AustLit

'In a bid to divert attention from the atrocities of Apartheid, South Africa sends a team of world-renowned scientists to the moon for a year of make-believe research. However the spaceship, unable to make its moon landing, also fails to make re-entry to the earth's atmosphere. Catapulted back into space, the fate of the four space travellers seems certain, and fatal. Until the spaceship finally and unexpectedly lands on Mars. What the travellers find, however, is dramatically at odds with what was previously known about this planet. What's more, there is life on Mars, and it's not happy with what it's heard about Earth. The crew of South Africa One return from Mars with a dire ultimatum, only to find that the governments of Earth do not take lightly to space-borne demands. But in a war of the planets, does Earth have any chance of surviving? Does it even deserve to?' (Back cover)