Muck Man

Asa Graybar, a young biological engineer framed for theft, accepts penal conversion to a muck-adapted changeling so he can be sent to Jordan's Planet and hunt rare Slider eggs while shortening his sentence. The narrative outlines medical techniques that regenerate and reshape human bodies for hostile worlds and the legal shortcut letting convicts earn freedom through one-year changeling service. On the voyage he talks with other returnees about the eggs' crystalline shells and mesmerizing internal lightning, and the story follows his effort to study fresh eggs under natural conditions despite high mortality risk and corporate opponents who want to stop him.