The first amendment to the U.S. Constitution as adopted in 1791 reads as follows: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Quite a statement given the events that have occurred since the inception of the Internet in the late 20th century. Clearly whistleblowing and hacking have disintegrated secrecy for governments like ours in America that rely on the Net. Needing secrets to protect the enemy from knowing our intentions have themselves violated this amendment many times over. Where exactly is the line drawn between the freedom of the press and free speech and the necessary secrecy of self-protection as a country? The novel that follows investigates this and other issues through two characters who take on pharmaceutical companies, Proxima centauri b, the Internet going down, pandemics, global warming, overpopulation, lack of water, the world economy, religious wars, artificial life, international hacking, the Fifth Estate, ISIS, atomic bombs, wayward asteroids, nanotechnology, wandering black holes, dark matter, dark energy, magnetic pole shifts, antimatter, sun flareups, Yellowstone volcanism, civil wars, new drugs, and what they might mean to the future of our world.
