War is probably the most popular topic for alternate histories. The Lucky Strike, by Kim Stanley Robinson, belongs to the most popular subset--World War II alternate histories. The What If--suppose the Enola Gay crew had had an accident and weren't the ones to drop the bomb? What would their backups have done? In this case, the backup bombardier struggles with the notion that he will aim a device that will kill 100k people.
Overall, the story is OK. Robinson is a competent writer, but it seems here that he has to try too hard to make his character sympathetic. There's tension, but not enough. The story touched enough of a nerve to get Hugo and Nebula award nominations in 1984, but Free SF Online was for some reason compelled to note that the story finished below "No Award" in the Hugo balloting. Just 2 stars.
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