powers are not usually my thing, but this poignant tale is worth reading for the ending that reveals the extent of her sacrifice.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

An audio version is also available at: NewThinkable - YouTube