Robert H Wilson's "Out Around Rigel" (novelette, free): An adventure with relativity implications

It's not a bad read, but pick it up only on a day when you aren't in a mood to use your head.

Story summary.

There are actually multiple stories here, but woven into a single one:

1. When man becomes capable of flying to another world, where does he go out first? You might think moon would be a logical choice. But Lunarians don't think like us! Here two Lunarian friends, one of them a super-inventor, have their maiden space fight's target as the Rigel system some 500 lightyears away!
2. A love triangle - two men & a woman. Both men love the woman; she loves only one of them. One of the men thinks the issue should be settled with a duel. Where would the two go out to duel? A somewhat open place nearby? Wrong. Geniuses don't think like normal people!!
3. Third main thread is about the implications of traveling at relativistic speeds - implications from people's point of view.

See also.

1. Hal Clement's "Uncommon Sense": A variant of "duel" in a somewhat similar environment, but a much better thought out story.

Fact sheet.

First published: Astounding Stories, December 1931.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg. [via Butch Malahide @rasfw]
Rating: B.