
A covert UN Inspector Corps team in bright green berets storms a lavish African palace, intent on arresting the charismatic Premier of Belderkan. The operation quickly turns violent as the agents unleash a non‑lethal gas grenade, forcing the guards into a stunned trance while the squad races toward a waiting vehicle. The chase sets the tone for a high‑stakes pursuit that will carry the team across continents, toward a looming showdown at the Game Preserve.
At the heart of the story is Harry Read, a hard‑knuckled recruit from a gritty American suburb. Raised among gangs and restless streets, he joined the Corps at eighteen, seeking a purpose beyond the limited horizons of his upbringing. Read’s fierce loyalty to his own code makes him both a skilled marksman and a volatile wildcard, hinting at the internal battles he will face as the mission unfolds.
Language
en
Duration
~26 minutes (25K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2008-01-14
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

b. 1936
A longtime Philadelphia writer, he built a science fiction career that stretched from the 1950s into the 2020s, while also writing nonfiction and music criticism. His stories are known for clear, thoughtful ideas and a steady curiosity about how people live with change.
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