Project Gutenberg 2016-04-13 Public domain in the USA. 77 De Ford, Miriam Allen 1888 1975 Ford, Miriam Allen de DeFord, Miriam Allen Wood, Wallace 1927 1981 Wood, Wally Oh, Rats! Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Oh, Rats!" by Miriam Allen De Ford is a science fiction novella written in the early 1960s. The story centers around a laboratory-created super-rat, SK540, who possesses advanced intelligence due to biochemical enhancements. This work explores themes of power, freedom, and the moral implications of human experimentation on animals, wrapped in a narrative that examines the relationship between humans and a highly evolved species. The plot follows SK540 after he escapes from the laboratory, leading a group of ordinary rats to form a new colony outside the confines of human control. Meanwhile, the laboratory technician Philip Vinson and his wife Norah find themselves besieged in their home by the intelligent rats, culminating in a tense interaction with SK540. As the Vinsons inadvertently become hostages, they grapple with the ethical considerations of SK540's sentience, ultimately revealing the tragic consequences of their decisions. The narrative explores how SK540, in an act of survival against humanity's perceived dominance, takes drastic measures for his kin, leading to an unexpected and unsettling conclusion. The story serves as a commentary on the potential for unintended consequences in scientific exploration and the significance of empathy towards all sentient beings. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en Science fiction Short stories Rats -- Fiction Experiments -- Fiction PS Text Science Fiction Browsing: Literature Browsing: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Browsing: Fiction 46938 46943 2024-09-21T13:51:20.859882 2023-09-22T10:44:18.578645 text/html text/html 43176 2016-04-13T15:09:58 text/html; charset=us-ascii 245848 2016-04-13T15:09:58 text/html; charset=us-ascii application/zip 271684 2024-09-21T13:51:22.684852 application/epub+zip 270613 2024-09-21T13:51:21.257859 application/epub+zip 76081 2024-09-21T13:51:21.040863 application/epub+zip 304397 2024-09-21T13:51:23.961870 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 297421 2024-09-21T13:51:22.464878 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 103250 2022-09-23T14:52:40.079526 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 40128 40033 2024-09-21T13:51:20.702862 2023-09-22T10:44:18.297660 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 40032 2016-04-13T15:09:58 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 15562 2016-04-13T15:09:58 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 20084 2024-09-21T13:51:24.095846 application/rdf+xml 26836 2024-09-21T13:51:21.107870 image/jpeg 4058 2024-09-21T13:51:21.074858 image/jpeg 246827 2024-09-21T13:51:20.872881 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia en.wikipedia