In a tense future where Earth's superpowers have turned space into a militarized standoff, the President and the Russian Premier meet in Geneva and fail to break the deadlock. Their collapse of a disarmament conference leaves the world fearing orbiting bomb stations and the "thunder" of catastrophe. A month later, aboard the cramped American station Goddard, Jerry Blane is left in temporary command as military cargo, secret scientists, and political suspicion arrive together. When radiation in the bomb bay begins rising for no explainable reason, Blane and Dr. Austin Peal realize the station may be in immediate danger. At the same time, news of Soviet rocket losses, Earthside obstruction, and a desperate SOS from the damaged Russian station force Blane toward a risky decision: an unauthorized rescue using scarce fuel and a discreet ferry transfer. He and Peal reach the larger Russian station, Sulky, and meet Dr. Sonya Vartanian, whose calm command and unexpected candor expose a deeper truth. The apparent bomb threat is a bluff, the weapons have already been removed, and the casings themselves are becoming radioactive through a dangerous cosmic process. In a world built on fear, cooperation may be the only way to avert disaster. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.