Evil Out of Onzar

The orphan system of Onzar was fuming under its leader's driving, paranoid megalomania. For there was a prize. A vast, grand prize within a parsec of this ambitious domain—the major warp-lines of space crossing the Galaxy between the Allied Worlds and the Darzent Empire.  Thane is a secret agent for the Alliance (of Earth planets) who is assigned to protect an Onzar scientist working on a new warp drive in Norway from agents of his own world.
Onzar is a breakaway Earth colony ruled by a powermad dictator. It just happens to be located near where the galaxy's warp lines converge, and will be vital in the coming galactic war with the ruthless Darzent Empire.