Operation Misfit — E. Hoffmann Price

DESTINATION KATMANDU--OR THE MURKY MINES OF MARS

Rod Garvin just made too many waves for the Thought Control Board that controlled the Plastic Society of the 21st century. Throwing him in an insane asylum didn't restrain him, nor--when that didn't work--did sentencing him to a suicide job on Mars. Garvin was bright, driven and stubborn, so the only thing Thought Control could do was get rid of him quietly and permanently.

And that was fine with Garvin...since it meant he could make his dreamed-of voyage into deep space. But even beyond Saturn, Garvin couldn't avoid his talent for trouble. When his exploration ship stumbled on an asteroid peopled by remnants of a starfaring race and possessed of incredible mineral wealth, it opened a prospect of unlimited loot for Earth and Thought Control--if only Rod Garvin hadn't been the man to make the find ...