It's 150 years in the future, and times have changed. The long-stalled space program finally went private and got off the ground. Now the big issue lies with the United Nations of Earth, which refuses to grant independence to the colonies on Luna, Mars, and in the Belt. Civil war could be the result—threatening to tear the elite Star Voyager Academy apart.

As a plebe at the Academy, Justin Bell was on the path to making his dreams come true: traveling in space. But, even in the 22nd century, cold hard reality has a way of frustrating dreams. There was tension between Earth and the far-flung colonies in the solar system. The colonists had demanded more freedom than Earth was willing to grant—and so Mars declared its independence. No other colonies had broken away, and war had not broken out—yet—but the situation was dangerous. To make things worse, contact had just been made with extraterrestrials—very unfriendly contact.... The times were the sort that made for exciting reading when they were safely embalmed in the history books, but were less than comfortable for those living through them. But Justin had the stuff of heroes—which was fortunate for him, and for Earth...

Risking everything to follow his dream of reaching for the stars, Justin Bell struggles to cope with Martian colonists demanding freedom from the paternalistic Earth government, while dealing with hostile aliens out to destroy all human civilization. Original.