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is colonized with people living in underground cities. The "menace" of the title is a glamorous woman tourist who visits the Moon colony. She is assigned a young guide named Holly, a 15-year-old girl and aspiring starship designer who is the first-person narrator. Holly's best friend Jeff develops a
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field is one sixth the strength of Earth's and the air pressure in the cavern is kept high enough. Ariel wants to try flying, and Holly, in order not to appear jealous, offers to teach her. However, during her first flight, Ariel loses control at a great height, falling toward the ground. Holly
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In the hospital afterward, Ariel gently explains some things to Holly. Ariel is twice the age of the teenagers, and could never be romantically interested in Jeff. More to the point, Jeff is not in love with her but with Holly. Ariel tells how in the aftermath of the crash Jeff arrived "like an
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One of
Heinlein's stories written from a female perspective, with his typically strong, independent, capable (for this era) female protagonist. It effectively contrasts a traditional teenage romance story against realistically drawn details of everyday life as a colonist on the Moon.
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Following this revelation, Jeff arrives in the hospital room and Ariel tactfully leaves the two alone. After some embarrassed banter, Jeff kisses Holly for the first time.
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Living in an underground city on the Moon, Holly and Jeff's hobby is flying with strap-on wings in a great cavern, made possible because the
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crush on the "groundhog" visitor, Ariel. As Jeff spends more time with Ariel, Holly becomes jealous and begins to doubt his friendship.
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This article is about the short story "The Menace From Earth". For the collection of short stories, see
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swoops down and saves her life, breaking both arms in the process as she cushions Ariel's fall.
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avenging angel", ignoring Ariel to cradle the unconscious Holly in his arms, sobbing.
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Works originally published in The
Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
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192:" sets the basis for lunar exploration and development in Heinlein's
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called "The Menace from Earth" a "startler", praising it as a
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story "set in a wildly imaginative alien environment".
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81:The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
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741:(or stories) published in the 1950s is a
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279:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
23:Short story by Robert A. Heinlein
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184:Relationship to other Heinlein works
797:Short stories by Robert A. Heinlein
745:. You can help Knowledge (XXG) by
18:The Menace From Earth (collection)
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698:The Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein
252:Gale, Floyd C. (December 1960).
428:The Cat Who Walks Through Walls
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807:Short stories set on the Moon
802:Science fiction short stories
646:The Notebooks of Lazarus Long
498:Delilah and the Space Rigger
404:The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
199:The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
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444:The Pursuit of the Pankera
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491:The Man Who Sold the Moon
436:To Sail Beyond the Sunset
377:The Past Through Tomorrow
345:The Man Who Sold the Moon
190:The Man Who Sold the Moon
33:
568:The Green Hills of Earth
353:The Green Hills of Earth
420:The Number of the Beast
284:"The Menace from Earth"
275:"The Menace from Earth"
254:"Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf"
209:The Number of the Beast
124:"The Menace From Earth"
29:"The Menace From Earth"
540:It's Great to Be Back!
533:The Black Pits of Luna
258:Galaxy Science Fiction
226:Galaxy Science Fiction
204:The Black Pits of Luna
734:This article about a
582:The Menace from Earth
526:Gentlemen, Be Seated!
396:Methuselah's Children
277:title listing at the
676:Andrew Jackson Libby
471:"Let There Be Light"
412:Time Enough for Love
477:The Roads Must Roll
260:. pp. 123–127.
232:Ladies Home Journal
133:by American writer
792:1957 short stories
547:—We Also Walk Dogs
369:Orphans of the Sky
324:Robert A. Heinlein
135:Robert A. Heinlein
39:Robert A. Heinlein
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554:Searchlight
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117:August 1957
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633:Characters
239:References
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107:Paperback
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175:Analysis
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512:Requiem
457:stories
286:on the
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101:Print (
56:English
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709:(1980)
701:(1966)
609:Misfit
455:Short
447:(2020)
439:(1987)
431:(1985)
423:(1980)
415:(1973)
407:(1966)
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388:Novels
380:(1967)
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