INTREPID FORCE UNIVERSE:
	A Brief Orientation to Life in the Late 21st Century
	The Intrepid Force story begins in the year 2084, an era both familiar and breathtakingly different from the world of 2005. What will life really be like in seventy-nine years? There is no way of knowing, but it's fun to guess. The real point of Intrepid Force was not to predict the future but to create compelling fantasy world that readers will want to return to, a world not limited by current levels of technology where anything can happen.
	Space Travel: Space travel, in this era, is commonplace. There are well-established colonies on the moon and on Mars and isolated outposts on Venus and on the moons of Jupiter. Asteroid mining ships, most of the automated, travel through space sucking up and digesting the boundless array of minerals found there. The mining of rare and precious ores made trillionaires of some of the early space miners and reshaped the global economy. Though scientists are working to develop an engine capable of faster-than-light travel, no one has been able to do this successfully. Other solar systems remain out of reach.
	Alien Life: At this point in human history, no convincing evidence for intelligent extraterrestrial life has been discovered. Evidence of simple lifeforms has been found on Mars, but some scientists believe they originated on Earth and were somehow transported to Mars. Man may or may not be alone in the universe. The questions remain.
	The Military: The Interplanetary Guard, a multiplanetary police force, patrols the dark reaches of space. They rescue stranded travelers and track down space pirates. Military and police officers on Earth are outfitted with body armor and weapons that can stun or kill with efficiency. They are assisted in their work by drones outfitted with guns and cameras.
	Medicine: Advances in genetic engineering, bionics, and nanotechnology have led to staggering advances in reconstructive surgery and the treatment of disease. The advances have also led to the creation of deadly weapons and have opened a virtual Pandora's Box of ethical dilemmas.
	The Paragravitational Field Generator, a device the produces gravity-like disruptions in space, is leading to the development of a new generation of weapons, defensive shields, and automobiles. The technology is being applied to generate artificial gravity aboard space vehicles as well, but the generation of large, stable fields has made this difficult.
	Religious Beliefs: Religion, far from losing its significance, has taken on increasing importance to many. A revived interest in the Christian religion, swept through various parts of the solar system in the early 2070s following pronouncements by many sociologists that the old mainstream religions were rapidly becoming extinct. Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism continue to thrive in various parts of the system and several new belief systems have emerged as well.