Lifter (#2 in The Proton Field Stories)

This is the continuing hard-sci-fi tale of Myr Sevii, a dynamic young woman who discovered a field that suppresses static electrical effects and warps space in a fashion that attracts protons. In Proton Field #1, she and Vinn discovered they could fuse hydrogen. Now she’s exploring the warping of space and its effects on hydrogen containing molecules nearby. The story examines how this warping makes it possible to achieve reactionless thrust that can lift people… and move spacecraft.
In the midst of this excitement, Myr’s friend Ellen’s brother gets captured by Abu Sayyaf terrorists while on a charity mission in the Philippines. At first there doesn’t seem like there’s anything anyone can do, but gradually it becomes evident that the new technology might offer solutions for his situation as well.
Just as it seems that they might have solved Mark’s situation, Myr’s brother Connor, afflicted with muscular dystrophy, goes into heart failure. Myr had an idea for treatment of that problem too, but will she be allowed to try such a radical solution?