The story takes place in 2048, 51 years after scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory develop a force field-generating device they term the Bobbler.

Declaring themselves the "Peace Authority", they enclose the world's weapons and military bases in bobbles, and occasionally entire cities or governments.

In an effort to retain their monopoly on the Bobbler, the Peace Authority makes technological progress illegal and returns the planet to a level similar to that of the 19th century.

He develops a more advanced version of the bobbler which can produce bobbles of any size, unlike the Authority's original which is at least house-sized and requires a huge amount of power to run.

With the help of a young thief and mathematical genius, they lead a rebellion to try to bobble the power generators of the Peace Authority and thus neutralize its primary weapon.