The Trikon Deception

This collaboration by veteran SF author Bova ( Voyagers ) and astronaut Pogue ( How Do You Go to the Bathroom in Space? ) is set in 1998 and extrapolates from such recent phenomena as the ongoing ecological crisis, the collapse of Soviet communism and the establishment of the European Community. Trikon International is a multinational conglomerate of corporations from the three continents (tri-con) of Asia, North America and Europe. Trikon Station is an orbiting satellite on which ecologically oriented experiments in genetic engineering too dangerous to be conducted on earth are being carried out. While the trappings are fascinating and the science is solid, the story itself never gets off the ground. In a standard Bova structure of a half-dozen or so interwoven story lines, a large cast--various nationals all angling for sole credit for saving the world, and all of whom are more types than characters--proceeds toward an implausibly happy ending. (Feb.)