Potemkin village

"Potemkin Village" by Fletcher Pratt is a science fiction story that examines the dark side of a supposed paradise on Venus. A team of investigators journeys to Tolstoia, a reclusive community, upon noticing that visitors never return, or when they do it is to return as preserved corpses. The explorers soon find that the planet’s utopian facade hides a system of absolute power, where individual freedom is sacrificed for the sake of harmony and groupthink. The story follows the perspectives of Director Unterbaum, the Lanzerotti couple, photographer Ann Starnes, and writer Robert Heidekopfer while they struggle against the deceptive patriarch, Pitrim Androvich. As the delegation is confronted by mind games and manipulative manipulation, they face stark choices about their life goals and inner nature, culminating in a dangerous departure and a reflection on the cost of a society without self governance.