El poder en las sombras

This Spanish-language science fiction pulp from Editorial Bruguera (August 1981) contains "El Poder en las Sombras" (Power in the Shadows) by Ralph Barby, the 575th installment in the "La Conquista del Espacio" series. The narrative follows cosmonaut Conrad Castell aboard the starship Senglar-81, returning from Planet Amadeus with his infected crewmate Joseph. Upon approach to Mars Colony Zero, Castell undergoes decontamination protocols while Joseph receives quarantine treatment. After landing, a broadcast announces catastrophic news: a computer malfunction has detonated supraneutron bombs in Earth's silos, killing over one billion people. The story establishes a future society governed by mercenary militias financed by anonymous megacorporations, with political opposition suppressed and dissidents exiled to penal planets. Castell encounters an old acquaintance, the robed figure Honorable Groc, who cautiously approaches him about anti-government resistance movements. The narrative develops themes of technological control, governmental oppression, and clandestine opposition.