Every once in a great while I jot down pieces of a science fiction novel that, ostensibly, I will never be able to finish. Entitled Cellular, the book is a postmodern reflection on the problem of undifferentiation: the tendency for mimesis and society to reduce people to compartmentalized, isolated, and ultimately replaceable modules within the universal machine.
The spacecraft in the book are a metaphor for this situation. They are built in a cutting-edge modular style whereby multiple self-contained “cells” are combined into a whole. While in normal conditions each cell may specialize in certain operations, e.g. one cell may focus on ground forces deployment, in an emergency any cell can be isolated and even jettisoned from the chassis to protect the whole, and all key systems can be rerouted so that any cell can function as the bridge in a time of crisis.
The story follows the actions of an aerospace engineer named Rafa, who becomes disillusioned with society’s degradation of human value. Angered by people spouting Isaac Asimov’s thesis (in the Foundation series) that an individual cannot effectively change the world, he decides to disprove this claim by making an impact in the worst possible way. Gathering connections to various anti-war activist groups, he manipulates them into functioning as terrorist cells. Ironically, against their stated intentions, Rafa ensures that their misdeeds will actually end up escalating the conflict between the colonies that were established by the United States and those colonies that were established by China.
By this time, war is simply too dangerous to be conducted with full severity. In fact, the weapons of war are so powerful that earth exists in a perpetual standoff; in order not to eradicate our home planet, armed conflicts are carried out among the extrasolar colonies and largely through pitched space battles with computer-controlled weapons that carefully avoid hitting the planets. Rafa’s machinations, however, exacerbate the conflict so severely that the rules of engagement break down. By the end, a catastrophic battle risks the very existence of the colonies’ most populated planet.
Caught within this web are Tom, Rafa’s unwitting friend and a starship commander, and Amy, a starship pilot and Tom’s romantic interest. Can Tom’s good-natured and caring disposition turn Rafa around before he sacrifices Amy in a catastrophic battle that could determine the fate of all of the colonies, or even the human race as such?