The planet Aleph is overcrowded, its rulers inbred and decadent. The planet Gimel is smaller, totalitarian and just as over populated. They both want Virrona. Which means that an interstellar war is brewing.The Federation would like to send an experienced diplomat to defuse the situation threatening the Omicron Galaxy. But that's not possible. The one Federation man on the spot is Simon Rack …The enemy leaders try to ignore him. They try to threaten him. They try to bribe him. Finally they try to kill him. But Simon Rack is a professional.And he's hard to kill… Laurence James was an original member of the Piccadilly Cowboys. In 1972 he wrote his first novel, Earth Lies Sleeping - a sci-fiction book introducing Simon Rack, inter-galatic hero. He has written under many psuedonyms including John J McLaglen and James W Marvin. "KEEP THE STARS FREE" - That's the motto of the Galactic Security Service. Using vast ships and the massive weight of Federation diplomacy, it sweeps the star-ways to hold inter-stellar conflict in check. Most of the time.The Federation fleet is big enough for most missions. But for some it's too big, like when a dictator's throat needs cutting. Or a spy lost in a prison colony on Golot 4. Dirty Jobs. Violent jobs. Lonely jobs. That's when they send for SIMON RACK.
