02712cam a22003973u 450000100060000000300070000600500170001300600020003000700050003200800410003704000110007804100170008905000070010610000280011324500270014126400510016830000470021933600260026633700260029233800360031849000450035450001260039950000310052550801080055652013230066453400450198765300200203265300180205265300340207065300280210465300380213265300250217070000310219583000450222685600430227162168UtSlPG20260610134431.0mcr n260607r2020||||utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d  aUtSlPG 7aen2iso639-1 4aPS1 aWylie, Dirk,d1920-194910aAsteroid of the Damned 1aSalt Lake City, UT :bProject Gutenberg,c2020  a1 online resource :bmultiple file formats  atextbtxt2rdacontent  acomputerbc2rdamedia  aonline resourcebcr2rdacarrier1 aProduced from Planet Stories Summer 1942  aAttributed to Pohl and Wylie by the Internet Speculative Fiction Database: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1417015  aRelease date is 2020-05-18  aProduced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net  a"Asteroid of the Damned" by Dirk Wylie is a science fiction novel likely written in the early 1940s. The story is set on a lawless asteroid known as Pallas, which serves as a refuge for outlaws and an infamous gambling den populated by a peculiar race called the Kiddies. The narrative revolves around a protagonist named MacCauley, who is on a mission to track down a crime lord involved in the narcotics trade flooding the inner planets with a dangerous drug called narcophene.  The plot unfolds as MacCauley navigates the chaotic life on Pallas, encountering various alien species and the close-knit, odd inhabitants known as Kiddies, who have a bizarre obsession with metal. After being robbed by one of them, MacCauley faces numerous challenges, including the treachery of a fellow TPL (Tri-Planet Law) agent named Kittrell, who is revealed to be part of the narcophene operation. The story builds up to a tense climax where MacCauley cleverly uses his knowledge of the Kiddies' affinity for metal, ultimately using it to negotiate his escape and seize control of the situation, setting up for a potential future empire on the asteroid. The concluding twist highlights themes of ambition and the unexpected ways one can turn adversity into an opportunity for success. (This is an automatically generated summary.)  nOriginal publication data not identified  aScience fiction  aShort stories  aDetective and mystery stories  aDrug traffic -- Fiction  aHuman-alien encounters -- Fiction  aAsteroids -- Fiction1 aPohl, Frederik,d1919-2013 0aProduced from Planet Stories Summer 194240uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62168