Project Gutenberg 2016-03-20 Public domain in the USA. 177 Laumer, Keith 1925 1993 Laumer, John Keith Laumer, Kit Ritter, Bob Doorstep Produced from Galaxy Magazine February 1961 Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Doorstep" by Keith Laumer is a science fiction short story written in the early 1960s. The narrative revolves around an unidentified massive object that has landed in a rural area, prompting military and scientific investigations. The story explores themes of misunderstanding and consequence in the face of the unknown. In "Doorstep," Brigadier General Straut is in charge of handling the mysterious object, which has provoked a mixture of fear and intrigue among his men. As he assesses the situation, an unexpected series of events leads to casualties, heightening the tension. A professor urges caution, believing that the creature within the object poses no threat, but Straut, eager for recognition and fearful for the surrounding civilians, opts for aggressive action. After a bombardment that seemingly invalidates the threat, a final communication reveals that the object is actually a plea from an extraterrestrial asking for care for its daughter, turning the perceived threat into a poignant moment of realization and regret. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 87.0 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Extraterrestrial beings -- Fiction Human-alien encounters -- Fiction Generals -- Fiction PS Text Science Fiction Category: Short Stories Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy 38907 2025-07-20T14:11:11.181391 text/html 14978 2024-10-23T00:12:34 text/html 203032 2025-07-20T14:11:12.858379 application/epub+zip 201866 2025-07-20T14:11:11.633368 application/epub+zip 76624 2025-07-20T14:11:11.443365 application/epub+zip 235269 2025-07-20T14:11:13.950309 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 228418 2025-07-20T14:11:12.666367 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 103435 2022-09-23T12:58:00.535100 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 32116 2025-07-20T14:11:11.084325 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 12392 2024-10-23T00:12:34 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 18354 2025-07-20T14:11:14.076314 application/rdf+xml 21903 2025-07-20T14:11:11.509324 image/jpeg 4074 2025-07-20T14:11:11.475365 image/jpeg 183195 2025-07-20T14:11:11.191368 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia