Double Star

SUMMARY: One minute, down and out actor Lorenzo Smythe was -- as usual -- in a bar, drinking away his troubles as he watched his career go down the tubes. Then a space pilot bought him a drink, and the next thing Smythe knew, he was shanghaied to Mars.Suddenly he found himself agreeing to the most difficult role of his career: impersonating an important politician who had been kidnapped. Peace with the Martians was at stake -- failure to pull off the act could result in interplanetary war. And Smythe's own life was on the line -- for if he wasn't assassinated, there was always the possibility that he might be trapped in his new role forever! One minute, down and out actor Lorenzo Smythe was — as usual — in a bar, drinking away his troubles as he watched his career go down the tubes. Then a space pilot bought him a drink, and the next thing Smythe knew, he was shanghaied to Mars. Suddenly he found himself agreeing to the most difficult role of his career: impersonating an important politician who had been kidnapped. Peace with the Martians was at stake — failure to pull off the act could result in interplanetary war. And Smythe's own life was on the line — for if he wasn't assassinated, there was always the possibility that he might be trapped in his new role forever!

from The Dark Recesses Of A Moon-based Hotel Bar, Unemployed Actor Lorenzo Smythe Is Hired To Impersonate John Bonforte, A Politician Who's Been Kidnapped In The Middle Of An Election Campaign. Lorenzo Knows Nothing Of The Issues Concerning Free Interplanetary Trade And Equal Rights For Aliens--and Cares Even Less, But The Politico's Top Aide Offers A Handsome Compensation, And Assurance That The Charade Will Last Only Until They Find Mr. Bonforte....

An actor is coerced into impersonating a kidnapped politician. When the politician dies, his staff persuades the actor to continue and to carry out the politician's ambitions IF A MAN WALKS IN DRESSED LIKE A HICK AND acting as if he owned the place, he's a spaceman.