In the towering City of Switzerland, after a century of peace, political power was deadlocked between the Solar Referendum Party and the Radical Liberal Movement. Until the laughing Fireclown arrived. His jovial personality, grotesque appearance and powerful speeches in favour of a return to Nature:  all these excited the masses- and struck fear into the ruling elite. Was the Fireclown merely a romantic anachronism, a potential vote catcher, an issue with which to distract the populace from Earth's real problems? Or was he a genuine threat to humanity's future? Only Alan Powys and Helen Curtis tried to understand what the Fireclown was really saying...Cover art  by George Underwood.