Alien Equivalent by Richard R. Smith Episode #150
Richard R. Smith | November 30, 2023-
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Alien Equivalent by Richard R. Smith Episode #150
Richard R. Smith
ALIEN EQUIVALENT
Episode #150 · Written by Richard R. Smith · Narrated by Scott Miller
Chester Farrell is close enough to Earth to see it in the sky, yet still trapped by a system that profits from keeping men exactly where they are. Mars promised opportunity, but delivered something far colder: a world where leaving costs more than most workers can ever earn.
When Farrell is cornered by violence instead of bureaucracy, he offers a solution that replaces brute force with risk. The path he chooses leads him into a Martian settlement where gambling isn’t about money, and winning doesn’t look the way humans expect it to. Every decision sharpens the danger, and every misunderstanding carries weight.
Alien Equivalent builds its tension by forcing human instincts into an alien framework. Strength means little here. Endurance doesn’t translate. What matters is understanding how loss is defined — and how it is collected. The story never rushes, letting discomfort and inevitability creep in as the rules reveal themselves.
The result is an unsettling science fiction tale that replaces explosions with consequences. Farrell’s choices matter because there is no outside rescue coming, and no appeal to fairness once the wager is set. The only question left is whether insight can arrive before the cost becomes irreversible.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Richard R. Smith published science fiction during the 1950s magazine era, contributing stories that often placed ordinary people inside unforgiving systems. His work appeared in venues such as Fantastic Adventures and similar pulp-era magazines, where tight plotting and moral pressure were essential. Alien Equivalent reflects Smith’s strength at constructing situations where survival depends not on heroics, but on recognizing how power truly operates.
LISTEN TO THE STORY
Listen to Alien Equivalent by Richard R. Smith — a trapped worker gambles with alien rules in this vintage science fiction short story where pain replaces money.
RELATED STORIES
Mars has always been the most familiar of alien worlds, close enough to imagine and distant enough to remain dangerous. Vintage science fiction turned the red planet into a testing ground for human ambition—an empty frontier, a dying world, or a civilization older and stranger than Earth itself.
These stories send explorers, settlers, soldiers, and scientists across the void to a place where survival is never guaranteed. Thin air, vast deserts, and abandoned cities create a landscape that is both harsh and haunting.
Whether the planet is home to ancient Martians, fragile colonies, or the last hope after Earth’s decline, Mars stories are about adaptation.
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- The Crystal Egg by H. G. Wells
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- Return of a Legend by Raymond Z. Gallun
- Message From Mars by Clifford D. Simak
- The Monsters Came By Night by Robert Silverberg
- The Martians and the Coys by Mack Reynolds
- A Zloor For Your Trouble by Mack Reynolds
- The Weapon by Isaac Asimov
- Arm of the Law by Harry Harrison
- Monster by William Morrison
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- Duel on Syrtis by Poul Anderson
- We're Off to Mars by Joe Gibson
- Death Walks on Mars by Alan J. Ramm
- The Old Timer by Richard R. Smith
- Trainee for Mars by Harry Harrison
- The Hermit of Mars by Stephen Bartholomew
- Martian Homecoming by Frank Belknap Long
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- The Hated by Frederik Pohl
- The Old Martians by Rog Phillips
- The Martian Shore by Charles L. Fontenay
- Madmen of Mars by Erik Fennel
- Martians Never Die by Lucius Daniel
- What's He Doing in There? by Fritz Leiber
- Don't Look Now by Henry Kuttner
- Jonah of the Jove-Run by Ray Bradbury
- The Goggles of Dr Dragonet by Fritz Leiber
- The Foxholes of Mars by Fritz Leiber
- Alien Equivalent by Richard R. Smith
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