Thin Edge

Thin Edge is a science fiction novella by Randal Garrett, first published in 1963.

There are inventions of great value that one type of society can use—and that would, for another society, be most nastily deadly!

This is a story of treachery and revenge. The welfare-state world of Earth wants a secret fiber invented and used in the Libertarian asteroid belt. An asteroid miner comes to Earth to investigate the "suicide" of his friend and immediately finds himself jailed.

Randall Garrett (1927-1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was a prolific contributor to Astounding and other science fiction magazines of the 1950s and 1960s. He instructed Robert Silverberg in the techniques of selling large quantities of action-adventure science fiction, and collaborated with him on two novels about Earth bringing civilization to an alien planet.