
A lone inspector arrives on Ganymede’s most infamous plague‑riddled metropolis, Profaldo, where opalescent spires loom over a fog‑choked slum of gambling dens and squalid taverns. The city’s streets are a patchwork of sickly green‑tinged faces and shuffling shadows, each corner humming with the low drone of failing machinery. As he navigates the labyrinthine alleys, the inspector carries a bundle of clandestine tools, ready to confront the desperate bureaucracy that keeps the dying city alive.
Inside the grimy Power Division, he meets a grotesque commissioner—a pig‑eyed, albino‑haired official who trades in the city’s dwindling energy. Their terse exchange hints at a hidden cache of power and a dangerous bargain that could change the fate of Profaldo’s inhabitants. With every step, the inspector feels the weight of the Council’s mandate and the tantalizing promise of a treasure beyond price, all while the city’s lethal plague looms ever closer.
Language
en
Duration
~29 minutes (28K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2020-11-18
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1908–1997
A longtime pulp storyteller from Minneapolis, he wrote eerie, fast-moving tales of horror, fantasy, science fiction, and crime that became favorites of magazine readers. His work is remembered for its atmosphere, imagination, and classic weird-fiction feel.
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