Flytrap

The most Russ has ever wanted was a steady job and a traditional family. Now in his mid-twenties, he's working his dream as a tech-specialist, training Py, the first AI to oversee operations at Earth's space elevator. After an accident kills five longshoremen, management make Russ their scapegoat. His enquiries are answered with lies and orders to stand down, even from his girlfriend.

Desperate to save his reputation and job, Russ breaks into a cargo hold containing the shipment that caused the accident. He finds hundreds of biological weapons, but security catches him before he can tell anyone. He's fired and sent home with gag order and a dishonorable employment record. Since nine in ten commoners like Russ are unemployed, disgrace on the job leads to a life sentence in poverty.

When Russ discovers terrorists have stolen dozens of those warheads and plans to bomb Earth, he has to either save himself and his friends or save millions of strangers-and the only one he can trust is Py.