Dale Lorin, gaunt, somber veteran of the Third World War, visionary, idealist, ex-political columnist, was deeply scarred by the two tragedies in his life. He was dangerously close to a Messiah complex in his desire to make the world of 1967 free, for a time at least, of the almost unbearable international tension. The United States had become a second class power in a world once again hag-ridden by fascism. Dake Lorin was working with Darwin Branson, an elder statesman, engaged in arranging secret treaties to give the world a breathing space. Ballroom of the Skies is the story of how Dake Lorin found the incredible answer to why, despite the essential goodness of everyman, there will never be peace and sanity on Earth. He found why he had to be driven to the thin edge of madness before he could be of service to Empire. This is the story of an ultimate conspiracy, and an ultimate answer