Angel Station

Ubu has four arms, a fantastically faithful memory and is 13 years old. His 11-year-old ``sister'' Maria is more conventionally constructed, yet so psychic she considers herself a witch. (Both mature with the artificial aid of ``mones'' to the time of their late teens.) Their ``father,'' Pasco, a small-time trader with an ancient spaceship, originally assembled them from spare genetic material and personality programs, but he commits suicide while in the throes of a depression, leaving his children to fend for themselves. Ubu compounds their problems by making an unwise business move, putting them deeply in debt--in danger of losing the ship and facing a life of virtual indenture. An attempt to capitalize on Maria's psychic abilities in a casino ends in disaster, leading to their arrest, escape and lives pursued on the edge of the law. Williams ( Hardwired ) colorfully evokes the life of the trader families and their honkytonk space stations. With its emphasis on youth, beauty, sex and mischief, the novel also conjures a contemporary mood agreeably distinct from its futuristic setting. (Sept.)