An ungoverned lunar settlement whose economy developed while Earth's economy declined under a command-and-control economy engages in a struggle to stay free from Earth's meddling bureaucracy.[3] The lunar colonists engage in military conflicts with the Earth forces on the surface of the Moon, in space ships flying between Earth and the Moon, and in the tunnels of the city of Aristillus. The novel deals with uplifted dogs, artificial intelligence, guns, space law, anti-gravity, libertarianism, and rebellion, as well as the Robert Heinlein trope of the competent man.[4]