Richard Branson became the first billionaire in space after Virgin Galactic, which he owns, launched a supersonic space plane with him onboard. The passengers spent a few minutes enjoying weightlessness over fifty miles from the Earth’s surface.
Jeff Bezos hopes to be the second billionaire in space who travels on a ship developed by his own company. Alongside his brother and an eighteen-year-old physics student, Bezos’ company, Blue Origin, will send him to space aboard one of the company’s rockets.
A third billionaire, Elon Musk, also owns a space company—SpaceX—but is going into space using Branson’s Virgin Galactic.
Forget who has the nicest house or biggest truck—male dominance is now all about rockets (please notice the obvious phallic symbolism).
Turning this into a story, what happens decades into the future when space is effectively segmented into three factions?
Remember when the choice for phone service was between AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile/Sprint? Take that competition and magnify.
Wealthy space-faring elites live in one of three habitats created by each of the companies. They work on satellites sending down everything from internet access to media, creating factions that run deeper than even those that emerged with Trump’s rise.
Each group wears a different distinguishing article of clothing on Earth, signaling which “tribe” they belong to—red hats are off the table for the story. Still, something like colored armbands or distinctive jewelry could work well.
The story follows two best friends. They decide ending the billionaire factions is in the planet’s best interest. But, they disagree with the methods.
One friend infiltrates a faction, using internal attacks and political strikes while taking it down throughout the story. During their sabotage work, they discover jammers set up that make it so members of competing coalition can’t see each other’s content, creating an echo chamber where the others are the enemy.
The other friend works on unifying the people below. Together, they attack all three faction’s jammers, weakening their stranglehold on Earth’s population and creating more equal access to information for all citizens. When the population sees what their fellow citizens are being told, the staunch lines between factions diminishes.
The friends’ goal for the first book is internet access for all, regardless of faction affiliation. Combining the unified population and the attacks within the company forces the factions to work together and provide one source of internet access.
The first book ends with the downfall of a faction brought about by the destruction of a broadcast base on Earth, creating a two-party system of the ruling elite who live in space.
