Night Walk (novel)

Night Walk is a science fiction novel by Bob Shaw, first published in 1967.

Plot

Emm Luther is a planet ruled by a single, worldwide theocracy. It is sparsely populated, and a couple of railroads run up and down the coasts of the largest continent. Earth sends secret agent Sam Tallon to Emm Luther to infiltrate the theocracy, and extract the coordinates of the jump points, a closely guarded secret.

When the religious secret police discover he has false credentials, and has entered the world under false pretenses, a frantic chase and flight ensues, terminated only when they break down his hotel room, and a high-ranking Security Agent fires his dart gun into Sam's eyes, permanently blinding him. He is taken to a secret prison complex in the southernmost tip of the most distant continent to convalesce. While he is there, he enlists the aid of the scientific elite in the ranks and files of the political prisoners there, and together they design a pair of electronic "sonar" eyes. Equipped with an audio feedback system depending on which direction he turns his "eyeglasses" or headgear, he discerns a different kind of audio tone.

Then, with the aid of two other prisoners, they might have a chance at escaping the prison, traveling across the diameter of the planet, and reaching his secret contact. Managing to get the necessary equipment, they escape, wading through 20 miles of swamp and shallows. Tallon manages to cross the single continent of Emm Luther, rendezvous with secret agents whose covers are not yet blown, and escape the planet by boarding a spaceship and departing from the local planet. Later, he finds he must master the intricacies of the "jump stick," a form of jump drive via portals to "null-space" (a hyperspace parallel universe passing through which instantaneous space travel is achieved).