In a future where asteroids are being actively mined and comets are being intentionally crashed into the Venusian atmosphere to cool the planet down for eventual colonization, a violent civil war breaks out in America over repeal of the Second Amendment. On one side is a fanatical religious right, on the other a spineless liberal administration. Caught inbetween are space-travelers returning home from a stint on Mars. Among them is one Butch Hogan, a spacejockey in the employ of Transcomet Industries. Butch works atop the highest of all steels, orbiting electromagnetic mass drivers crucial to the asteroid trade. Upon landing, he must choose up sides in the ever-widening war.