Teague Werres lives in an age of technological wonders he can’t have. His family’s church rejects space settlement, the Virtual Internet—even Vanilla, a longevity drug that gives humans several extra centuries to explore the real and digital worlds now open to them. Teague’s only link to modern life is a childhood toy: a robotic ring-tailed lemur with hardwired charisma and a few nonstandard upgrades.
Meanwhile on Mars, Rob Heneghan cares more about high scores and online escapades than school or his extended future. He’s content just to have fun, just to get by, until a painful loss forces him to examine his priorities.
When Teague finds the courage to break free—and Rob decides to get a life—a promising partnership is born. They can’t believe their luck when doors begin to open, and they’re soon rubbing shoulders with the solar system’s most powerful people. But when Teague’s lemur stumbles onto evidence that they’re being manipulated—by a conspiracy that poses a danger to all of humanity, no less—Teague and Rob each find that exposing the truth may cost more than he’s willing to sacrifice.....
M.H. Van Keuren quit a perfectly good job to devote his life to writing science fiction. He lives in Billings, Montana, with his wife and two sons.
