Adrift in the Unknown or Queer Adventures in a Queer Realm - William Wallace Cook

A delightful, imaginative, and sometimes silly adventure in early science fiction. Join a noble scientist and some of his less noble associates as they take flight in a newly constructed, seemingly magical spaceship. After they land on the planet Mercury, they are caught in the crossfire in a war between futuristic Mercurean city-states which wield high-tech weaponry. As they fight for their own survivial and that of their fellow humans, each man is challenged to confront his own moral failings. Set aside your 21st-century knowledge of physics and settle in for a lighthearted, somewhat predictable romp through outer space. - Summary by Amanda Rumbaugh