The Farshoreman

85, 000 words long, The Farshoreman is a well paced, near future science fiction adventure in spacecraft building. Between their mid-teens and mid-twenties, a group of young women pursue what seems an impossible shared dream, in a world which a second pandemic and ominous geopoliticial trends have made dangerous and uncertain. On their way, they carry with them the vaguely-defined hopes and unfulfilled ambitions of members of the older generation, who lend a hand when others in powerful positions are indifferent, obstructive or even hostile to the young women and their cause.
Inspiration, technical and political innovation and stiff measures of grim determination see them through to a conclusion where their dream proves to be more important to the wider world than they could have ever imagined. Along the way, they learn about love. Not merely the affection they might feel for a sexual partner, but the love that shares danger as well as happiness, which prompts them to risk their lives not just for each other, but for others whom they have never met before and whom they might not even like.
They learn that adulthood is not just about making your own choices in life; it's about doing your best when others are doing their worst.