Freedom at Feronia (Asteroid Police Book 2)

Lisa and her team of asteroid police have captured a nuclear rocket, and rescued a dozen kidnapped children. They aim to return the children to Mars, but first they need to build a ship. The rebel colony of Feronia is on the way, taken over by Christian fundamentalists. Can they return it to civilization, and what kind of government will lead to a long-term peace?

This is hard science-fiction, with no laser swords or time-warps, where space travel is difficult and takes many months, and the people who live in space must use engineering innovation to build what they need from local materials.