Moving Mars

Background

The Triple comprises the economies of Earth, the Moon, and Mars. Martian colonists formed families that grew into Binding Multiples (BMs), modeled after the Lunar system. Statists advocate a centralized Martian government, threatening BM power. Earth wants Mars unified to improve Triple trade, but many Martians see this as a control attempt. Thinkers are artificial intelligences with human traits; advanced Quantum Logic Thinkers (QL Thinkers) have alien quantum-based thought processes. Almost all Thinkers are Earth-manufactured, giving Earth leverage over Mars.

Plot

Students angry over a broken contract with the University of Mars, Sinai, stage a protest and plan to storm the university. The attempted coup ends in a stalemate, but protester Casseia Majumdar establishes her position. Years later, Casseia, now more mature, remains haunted by the consequences, especially her love affair with fellow student Charles Franklin. She becomes a fledgling politician in her BM and wins a trip to Earth with her BM's representative and Thinker to discuss worsening Earth-Mars relations.

Meanwhile, Charles and a team of super-geniuses called the Olympians discover a radical technology that can tweak the laws of the universe, treating it as a large computer. Earth fears this unknown technology. Casseia returns to Mars and marries into a family with political ambitions due to perceived neutrality. Her mother-in-law becomes president of an interim Martian central government and selects Casseia as vice-president.

Tensions escalate as Earth pressures Mars, using threats of evolvons—undetectable computer viruses implanted in all Thinkers during manufacture—which Martians fear could cripple essential operations.