The Diesel-Powered Starship
In a groundbreaking discovery, Mexican physicist Dr. Ernesto Lopez invents a mysterious antigravity device. The catch? Closing an electrical circuit within the antigravity field instantly sends the device--and its passengers--somewhere unknown. Is it subatomic disassembly? Another dimension? No one knows, but the world is eager to exploit the technology. However, electricity must be kept far away from Professor Lopez's peculiar flying machine.
The only practical way to keep a Lopez drive functioning is with a diesel engine. Since diesels rely on heat from compression, rather than an electrical spark, they work safely within the antigravity field. Soon enough, people are traveling to other planets aboard Lopez ships. Then, a breakthrough: someone tweaks the drive, allowing it to surpass the speed of light. Suddenly, the stars are only months away.
A galactic gold rush ensues as explorers and settlers flood into the cosmos. But with electrical devices unusable in a Lopez field--and wiring ineffective when exposed to an active drive--each new colony must start from a pre-electrical (19th-century) technology base. Earth's powers exploit this limitation, tightening control over the colonies' expansion and keeping them financially shackled.
In defiance, tramp freighter captain Maggie Crenshaw and former Marine Corps officer Eduardo Watanabe assemble a covert alliance to liberate the colonies from Earth's suffocating rule. Together, they lead a rebellion of pirates, anarchists, religious zealots, and rogue explorers. If they fail, it will be every man for himself in a battle for freedom among the stars.
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