Blind Alley
| "Blind Alley" | |
|---|---|
| Author | Isaac Asimov |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Empire series |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction short story |
| Published in | Astounding Science Fiction |
| Publication type | Periodical |
| Publisher | Street & Smith |
| Media type | Print (Magazine, Hardback & Paperback) |
| Publication date | March 1945 |
| Preceded by | Pebble in the Sky |
| Followed by | Prelude to Foundation |
"Blind Alley" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the March 1945 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, and later included in the collection The Early Asimov (1972).
Although the story postulates a race of intelligent non-humans, it is set in the Foundation universe, during the era of Trantor's Galactic Empire.
Written in 1944, "Blind Alley" was accepted by John Campbell later that year and published in Astounding Science Fiction in March 1945. It was first anthologised by Groff Conklin in The Best of Science Fiction, the first of Asimov's stories to have been reprinted, and was later included in The Early Asimov (in 1972, along with a very brief history of its origins), The Asimov Chronicles in 1989 and in volume 2 of The Complete Stories in 1992.
Conklin included the story in a number of anthologies: the 1963 edition of The Best of Science Fiction, Great Stories of Space Travel also published that year and The Golden Age of Science Fiction in 1980. It also appeared in Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories 7 edited by Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg in 1982, and Intergalactic Empires edited by Asimov, Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh in 1983.
The few remaining members of the only intelligent non-human alien race the Galactic Empire has discovered have been removed from their dying planet and transferred to the much more pleasant Cepheus-18 (hence their name, "Cepheids"). The planet is a combination zoo, laboratory, and reservation for the creatures. The scientists that study the Cepheids differ on whether to treat them as sentient beings or as animals, but agree that the aliens are in danger of extinction as they have ceased to reproduce. The Cepheids' leader admits that his race would likely have soon died out on its dangerous home world; the aliens, however, have nothing to live for in a galaxy completely ruled by humans who provide for all their physical needs, and they are prohibited from leaving the Empire.
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