Untechnological Employment

A routine delay at the Pacific Spaceport becomes a full-blown national crisis when weeks of fog prevent the United States from launching its moon missions. As Congress threatens an investigation and rival launches proceed on schedule, officials trade increasingly frantic telegrams, searching for someone—or something—to blame.

The solution takes an unexpected turn when political pressure brings Senator Harry Washwater’s recommendation into play, linking spaceflight, regional unemployment, and the government’s uneasy relationship with Native American communities. What begins as a sharp, deadpan exchange of official messages soon exposes the absurd machinery behind ambitious technological projects, where weather, bureaucracy, and politics collide. Witty and brisk, this science-fiction satire explores the limits of modern progress and the stubborn effectiveness of methods no engineer would put in a manual.