The advanced education provided by Baslim and the fast reflexes of youth make him an ideal fire controlman, in which position Thorby destroys a pirate craft.
The plot is markedly similar to that of Robert Heinlein's Citizen of the Galaxy, including its essentially identical setup of a young slave boy—who is really the lost heir of a powerful family—being bought for a pittance by a seeming beggar, who is himself really a spy, and who suspects the boy's true identity.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Citizen Kane | Los Angeles Galaxy | Galaxy | Guardians of the Galaxy | Ottawa Citizen | citizen | Andromeda Galaxy | Lockheed C-5 Galaxy | Guardians of the Galaxy (2008 team) | Team Galaxy | spiral galaxy | Seyfert galaxy | Citizen Cope | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film) | Galaxy Science Fiction | Citizen Lab | Upright Citizen's Brigade | Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle: Never Ending Odyssey | Samsung Galaxy | Rogue Galaxy | Galaxy Express 999 | galaxy | Ford Galaxy | British Overseas citizen | Ares Galaxy | Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (video game) | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV series) | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series) |
Such organizations are a staple of science fiction long predating cyberpunk, appearing in the works of writers such as Philip K. Dick (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), Thea von Harbou (Metropolis), Robert A. Heinlein (Citizen of the Galaxy), Robert Asprin (The Cold Cash War) and Andre Norton (the Solar Queen novels).