Human Galactics

The point of Poul Anderson's "Details" is that history is chaotic.

The point of his "Backwardness" is that a high average IQ was not necessary for human survival or technology.

The point of his "Soldier from the Stars" is that militarily superior humanoids would be able conquer Earth by destroying much of it but they would be better advised to sell their military services to the highest bidder among Terrestrial governments, thus conquering Earth economically.

In "Details," extra-solar "human beings" able to pass as Terrestrials observe and subtly intervene on Earth. In "Backwardness," human beings from Earth-like planets where evolution exactly parallels that on Earth land to negotiate with the UN. In "Soldier from the Stars," the aliens, as far as I can remember without having reread that story recently, orbit Earth and offer their services. But they are close enough to human beings to live here, buy property, invest etc.

In each of these short stories, Anderson, in order to make his particular point, makes, for story purposes,  the impossible assumption of human beings from the stars. But he speculates seriously about extraterrestrial and extra-solar life in other works. 

The Galactic Federation

Poul Anderson's "Peek! I See You!" is a Galactic Federation story. This is not a single series but a kind of sf premise: that there is a vast interstellar federation out there with criteria for membership but Terrestrials do not know about it yet. Maybe our warlikeness debars us from membership and even from contact? But there can be other criteria, like possession of a technological civilization or of local interplanetary spaceflight.

Such stories, at least potentially, combine speculation about extra-solar civilizations with criticism of the current state of Earth. Who in their right minds would want to have contact with us?

For example, in a very short Asimov story called "Silly Asses," a galactic bureaucrat, hearing that Terrestrials have recently met Federation membership criteria by splitting the atom and landing on their Moon but that they are testing atomic weapons in their own atmosphere instead of in space, crumples up the Federation membership paperwork for Earth and throws it in his wastepaper basket, remarking, "Silly asses!" (I know that this is in an Asimov collection although I do not have the reference to hand.) This Asimov story is purely a comment on the arms race, not a speculation that the galaxy is administered by bureaucrats with paperwork and wastepaper baskets.

Anderson's "Details," on which I commented recently, is a Galactic Federation story in this sense although its federation is called the League and, impossibly, is entirely composed of human beings of different sizes and colors whereas the Federation in "Peek! I See You!" encompasses many bizarre organisms like:

yet another centauroid, in this case one who has gills and sound-sensitive areas alternating down his long neck and an elephantine trunk dividing into two arms and who shrugs by jerking his tail;

another hexapod-descended sophont whose three pairs of limbs have become respectively legs, arms and wings.

Anderson's imagination is, as ever, unbounded.

Galactics And Time Patrolmen

The Galactics in Poul Anderson's "Details," like the Time Patrolmen in the same author's Time Patrol series, operate with an import firm as their front organization in London at the turn of the twentieth century. However, the Galactics direct history whereas the Patrolmen merely protect it.

Imagine if two such organizations co-existed - extra-galactic space travelers and futurian time travelers do meet in the past of Earth in Julian May's Pliocene Exiles Tetralogy.

Anderson's Galactics and Time Patrol have opposed aims. However, although the Galactics try to direct human history toward peaceful, stable, international relations, events unfold as we know they did:

there is an unfortunate incident at Sarajevo;
Ulyanov gets into Russia;
Hitler comes to power in Germany...

This, despite all its horrors, is the history protected by the Patrol. Thus, if the Galactics and the Patrol did occupy the same timeline, then the Galactics' unsuccessful attempts would have to be guarded by the Patrol, even if Patrolmen remained unaware of the Galactic presence, whereas, if the Galactics learned of the Patrol, then they would have to oppose it. Could two such organizations conceal their existence so effectively that neither knew of the other? And, if so, then how many secret operators might there be? How complicated can history and reality get?

We do know that there are levels of reality that were unknown in the past and that other levels almost certainly will be discovered in future. This opens at least the possibility of non-human intelligences (supernatural, extraterrestrial, extra-temporal) operating among us now without our knowledge.

Time Patrolmen, with access to future medicine, live indefinitely prolonged lives so that they can spend years or decades in other periods yet return to their present apparently unaged. Similarly, the Galactics, although basically human, survive for millennia presumably thanks to their medical technology although this is not made explicit. They use their lifespans to guide primitive planet after primitive planet.

In an alternative history novel by Michael Moorcock, an old revolutionary called Ulyanov wonders at what point during his career he missed his opportunity. The first time I read Moorcock's book, I did not know by what name Ulyanov was known in our history. Anderson's Galactics arrange for Ulyanov to be smuggled into Russia in a sealed train, hoping that the revolutionary will pull Russia out of the War but not realizing what will happen next. In case Anderson's readers do not get it, he tells us that:

"[Ulyanov's] Party name was Lenin." (Seven Conquests, New York, 1984, p. 158)

Similarly, two Galactics unsuspectingly make a date for the evening of Thursday, October 24, 1929.

By the end of the story, the Galactics have not saved us from ourselves. Anderson's message is clear: it is down to us.

Addendum: A Galactic speaks disparagingly of Kaiser Wilhelm. I am no defender of Kaiser Wilhelm but I would not expect a Galactic's perspective to be identical with that of the author or his readers.

Details

Seven Conquests (New York, 1984) is "...a one-author, one-theme, one-genre collection." (p. 1)

Author: Poul Anderson.
Theme: war.
Genre: science fiction (sf).

However, the wars in its fifth story, "Details," are those of modern history so where is the sf? The answer is that we see these wars from the perspective of an extraterrestrial observer. The theme is that the unpredictable details of history confound the observer's carefully calculated expectations. However, I do not remember the "details" so I am about to reread the story with interest.

Apparently, bipeds differing only in color, size and possession or non-possession of a tail but not in shape evolve on every terrestroid planet, of which there are many. Each such human race is covertly guided until it is racially mature enough to be informed of and inducted into an interstellar League.

Churches explain such parallel evolution by Design whereas scientists have yet to account for it. The reality, of course, is that, in this part of the story, Anderson is not writing serious scientific speculation but does want his observer to be able to mingle on Earth without being identified as alien. This "'...agent-in-chief for new planet in Section two-three-nine-seven-six-two...'" is appointed because he is the only available candidate who is "'...physiologically identical with the race currently dominant on the planet in question. We have no other fully trained Shandakite available, and indeed no qualified man who could be surgically disguised. Everyone I would like to appoint is tied up elsewhere with more important tasks.'" (p. 145)

The training was at a "'...Psychotechnic Institute...'" (p. 144), a term that we recognize from Anderson's first future history which is also represented in this collection.