With global warming having it's way with the World - it is hot! Humanity has made a mess of things. The surface of Earth is over run with 10 billion humans. Huge metropolitan areas sprawl over hundreds of square miles. The Masses live huddled together in giant high rise dwellings. Earth's oil reserves disappearing fast, gas cost 100 dollars per gallon making personal transportation all but nonexistent. Crime is not only rampant, but is one of the more profitable and respected occupations. A world crisis is nearing, as food shortages and riots are more and more commonplace. Man has reached out for the stars and had his hands slapped while wasting away America's Strategic Oil Reserves. Mars is but a desert...Space travel has fallen into limbo due to a lack of funding. A few brave astronauts still man the space shuttle simulators honing their skills, just in case...Earth has definitely fallen onto some hard times...
—A W Johnson