Gone Fishing

"Gone Fishing" by James H. Schmitz is a science fiction story that looks at the big ideas of smarts, doing what's right, and what happens because of science discoveries, with a focus on the McAllen Tube, which makes it possible to travel super fast across huge distances. The story is about the moral questions that come up when people have so much power, and it does this by showing how two main characters, Barney Chard, who's a money guy and sometimes a con man, and Dr. Oliver B. McAllen, who's an old physics expert with a secret plan, act around each other. The story goes forward with Barney Chard trying to use Dr. McAllen's awesome invention, but he doesn't know about the complicated ethical stuff and dangers involved. The story takes place during a peaceful fishing trip and shows how McAllen struggles with the Tube's unexpected results as he fights his own fears and figures out what Chard wants. As Barney tries to control things to make money, he accidentally gets caught up in a bigger plan, leading to a surprising twist where he's stuck in a reality made by science and moral gray areas working together, and it shows how Chard changes as he deals with being held captive and the mind experiments done on him.