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Infusion by Clint Smith
01/06/2006 . Source: Paul Hanley 
pub: ASI Publishing Group. 319 page paperback. Price: $ 6.50 (US), $ 8.50 (CAN). ISBN: 0-9759271-0-8. Buy Infusion in the USA - or Buy Infusion in the UK  check out website: www.asipublishing.com
I do not know if Clint Smith has written any Science Fiction novels before. I gather he is known for his technical writings and believe he will also soon be equally well known for his SF as this was a great book and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The theme is conservation and the dilemmas it poses. Good SF, good fiction for that matter, whatever its apparent setting tends to address the problems of the time it was written in.
An alien race lives on two sister planets, Kimoph and Zeron, which orbit a common sun. They have a desperate need for a substance they call dattan to re-build both worlds whose eco-systems were virtually destroyed in a civil war by bio-weapons both sides deployed.
This substance is difficult and expensive to obtain but if they can acquire enough of it, their planets will be self-sustaining as the eco-systems become viable and produce it naturally. Unfortunately, their desperate need for dattan brought them into an interstellar war with another race called the Tokilums. They are mounting raids against dattan processing plants on the fringes of their territory which is creating acute shortages of dattan.
There are other, more easily accessible sources of dattan available but since they had destroyed the eco-structure of another world, there is a self-imposed ban on mining on inhabited worlds. An organisation known as KIEF enforce this ban.
A KIEF agent, Kiren Hillel, goes aboard an interstellar transport ship as they have been informed it might be involved in illegal mining. The ship departs and out of communication range before she discovers that they are heading to Earth to carry out the illegal mining.
This is an exciting adventure story. Slowly, it is revealed that the illegal mining has support from the highest levels of government and big business. Things start to go wrong. A human gets aboard a scout ship and is taken back to the mothership. Once the dangerous business of mining is underway, it sets off the worst storm in human history. As the illegal operation becomes known at home, the KIEF despatch a warship to arrest the criminals whilst their bosses despatch other military force to dispose of any evidence against them.
I won't spoil the story by giving anymore of the plot away. Safe to say that it is a very good adventure story based on a serious problem and demonstrates that there are no easy answers. Well worth reading.
In short, 'Infusion' is a thought-provoking SF adventure whose tension and suspense builds as the plot thickens and unfolds.
Paul Hanley
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