Four stories from a master of Science Fiction.
"Algis Budrys is that rarity, an intellectual genre writer" John Clute from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
Blood on My Jets — Ash had been working for the Earth agency in a covert way for a long time. If there was an area that was classified, that needed cleaning up, that operated in the gray areas even when those gray areas that went black—Ash was their man. Ash had blood on his hands, but it was in the service of the good, he hoped. But then Pat McKay walked into his life again. A beautiful girl with cooper hair and brown eyes. She turned the head of every man she passed. And now she wanted Ash for a job, a dirty job—but why had she chosen him?
Die, Shadow! — After being asleep for many millenniums, Greaves is awakened. Worshipped and needed, he now must face the Shadow People.
The Burning World — The government knew what was best for its citizens, didn't it? And it could go on doing what was best for it's people, if they wanted it or not.
Firegod — Some are born to greatness, others achieve the rulership of system―but Merssu wanted to be a god. All he needed was a million years and a little luck!
