Dickson's hero in this novel is perhaps a foreshadowing of his ultra-competent Dorsai. Rafe Harald is one of the very few astronauts in the project to take Earthmen to the stars. The project is beset with problems, and Rafe realizes these aren't just accidental problems, but sabotage on a major scale. So he leaves the moonbase and heads back to Earth to do something about it.
This is not one of Dickson's best, but it poses some interesting questions.
From back cover: The core tap stations promised fulfillment of an ancient dream. They delivered a nightmare---
At night, along with the unlimited food and energy came an involuntary hypnotic sleep filled with terror. As the world fell into nightmare only a few remained unaffected, among them Rafe Harald, who had come from the Moon in search of a missing friend. Now he was a fugitive, not only from the rapidly disintegrating World Government, but from the murderous agents of a mysterious figure known as the Old Man.
On his side Rafe had the sister of the friend he had come to find, and a wolf with augmented intelligence--- but how could the three of them hope to stand against an enemy whose minions said that he could never die?
This is not one of Dickson's best, but it poses some interesting questions.
From back cover: The core tap stations promised fulfillment of an ancient dream. They delivered a nightmare---
At night, along with the unlimited food and energy came an involuntary hypnotic sleep filled with terror. As the world fell into nightmare only a few remained unaffected, among them Rafe Harald, who had come from the Moon in search of a missing friend. Now he was a fugitive, not only from the rapidly disintegrating World Government, but from the murderous agents of a mysterious figure known as the Old Man.
On his side Rafe had the sister of the friend he had come to find, and a wolf with augmented intelligence--- but how could the three of them hope to stand against an enemy whose minions said that he could never die?
