# Short Fiction — Chapters explained

> Chapter companions for Short Fiction by Philip K. Dick.

- [Beyond Lies the Wub](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/chapters/beyond-lies-the-wub.md): Captain Franco and his crew load a Martian wub aboard their spaceship. The wub, a large pig-like creature, speaks telepathically and pleads for its life, but Franco insists on eating it. After a philosophical discussion,
- [The Gun](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/chapters/the-gun.md): Dorle, Nasha, and Tance discover a massive automated gun on a dead planet that fires at anything airborne. After realizing the gun cannot target objects on the ground, they destroy it with hand tools and uncover a vault 
- [The Skull](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/chapters/the-skull.md): Conger, a former hunter and trader, is recruited by a mysterious Speaker to travel back in time to assassinate the Founder of the First Church, a man who has been dead for two centuries. The Speaker retrieves the Founder
- [The Defenders](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/chapters/the-defenders.md): Franks, Moss, and Taylor suspect the leadys are lying about surface conditions. They stage a confrontation, revealing the leadys are not radioactive and thus the surface may be habitable. A human party ascends, discovers
- [The Eyes Have It](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/chapters/the-eyes-have-it.md): The narrator accidentally discovers an alien invasion of Earth while reading a paperback book. He interprets common idiomatic phrases—such as 'his eyes roved about the room' and 'he put his arm around Julia'—as literal d

> 12 more chapter companions — [open a free preview](https://www.betterreads.dev/reader?bookId=short_fiction_43_se_557kb&preview=1) to unlock the rest.

- [The Hanging Stranger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/chapters/the-hanging-stranger.md)
- [Mr. Spaceship](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/chapters/mr-spaceship.md)
- [Piper in the Woods](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/chapters/piper-in-the-woods.md)
- [Second Variety](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/chapters/second-variety.md)
- [Tony and the Beetles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/chapters/tony-and-the-beetles.md)
- [The Variable Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/chapters/the-variable-man.md)
- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/chapters/i.md)
- [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/chapters/ii.md)
- [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/chapters/iii.md)
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/chapters/iv.md)
- [Beyond the Door](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/chapters/beyond-the-door.md)
- [The Crystal Crypt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/chapters/the-crystal-crypt.md)

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_43_se/chapters