To Slip the Surly Bonds of Earth

The West is entering its final phase, like the fall of Rome or the Late Merchant Phase of the various Chinese empires. It is slowly grinding to a halt as the inevitable problems multiply, with no obvious will to counter the decline. One man dreams of humanity becoming a multiplanet species in the hope of preserving the basics of human knowledge through the coming dark ages. The Great Powers have turned inward, and there is little political will for further space exploration. Funding is minimal, and technological innovation has slowed dramatically. He uses his skills as a fighter to fund his dreams and is, for a time, the heavyweight champion. Using his notoriety, he slowly gathers friends, seeking to find those who can make the dream a reality. Manon, who claws her way up from nothing to wealth; Elizabeth, the miner turned politician; and others help fund the space project. They set up a foundation to search for scientific geniuses in the most unlikely places, looking for children who perhaps can make the journey into space possible, but it is not clear that Earth has any interest in returning to the high frontier. Against a background of indifference, competing interests, and active discouragement, they do manage to establish small independent colonies on the moon and Mars; but the odds are great, protection is difficult, and long-term success is by no means assured. And there are malevolent forces moving in the world.

With small colonies established on the moon and on Mars, the Prometheus Group struggles to increase the number of people living off Earth before widespread breakdown of civilization occurs in the Western world and catastrophic numbers try to escape, leading inevitably to overcrowding and conflict, which would likely see the colonies fail. A major war on Earth would mean the loss of the ability to resupply space colonies, so establishing independence is a priority. There is a continued search for children with extraordinary abilities to help with the space project. Some of the earliest of these children, now adults, realize unwillingly that space alone is not yet an option, and they will almost certainly have to fight a bloody rearguard action to retain, for a while, freedom in the free world to buy more time for the colonies. A major conflict on Earth is inevitable, and clearly, it will begin in Europe. The only question is, What will be the catalyst, and will it remain local or spread to involve the whole world? The Prometheus Group believes that America is likely to remain a bastion of freedom, so it will be necessary to relocate from a dying Europe. The presidency of the US becomes of crucial importance for long-term survival. They feel it is crucial that the US stay out of the coming European civil war.

The West continues its precipitous decline. The ancient, magnificent, awe-inspiring Christian Churches which had taken centuries to build, are burning all over Europe, and that tragedy and violence on the streets are becoming so commonplace that it barely is mentioned by the media. Even the most egregious terrorist outbreaks are passed over by politicians as something which occurs in big cities and the indigenous population should simply get used to it. Policing in most of the West has sunk to an all-time low. Rape of women and children has reached unprecedented levels. Crimes against property and person are largely ignored. Break and Entry now no longer even merits a police inspection. Horrifying acid attacks, where acid is thrown on a young woman, destroying her face, never before seen in Europe, are barely mentioned. Any vestige of 'Free Speech' has become a thing of the past and there is a return to the Thought Police of the Communist era. The Prometheus Group, a disparate collection of people who fear for the future of civilization, especially the unlikely Enlightenment concept of intrinsic individual human worth, have established small colonies on Mars and the moon. They continue to fly under the radar of public attention, as much as they can, while quickly expanding these colonies. The economic collapse of countries such as Greece had long been anticipated. Unsurprisingly, the economic situation in Canada suddenly deteriorates and the US President is forced to step in to prevent complete anarchy, which would threaten the undefended US northern border. Unwilling to involve the United States government directly, she asks the Prometheus Group for personnel to help oversee and assist the economic rescue of Canada, which the group agrees to with exceeding reluctance. More of the exceptional children continue to be sought by the Prometheus Group, and continue to be found in the most unlikely places. As before, they are mainly seeking girls whose genius would otherwise be missed. These children are enlisted into the effort to produce the science which will get as many people as possible into space, and speed the terraforming of Mars, before the cataclysm of civil war, which is now inevitable in Europe, and will likely spread to involve the world. Any extension of war outside Europe will inevitably result in a nuclear exchange with unimaginable destruction, as a single nuclear airburst could produce such an electromagnetic pulse as to wipe out all computers within the blast area. This disaster, multiplied many times over, and almost certainly aided by biological warfare, would produce a possible reversion to primitivism, tribalism and savagery or the establishment of a dystopian rigid unchangeable medieval philosophy.

The development of fusion power in the small colony established on Mars leads to an explosive outward emigration from Earth to the moons of the solar system. On Earth, increasing civil unrest in Europe has led to the election to positions of authority of three strong women: Leda in Germany, Madeleine in France, and La Marquesa in Spain. With the assistance of others-including Tomiko from Japan and Hinchcliffe, with her paramilitary organization, the Legion-order is restored, at least temporarily. The lives, loves, and deaths of these women are set against a world of conflict, hope, and despair, as they struggle to maintain civilization and allow further immigration to the high frontier in the face of malevolent opposition forces.

The human race has begun to move into space, with viable colonies established on Mars and elsewhere. The situation on Earth remains volatile, but the immediate battle against the forces of collectivism has been won in Europe, spearheaded by a triumvirate of powerful women now running Spain, France, and Germany. But that is unstable as further conflict is almost inevitable as the very foundational concept of freedom, that a single individual has intrinsic worth, remains under constant threat. The Prometheus Group, who spearheaded the thrust into space, feels increasingly under pressure from corrupt collectivist forces, who seem to be again seizing political power worldwide, especially in the US. The disastrous consequences of the twentieth century notwithstanding, by camouflaging and ignoring history, they appear destined to repeat the terrible mistakes of the past. The situation is further complicated by A.I. as numerous jobs at the lower skill end of the market, such as driving vehicles, has been taken over by robots. The absence of meaningful work is leading increasingly to an aimless, pointless existence, so drugs, alcohol and suicide are increasing problems worldwide. With this disaster looming on Earth, there is a division coming between Earth and the Spacers, who are increasingly not only psychologically but increasingly physically different from Earthlings. How wide that gap will become in the future remains unclear. A.I. has not yet reached the stage where a physical body can be dispensed with, but that is at least now conceivable. The universe remains a chancy place. One of the colonies, opening up on Ganymede, is hit by a meteor, and survival became doubtful. A rescue mission, likely to be a one-way trip, is launched. The world waits to see the outcome of what naysayers have been predicting for a very long time.