The cult classic _Screamers_ always seems like perfect entertainment
when the air turns crisp and a skiff of snow first appears in the
Nothern Rockies. The same weather occurs at the start of the movie,
which makes for a more immerse experience.

Near the end of the starting credits, the words 'Based upon a the Short
Story "Second Variety" by Philip K. Dick' roll by. A credit that
finally got my attention after all these years. It turns out that
_Second Variety_ is yet another old orphaned story that nobody cares
about. Project Gutenberg makes it available for free.

  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32032

_Second Variety_ takes place in a post nuclear holocaust world. It pits
Russians against the UN (ie Americans). The UN commands its forces from
a moonbase that arose after the Russians obliterated Washington DC.

Despite the inevitable UN retaliation, Russians effectively control
the world by virtue of their preemptive attack on DC. Russians move
about with virtual impunity. The only thing holding them in check is
a UN's death-robot technology known as "claws."

Claws self-replicate in underground factories. And now it appears that
claws are evolving to become more human-like with each passing day.

_Second Variety_ is firmly rooted in the Cold War era nuclear bomb
paranoia. A zeitgeist that mirrors today's global warming paranoia.
The existential mirror seems to reverse things a bit, with Bova et al
now worrying about global WARMing instead of a COLD war.

In the end, it turns out that a whole _Screamers_ micro-genre exists.
Dick released a sequel named _Jon's World_ in 1954. A straight-to-DVD
sequel of the movie named _Screamers: The Hunting_ got released in
2009.

And now it's time for me to go to Amazon and order the sequel. :)

--
Don Kuenz