Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
While
humanity is spreading their wings, leaving Earth to colonize large bodies of
the Solar System, their home planet's waring nations and internal political
powerplays are tearing countries apart, increasing social and class divides.
The President of the United States himself, Horton Willoughby III, is but a
puppet to his wife's scheming, and governs over only Eastern America, civil war
having caused a catastrophic divide down the center of the United States.
Western America won't heed his administration, and international leaders see
him for the political farce that he is.
Richfield
Chan, a powerful industrialist, has never held or sought political office for
himself. Nor has he actually manufactured anything, greatly preferring to buy
up companies teetering on the brink--building them up or tearing them down. He
sees in the United States a fractured government not unlike the companies he buys:
an opportunity to seize power. Whether he is wielding it himself, or content to
stay the marionette controlling his chosen puppet from the shadows, he makes
his move.
Chan rallies
his political and industrial allies into agreeing to send the seventh colony
ship to Mars to rally the powerful to his Imperial aspirations and undermine
the current United States president. Never mind that the previous six missions
sent by the government had failed.
Never mind
that all prior colonists perished.
When the Ngu
family--responsible for the successful terraforming and mining of the second
largest asteroid in the Belt, Pallas--hear of Chan's plans, they realize that
any follow-up rescue mission from Earth will arrive too late, and will be as
ill-formed as the nations sending it. Four of eight siblings decide to leave
their privileged lives behind to launch a rescue mission from Pallas, knowing
their spaceship will get to the ailing colonists much quicker, and with the
expertise and implements better chosen to aide in all of their survival.
For Billy
and Teal, and the other Ngu siblings braving the voyage, know that their
mission is a one-way trip. They either rescue the colonists and teach
them all how to work together to survive on an inhospitable rock in space--not
unlike the earliest days on the harsh asteroid they grew up on--or they somehow
learn how to survive until another ship can be sent to rescue those who can
endure.
Too long
have the "little people" been subjected the whims and follies of incompetent
governments. It was time to make their own stand.
Synopsis
Amidst political turmoil on Earth, a rescue mission to ailing colonists on Mars becomes a battle for power and survival in the
harsh realities of space.
As humanity explores space, political strife rips apart nations and increases
social divides. US President Horton Willoughby III governs only Eastern
America, and is seen as a political farce. Industrialist Richfield Chan sees
opportunity in the fractured government, and plans to seize power.
Chan
rallies allies to send a seventh colony ship to Mars, hoping to undermine the
current president. The Ngu family, responsible for terraforming and mining on
Pallas, realize that any rescue mission from Earth will arrive too late. Four
siblings launch a rescue mission from Pallas to save the ailing colonists with
their expertise and better chosen implements.
The Ngu
siblings know their mission is one-way, and must teach the colonists to survive
on the inhospitable planet or find a way to endure until another rescue ship
arrives. The "little people" refuse to be subject to incompetent governments
any longer, and must make their own stand.