Spexco

It's the mid-twenty-second century. Faster-than-light travel has become a limited reality. Off-world mining and colonization have begun. New riches and technologies have been discovered. The world has gone through social, economic, and physical changes that has seen borders shift, education system modified, and governing principles evolve. Yet the human factor remains a perpetual variable with the ongoing struggles for individual achievement, recognition, accomplishment-and yet control. SPEXCO is a corporation that seeks to explore new space frontiers, utilizing the latest and greatest technology to go faster, farther, and safer and yet still be rooted in the principles of liberty and personal accountability. Sixteen-year-old Tommy Blanding is a boy genius but a social novice. He realizes this and, after starting to work for his father at SPEXCO, finds himself confronted with almost-overwhelming challenges. He may be adept at quantum physics but a total idiot on social skills and personal interaction. During an attack on the SPEXCO main site, he and his three closest friends find themselves trapped in a prototype space vessel with yet-to-be-confirmed capabilities, and the only way to escape and protect the breakthrough technology is to launch themselves into the void while being chased by a calculating, power-hungry man whose only desire is to gain control of the technology that will change the world forever. How can four kids defy his efforts? While Tommy and his friends seek ways to get home, they not only discover new worlds but also discover themselves along the way. Now Tommy's father and staff have to find the needle not in the proverbial haystack but in a thousand Sahara deserts.