The End, or Only the Beginning?...
This is the third book of The Van Leeuwan Trilogy.Each book in turn is an excellent stand-alone sci-fi novel. It may be read before or after Sol is Not Lost or For the Ages. The series is a prequel to those two works.
The Struggle for Freedom of the Indivicual Goes On...
Marcus Aurelius awakes from a fevered dream on a planet many light years from Earth. The dream has a deeper meaning than just a reaction to this experimental injection. They were trying to establish a new colony here, but was there trouble back in the Sol system?. This place gives off a strange vibe, almost like the biome is talking to him. Later they hear of snoopers around their businesses -- talking up their people on Mars and on Earth. The colonists were so well screened. Has someone sold them out?
New Planets New Paradigms
Those on the Mars Frontier had shown the way. In the spirit of the Old West mining camps and wagon trains, people dealt with each other in the open. Interaction was on a purely voluntary basis following the nonaggression principle. This was a whole new world, not encombered by a lack of oxygen or the lack of greenery as on Mars. But now someone has been charged with a serious crime. The worst crime that could befall the colonists -- being sold out to Earth for a bag of ruthenium and osmium ingots. Find out more in this most unique trial in the backdrop of real Starship Troopers in real Starships on Mars!