Book excerpt: Ian Stevens, director of the Deep Space Research Institute, isn't interested in conducting research just for the sake of research. While the rest of the world-including the U.S. government-thinks that's the DSRI's sole mission, Stevens is actually interested in more-he wants manned space travel and the colonization of the moon. With NASA defunct, few scientific probes are being launched, and no one even talks about human spaceflight anymore. Stevens is out to change that. A billionaire in his own right, Stevens has assembled a crew of the best scientists and engineers he can find, and the DSRI is secretly building and testing gravity-powered spacecraft.There's just one problem-the project would be widely condemned worldwide, especially since there's no government supervision. Everything they do has to be kept out of sight and away from the prying eyes of the NSA, Homeland Security, the IRS, OSHA, and a half-dozen other government agencies. They've got the world's smartest computer on their side, but will it be enough?As the government gets ever closer to figuring out what the DSRI is doing, Stevens' plan to establish a permanent settlement on the Moon nears fruition. The race is on-will the government find out and shut down the project, or will Stevens be able to implement?the Lunar Free State?