More than a hundred years into the future, Earth—as well as colonies across the Solar System—are dominated by two terrestrial governments deadlocked in an ongoing struggle for supremacy: the faux-democratic United Planet (UP) and the neo-Marxist Tasurbomurians. Add into the mix an alien civilization with unknown intentions, and the stage is set for a conflict with potentially apocalyptic outcomes.
Physicist Will Carlan remembers what life was like in North America before the UP took over. When people had real freedom and could live on their own terms. Unfortunately, his preference for life before the UP and his outspokenness don't help him make friends in high places. He soon falls out of favor with the United Planet government, which keeps close tabs on all its subjects. He is relocated against his will to a remote outpost on Earth's closest neighbor, the red planet.
Carlan has barely touched down on Mars to begin his forced assignment when rival Tasurbomurian forces invade the planet, in response to the disappearance of a Tasurbomurian ship near Planet Uranus and miscalculations by the United Planet leadership.
Far above Carlan's pay grade, the mysterious leader of the Tasurbomurians has set his sights on control of the entire Solar System. The missing ship provides the perfect justification to launch a military attack, and catching the enemy by surprise is an added bonus. The Tasurbomurians quickly overrun the colony, and they aren't interested in showing mercy. With the destruction of UP forces on Mars, Carlan suddenly finds himself at the center of a struggle by the colonists to survive. They uncover a dark secret hidden for decades, deep in the subterranean catacombs of the colony that ironically could save their lives. One colonist discovers a fleeting hint of the true antiquity of the conflict in which they are now embroiled.
The survivors' scramble to escape brings a clash of arms with the fierce Tasurbomurian storm troopers under the harsh and frigid conditions of Mars, while a lone UP flagship makes a last stand against Tasurbomurian warships in outer space above.
Carlan is swept up in an intricate and deadly contest with more players than anyone realizes. Years earlier, an ill-fated starship voyage to the Alpha Centauri star system brought humans in contact with two alien races, the hostile Etonians, and a mysterious civilization known as Arca. The outcome of a brief military conflict opened up opportunities for interstellar commerce with Arca. With little reason to look beyond the economic profits, the United Planet entered into an alliance with the Arcans.
Now, the conflict between the rival human governments entangles the Arcans and sets in motion a larger drama that may transform this interplanetary squabble into a contest that could lead to the end of humankind. Their only hope may be another trip to the heart of Alpha Centauri, a place where Earthlings and Arcans aren't welcome.
In the larger Fate of Men space series, Carlan and his unlikely crewmates take a UP starship back to Alpha Centauri ostensibly for scientific exploration. Along the way, the UP starship explores worlds never before seen by the eyes of humankind. But the top-secret objective is to secure a secret technology hidden there during a previous Arcan rebellion and now beyond the reach of Arca. Tasurbomur is determined to get its hands on this prize first, which would both bring the solar system to its knees and threaten the Arcan Empire.
Come on an adventure of good and evil, camaraderie and hatred, combat in outer space and the harsh conditions of Mars, and the unfolding of a larger drama that may determine the Fate of Men.
