V W Smith

Bast's Assignment V W Smith

Sebastus ("Bast") Tadlock is a man with a mission. He must save Earth and terraformed Mars from attack and invasion by an obnoxious unisex humanoid race called the Nosbor. They come from a planet that is an ecological nightmare but unimaginably rich in gold, silver, platinum, and other pre6ious metals. Pretending to come in peace, they seduce much of Earth by using their vast wealth to buy whatever they want-goods, property, services, political influence, even social acceptability. In the dystopian future society on Earth everything and almost everyone is available for a price, which to the Nosbor is literally no object. Bast's assignment is to develop a superweapon before the fleet of the Nosbor and their amphibian allies the Mkrakken can show up to destroy all resistance and take by force whatever they could not buy. This weapon is a tachyonic beam which eliminates its target by teleporting it into a parallel dimension. In his experiments on Earth and Mars, Bast not only discovers and explores several alternate realities, but also recognizes and pursues beautiful, charming Ingrid, the love of his life. In contrast to the frequent suspense and occasional anguish of Bast's adventures are the many instructive experiences and hilarious misadventures of Bast's adopted son. Eddie Tadlock seems in all respects a normal, healthy ten-year-old boy, but he is in fact an exiled alien emperor transformed back to childhood by the Retrogression Procedure from extreme old age some three years ago. After adapting quite well to living as a boy on Mars, Eddie must now endure and cope with the widespread discrimination and humiliation to which most "retros" are subjected on Earth. Eddie and Bast persevere through everything with courage and panache. Like its precursors MICHAEL REMEMBERS and BAST'S RECORD, their sequel BAST'S ASSIGNMENT is both social satire and science fiction at their best.