
Captain Frank Sage, a seasoned officer of the Space Patrol, steps into the cramped Moon Station Café with a heavy heart and a mission that could tip the balance between peace and annihilation. The routine of black coffee, ham and eggs, and apple pie masks his urgency: a refueled crate and a calibrated orbit are his only ticket out before a new crisis erupts. As he prepares to leave the lunar outpost, the weight of his responsibilities presses down, hinting at a larger conflict that could engulf every inhabitable world.
The tension stems from United Stars’ uneasy gamble with the “Big Shots” of Venus, a planet turned dumping ground for society’s most unruly elements. Beneath the glitter of Venusport, the Incor Underground gains strength, and the line between law‑enforcement and political maneuvering blurs. Sage must navigate personal entanglements, corporate intrigue, and the looming threat of a war that could destroy more than just one world.
Language
en
Duration
~1 hours (75K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
United States: Columbia Publications, Inc., 1951.
Credits
Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2023-04-17
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1900–1980
A prolific American pulp writer, he filled the pages of early science fiction magazines with fast-moving stories and vivid ideas. He also wrote mystery and adventure fiction, building a long career across popular magazines of the mid-20th century.
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