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Mark Kingman, a sharp‑witted attorney at Terran Electric, finds himself trapped in a web of corporate rivalry and technical dead‑ends. The solar beam that powers the colonies—especially the lucrative Venus Equilateral network—has hit an unexpected barrier known as the Channing Layer, and the legal loopholes that once protected his company now threaten to ruin it. As power shipments stall and the balance of interplanetary commerce teeters, Kingman wrestles with his own doubts, his sense of betrayal, and a growing thirst for revenge.
Amid humming relay stations on Luna, Deimos, Phobos, and the orbiting platforms around Venus, the story unfolds against a backdrop of futuristic engineering marvels and strained alliances. Kingman’s keen mind and legal expertise drive him to devise a daring plan that could shift the fortunes of the entire solar‑beam system—if he can outmaneuver both his corporate rivals and the stubborn physics that stand in his way.
Language
en
Duration
~1 hours (81K characters)
Series
Venus Equilateral
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
United States: Street & Smith Publications, Incorporated,1944.
Credits
Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2022-05-06
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1911–1981
A Golden Age science fiction writer with an engineer’s eye for detail, he built stories around communications systems, problem-solving, and life in space. He is especially remembered for the Venus Equilateral tales, which helped give mid-century magazine SF some of its brisk, technical charm.
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