Gaiastan

"There were originally seven crew members aboard the Astarte . . ." Survivors of the seventh mission to Mars, Indigo and Staley are heroes of the glorious Peoples Republic of Gaiastan. After their minds are downloaded and stress-tested, and they are deemed mentally fit for the challenge, they are drugged-up and sent out on a whirlwind national triumph. The final whistle stop finds them in a remote village situated outside the Dehumanized Zone and beyond the ever-present surveillance of Motherland Security. It is out there, amongst the undermen and beyond the din of holovision propaganda, that they are able to reflect upon the horrors of their disastrous mission. They experience an awakening and a counter-revolution begins.