Journey to the Heart of Luna - Andy Frankham-Allen [0]
By Andy Frankham-Allen
Copyright 2011 by Andy Frankham-Allen
Space: 1889 © & ™ Frank Chadwick 1988, 2011
Cover & Logo Design © Steve Upham and Untreed Reads Publishing, 2011
Cover Art © David Burson and Untreed Reads Publishing, 2011
The author is hereby established as the sole holder of the copyright. Either the publisher (Untreed Reads) or author may enforce copyrights to the fullest extent.
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This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to the living or dead is entirely coincidental.
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Other Titles in the Space: 1889 & Beyond Series
Vandals on Venus
The Ghosts of Mercury
Abattoir in the Aether
A Prince of Mars
Dark Side of Luna
JOURNEY TO THE HEART OF LUNA
By Andy Frankham-Allen
For John Ainsworth, in thanks for introducing me to Space: 1889 in the first place.
And in memory of Elisabeth Sladen, who unintentionally set me on the path to Space: 1889. 1st Feb 1946–19th April 2011
“Goodbye, my Sarah Jane.”
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One: The Scientist Travels
Chapter Two: Journey to the Moon
Chapter Three: Arrival on the Moon
Chapter Four: Short of Breath
Chapter Five: Down Among the Insects
Chapter Six: Ambush in the Tunnels
Chapter Seven: An Audience with Q’theletockus
Chapter Eight: Into the Russian Camp
Chapter Nine: Insect Insurrection
Chapter Ten: The Heart of Luna
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Prologue
1.
IT WAS impossible! Aether flyers were not, by definition, designed for a crew of one, a fact that Annabelle Somerset felt with ever increasing dismay as she raced from the control to the navigation station. Just getting the Annabelle (yes, God bless her uncle, he had named the flyer after her) out of the gorge had been hard work. Starting up the boiler single-handedly, then rushing the length of the flyer to the control room to check the instruments to make sure the water was creating enough steam, then back to the engine room at the rear of the flyer to set out the rocket engines her uncle had designed especially to combat the awkward gravity of Luna.
She cursed Tereshkov once more, and squeezed her eyes shut for a brief moment.
I have to do this, she continued to tell herself. She had survived much worse. Annabelle almost laughed at that. Living for two years amongst Geronimo’s band of Chiricahua Apaches had tested her when she had been a mere slip of a girl. She had survived that, and she was certain she would survive this. That she had no choice was beyond question; there was no other left who could get the message to Earth. Uncle Cyrus’ life was in the balance and she could not allow herself even a moment of weakness in her endeavour. She had let her parents down, and she refused to let history repeat itself with her uncle.
She was not a little girl anymore, and the Russians be damned!
Instruments were laid out before her on the navigation station; some of standard design like the orrery, a mechanical analogue of the Solar System, and an astrolabe, which allowed precise measurements of the planets’ positions; others were of her uncle’s making, and these she did not even know the names of. They were recent creations of his, and her decision to join the expedition had transpired late in the day, ill affording her the time to study these new inventions. Annabelle was no expert at reading the standard instruments, but she understood enough from having watched Blakely at the station to ascertain the current position