Man o' War

Benton Hawkes is a career diplomat, the best in his field. He is also a maverick, and in his last posting he made some very powerful people angry. Hawkes expected some repercussions, but he was unprepared for the punishment his commanders would mete out: he has been assigned to the planet Mars. Hawkes loves wide-open spaces; the thought of living in the cramped mining tunnels of Mars horrifies him. But events on the Red Planet threaten the living conditions of everyone on earth, as well as the lives of the Martian colonists.

Sick of their slavelike lives, the colonists are approaching a state of open revolt - none of the promises they were made a generation ago have been kept. But raw materials from Martian mines have become vital to Earth, and revolution will not be tolerated. A diplomat of Benton Hawkes's patience and experience is the only chance for peace.

Hawkes knows the situation is more desperate than official reports indicate. Two attempts made on his life before he even got to Mars have proved that. Why is it worth so much to someone to have the revolution take place? Who is setting Hawkes up to fail - and probably to be killed in the process? Can he find a way for the colonists and the Red Planet Corporation to compromise and build a peaceful world - on the planet whose name has always stood for war?