The Electronic Siege by John W. Campbell, Jr.

Ezra Markham arrives aboard the space liner Vega in a blaze of complaint, self-importance, and comic excess, instantly clashing with the crew while a heavier tension hangs over the voyage. The ship is guarded by the Interplanetary Lane Patrol because the Eugenics Research Colony, a dangerous scientific cult, has been kidnapping victims for genetic experiments from a hidden asteroid base. When enemy sphere ships strike with devastating protolectric fire, the Vega is disabled and its passengers are taken captive. Among the prisoners, the supposedly helpless Markham reveals himself to be Donald Barclay, a powerful Jovian colonist with extraordinary strength, agility, and nerve. Carried to a bizarre artificial world inside a hollowed metal planetoid, he finds a civilization of dazzling science and ruthless control, lit by artificial suns and defended by armored tunnels, locks, and weapons. Once separated from the others, he bends bars, escapes, steals weapons, and seizes the colony's power-house, turning its own systems against it. As the struggle escalates, Barclay cuts off power, transmits vital coordinates and technical data to Commander Morrison, and battles sabotage, betrayal, and a collapsing defense grid. Even as the planet's protolectric guns begin misfiring and its charged field threatens to trap and destroy incoming Patrol ships, Barclay remains calm, alert, and formidable, proving that beneath Markham's blustering disguise lies a formidable hero in a hard-edged tale of space adventure, scientific menace, and desperate survival. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.