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Rating: 
- Immensely entertaining Sci-fi action story
This is a really good action story by Margaret Ball. Those of her novels which I have previously read have been fantasy but this one is science fiction.
The central character is an young orphan called Maris who lives on a space station where the only life available to her is to work for the boss of a criminal gang. The gang boss orders her to tail a woman who has been asking too many questions. Then the woman is captured by the gang, turns out to be a government agent or "Diplomat" called Calandra Vissi with all sorts of special abilities, and walks out of an airlock to avoid being forced to tell what she's up to.
Noting some resemblance between Maris and Calandra, the gang boss decides to provide the police with a body which they could mistake for Calandra before they take the station apart looking for her. So he has Calandra's ID gimmicked to match Maris, and plans to fake her accidental death. Realising what he's planning, Maris escapes by catching the Diplomatic shuttle which Calandra was due to take to the primitive world Kalapriya.
However, Maris's problems are only just beginning. She has no training in how to pass for a diplomat, none of the enhancements which a real diplomat would have, and she hasn't been on the planet of Kalapriya for half a day when one of the criminals who Calandra was coming to the planet to investigate tries to assassinate her.
But although she isn't a real diplomat, Maris turns out to be more resourceful than anyone, including herself, could possibly have expected.
Delightful story with all the humour and charm one can usually expect from Margaret Ball.
The one warning I would give to anyone thinking of buying this, is that the racket the bad guys are up to is not just evil but seriously disgusting, and parts of this novel are not for the squeamish. Apart from that I can very strongly recommend it.
- Immensely entertaining Sci-fi action storyThis is a really good action story by Margaret Ball. Those of her novels which I have previously read have been fantasy but this one is science fiction.
The central character is an young orphan called Maris who lives on a space station where the only life available to her is to work for the boss of a criminal gang. The gang boss orders her to tail a woman who has been asking too many questions. Then the woman is captured by the gang, turns out to be a government agent or "Diplomat" called Calandra Vissi with all sorts of special abilities, and walks out of an airlock to avoid being forced to tell what she's up to.
Noting some resemblance between Maris and Calandra, the gang boss decides to provide the police with a body which they could mistake for Calandra before they take the station apart looking for her. So he has Calandra's ID gimmicked to match Maris, and plans to fake her accidental death. Realising what he's planning, Maris escapes by catching the Diplomatic shuttle which Calandra was due to take to the primitive world Kalapriya.
However, Maris's problems are only just beginning. She has no training in how to pass for a diplomat, none of the enhancements which a real diplomat would have, and she hasn't been on the planet of Kalapriya for half a day when one of the criminals who Calandra was coming to the planet to investigate tries to assassinate her.
But although she isn't a real diplomat, Maris turns out to be more resourceful than anyone, including herself, could possibly have expected.
Delightful story with all the humour and charm one can usually expect from Margaret Ball.
The one warning I would give to anyone thinking of buying this, is that the racket the bad guys are up to is not just evil but seriously disgusting, and parts of this novel are not for the squeamish. Apart from that I can very strongly recommend it.