This book takes place in the far distant future where Earth no longer resembles what it is today. In fact, most of the story involves a young man that lives on a mining rig built into an asteroid far from Earth. Po Abbato is our young man of about 17 and he’s a warehouse worker that store stuff sent to the mining rig. He uses a W-200 mech that takes some learning to use. He’s experienced in what he does having done it for a while.
Po is not a happy camper with his current existence. He lives in a box on the mining rig attached to the asteroid (at least that’s what I think is the situation). He lives with his Mother, older Brother, a younger Sister and a still younger Brother. His Sister is ill and has been for quite some time. His Father is in simjail and will be for the remainder of his life. Po’s not all that upset about the loss of his Father since the guy wasn’t much of a “bread-winner” for the family. No, just the opposite. Po’s Father put the family further in debt to the Equipoise Metals corporation. These corporations have become defacto government entities ruling the lives of their workers by providing everything for them…at a price. Po’s Father gambled and drank his family heavily into debt and Po was burdened with paying that off. His older Brother didn’t seem to think it was any of his responsibility to have a job or contribute to the families debt payments. In fact, his Mother also didn’t understand how much debt they owed and didn’t seem to care. She was always buying more stuff usually to make the older Brother happy while doing the opposite for Po.
So Po had to find some way to make a lot of money quickly. The dream of everyone that has debts they can’t pay. Po knew that there were a lot of illegal drug traffic going on and some of it had to do with the shipments of stuff he received and sent to various warehouses. He managed to identify one shipment that was going to a specific warehouse that contained a good amount of Joy, the current illicit drug going around for a good price. Po figured that if he could get his hands on this shipment, he could make enough to get out from under this debt and go live some where else. He’d definitely be able to get some better medical help for his young Sister and that’s what worried him most. So he made his plans.
Needless to say, his plans didn’t work. He found himself caught, arrested and convicted in court of having illegal drugs with the intent to sell. A long, long simjail sentence awaited Po. Except, the judge gave him an alternative. He could do his time with the GEA (Global Equity Accord) Marines which were desperately trying to recruits due to the pending was with the Nibirans, an alien race that was just discovered by humanity. Po knew what simjail was like due to his Fathers sentence and infrequent visits Po made to the sterile ward that housed his Father’s body. He wanted nothing to do with that, but he also wasn’t sure he could even become a Marine. Still, he chose that route.
The problem with this is that the drugs he stole or tried to steal belonged to the Obsidian Angels, a notorious group of criminals that worked through a meshmind. Most people out in the colonies and mining rigs had implanted “Circuits” done at an early age. This gave them instant access to the local network and was supposed to make things easier for the population. Po felt that it only allowed the government to control everyone because the GEA always said they had the right to explore anyone’s Circuit anytime that wanted to stop criminal activity. Po had sworn he wouldn’t submit to getting a Circuit installed in his brain. That is until he couldn’t refuse the Marine Corps. It was a requirement for every recruit. So Po got his Circuit immediately upon getting to Marine Corps Recruiting Cycle 3. Unfortunately for Po, the Obsidian Angels were out to make Po pay for stealing their drugs. They were also infiltrating the Marine Corps and did so as soon as Po joined up. He was soon to find out that not only was he going to have to fight through his rugged training, but his life was also in danger from an unknown Angel. Someone in his new platoon was out to kill him.
Ok, of course I left a lot out that you’re just going to have to read about. This is a very detailed story about a young man going through a very rigorous training regime because the Marines haven’t changed even in this future setting. They will still strip you down to nothing and then build you into the Marine they want. Po might not live through any of this, but he knows that if he fails in Marine basic training, he goes directly to simjail for a very, very long time.
I like this story and will continue to follow the series. Book 2, “Rifleman”, is available on Amazon right now and I’m adding it to my reading list.