AboutSue Kayton Expertise Engineer who has read thousands of science fiction books and short stories. Can recommend stories on specific subjects and comment on technical feasibility. Especially good at older out-of-print books and authors.
Question I'm trying to identify a sf short story. One individual is selected by an intergalactic federation to stand trial for all humanity to see if we are worthy to enter the club or face annihilation Being humans rather than just relying on our integrity we dream up a double bluff pretending we possess the secret of "sub wave" radio which we've proved can't exist. Of course they aren't fooled but humanity is spared as our deviousness might just prove useful. The last line of story reveals they already had the knowledge of sub wave radio. You'd think if I could remember this much I'd remember the name of the story!
Answer Sorry - never read this. If you find it, please let me know since it sounds interesting. I can recommend an excellent "Humanity on trial" short story called "Arena" by Frederic Brown, collected in the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, volume 1. Read the rest of the stories in this wonderful collection.
