Nehemiah, LLC

The surface of Mars is swept by violent storms but the Nehemiah Group lives almost idyllically beneath the surface in thousands of acres of "Glop-dropped" parks and sandblasted living quarters. Soothed by the buzzing of bees and chasing the occasional escapees from their small herds of livestock, these people actually research and develop methods to protect the lives and welfare of all the people of the Space Empire. When a plea for help with their specialty comes their lives are turned upside-down. Life support has failed on the balloon ship Sojourner. Critical resources lie untapped on the outer planets until a way can be found to solve the problem. Joan, bioneural specialist of the Nehemiah Group and Anthony Lewis, an engineer and something more, must tread a fine political and diplomatic line to keep the project moving along toward the critical launch window.