Dark Dominion by David Duncan - 1954

E-001: Ballantine Books. Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. 1954. First Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. Hardcover. 8vo. Ballantine Books. 1954. 206 pgs. First Edition/First Printing. DJ has shelf-wear present. Bound in cloth boards. Boards have light shelf-wear present to the extremities. No ownership marks present. Text is clean and free of marks. Binding tight and solid. Dr. Phil Ambert and his wife live at a top secret facility in Big Sur, California completely cut off from the surrounding world -- along with hundreds of other families -- called The Magellan Project. Dr. Ambert, the project director, oversees the development and construction of the "The Black Planet" -- a massive space station (of the revolving gravity creating sort) designed to be launched into orbit like a rocket. The purpose of the "space station was military. Many of the staff liked to believe that the scientific value of the satellite would soon overshadow its military function" (7). In space "The Black Planet" will serve as a launching pad for nuclear weapons. Supposedly its launch will create peace, as in, a weapon that will force the Soviets to bow down to the West. The astronauts on the station will "be all powerful with orders to remain that way. Let nothing start that can challenge your supremacy. A ship in the Pacific. Destroy it. Then the turn of a dial, the clocking of progress on the radar scree, the missile and target come together and the ship is gone. A city, an army, a nation" (53). Although Duncan points out that people are frustrated with the military purpose of the project, their consuming desire to see the station's completion and fear of losing loved ones provides the majority of the mental tension. E-01; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 206 pages .