Insidekick

On the alien world of Antar, Interworld Corporation rules through bureaucracy, ritual, and profit, turning justice into a business tool and espionage into a routine inconvenience. Undercover investigator Albert Johnson quickly discovers that the real threat is not just betrayal by local informants like Shifaz, but a larger corporate scheme built around illegal tobacco exploitation and plantation-style control. As he moves through the crowded, sensory overload of Vaornia and the dangerous wastes beyond it, he is hunted, arrested, and nearly poisoned by Fred Kemmer, the man overseeing Operation Weed and willing to kill to protect it. Johnson's survival depends on a startling ally: the Zark, a strange alien creature whose curiosity and compassion are as unsettling as its abilities. After rescuing him in the Devan Forest, it takes up residence in his body, repairing him, sharpening him, and probing his mind even as he tries to expose the conspiracy and escape to the Patrol. Blending noir suspense, dark humor, and first-contact science fiction, the story pits one man's desperate investigation against corporate corruption, alien strangeness, and a world where every rule can be weaponized. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.