Ludger Brink

Maggie Robbins told that he led a US geological team mapping the surface of Venus.

Story
Brink is at first quite cooperative with Boston Low and the others during the Attila mission, however, when Low, Robbins and he are stranded on the alien world, Brink immediately becomes eager to challenge Low for leadership, citing his expertise in exploration as the reason to be in charge and not destroy possible artifacts they may find. However, when given the chance to dig by Low, the ground collapses and Brink is killed tumbling down into an underground chamber.

But death is not the end for Brink. Using a mysterious green crystal, Low is able to revive Brink. Feeling energized and more clear of mind than he has ever felt, Brink begins researching the crystals, believing them to be the greatest scientific find ever. As the story progresses, it soon becomes apparent that abuse of the crystals has destroyed all traces of rationality in Brink, making him suspicious of Low and Robbins and unable to trust anything they say or do.

In the Tomb Spire, Brink spends most of his time tinkering with a relic, which is later revealed to be the very device that created the life crystals. Low later steals Brink's stash of crystals in order to get his aid in rescuing Robbins from a strange spider like creature and afterwards beats Low senseless for his blackmail. Later still, Brink is forced to let Low amputate his left hand when it becomes trapped in a crevice after attempting to retrieve another life crystal. Low manages to coerce Brink into using the relic to make him and Robbins crystals for the alien device so they can activate the eye, but Brink is horrified to learn that the machine can only make a limited number of crystals with each activation. When Low tries to take the first two crystals, explaining they will be more than enough, Brink snaps and tries to murder Low with a rock, but loses balance and falls to his death.

At the end, Brink is revived by one of the aliens, severely aged, but free of his addiction to the life crystals. He is then assured that his accelerated age will have no impact on his life.