The Mandate of Earth

10 WEEKS IN THE TOP 50 - HARD SCIENCE FICTION!!
10 WEEKS IN THE TOP 100 - HIGH TECH!!

Jack Seerva has a lifelong dream to industrialize the solar system where resources abound and eliminate the strain on the environment--perhaps even eliminate war. After decades of hard work, he has built a multinational corporate empire and dominated the nano-materials, automated construction, and booster industries--the infrastructure needed for colonization of the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Quadrillions of metric tons of ores are just waiting to be mined, where one large asteroid has more ore than all the mines on Earth. Seerva intends to lead by example, to bootstrap humanity into space by building a self-sufficient space station, an orbital shipyard, and automated mining facilities.

But, there are so many obstacles in the way, Seerva often wonders if his dream will ever be realized. Most corporations are still driven by a model of unsustainable growth, with leaders motivated by greed and power. Even with the promise of a golden age of prosperity, and even with the danger of a possible extinction event on the horizon, they won't stand idly by while Seerva disturbs the status quo. Whole industries and billions of dollars are on the line. But, Seerva has no intention of playing by their rules.