The Variable Man
Bok av Philip K. Dick
The Terran system is growing and expanding all the time. But an old and corrupt Centaurian Empire is holding Terra down, as it encircles the Terran system and will not let the humans grow out of their current empire. For this reason Terra is at war with Proxima Centauri and is trying to find a way of breaking free from the Centaurian's hold upon them.In the war that results, Terra is continually coming up with new weapons to try and break the Centaurian defenses, but Proxima Centauri is also continually updating its defenses. Eventually Terra comes up with a concept for a bomb, called Icarus, that Proxima can not defend against. The only problem being is that Icarus does not yet work. This is where Thomas Cole, known as The Variable Man, comes in. Cole is a man from the past, from the time just before the First World War. The Variable Man is the only person who can make Icarus work. Icarus works but not in the way that anyone may have ever expected.