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"The Power" is a 5,000-word short story by Murray Leinster, about an alien stranded on Earth in the Middle Ages. The story was first published in the September, 1945 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.

Spoiler Warning: Plot details and/or information about the ending follow. If you wish to enjoy the work first, stop reading here and return at another time.

Plot

A group of modern day scholars uncover a series of three letters written in the Middle Ages, telling of one man’s encounter with an alien, whom he took to be one of the “powers,” fallen from heaven. The alien and the man became friends, and the alien told him much of his history, though the man did not understand any of it. Apparently, the alien and his people crash-landed on Earth years earlier, and he was the last one alive. He had a technology which allowed him to create things with his mind, and he is willing to share this with his human friend, but the technology is too advanced for the human to understand. In the end, the human betrayed the alien and killed him, trying to steal the secret of his power, which is of course beyond his grasp or understanding.

Additional Notes

This story has been reprinted in, among other places, Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories 7 (1945).