Yes indeed, Dark Side of Luna, the sixth and final installment in Series One of Space 1889 and Beyond, is now live. It is available from the Untreed Reads online store, Amazon, Scribd, OmniLit.com, Barnes and Noble, and Lightning Source. As always I encourage you to purchase it directly from the Untreed Reads online store as the publisher and authors both get a bigger piece of the action, and of course in this case I am one of those.
The next book, which starts Series Twio but picks up right where Dark Side leaves off, is co-authored any Andy Frankham-Allen and myself, and it's a real plunge into the seamier sides of London and international politics. But that's a different matter. For now, enjoy Dark Side of Luna.
Description:
It’s been almost a month since Nathanial and
Annabelle rejoined HMAS Sovereign. For Annabelle it’s been a journey of
uncertainty; she had expected a happy reunion with George Bedford, first
officer of the flagship of Her Majesty’s Royal Navy, but instead he’s been
distant. She fears it has something to do with her newfound disability. For
Nathanial, however, the journey has been uneventful since he’s spent the entire
time locked in the brig under the cloud of treason.
Things change abruptly when Sovereign is ordered to return to Luna, and retrieve Doctor Cyrus Grant, who has been sending increasingly confusing heliograph messages back to Earth. There is an air of uncertainty in Otterbein Base, and concern over Grant’s well-being. Once again he’s gone missing, turning his back on the Selenites and the British research team stationed there – leaving with creatures who are neither human nor Selenite.
A search-and-rescue mission is soon underway, taking our heroes deeper inside Luna than ever before. There they will discover the mysteries of the Drobates, and their amazing City ofLight Bedford
Dark Side of Luna is the series one finale of Space: 1889 & Beyond, and signals a new era of political upheaval and adventure for the series, as the key to humanity’s future is unveiled.
Excerpt:
BEDFORD
“Have a care, Coxswain. Let’s not crush any sowars today when we set down,” he said and the helmsman smiled slightly in reply. The cutter settled gently to the gravel landing ground and had scarcely come to rest whenBedford
“Who’s that and what’s your purpose?” the man demanded.
“I am Lieutenant Bedford of HMAS Sovereign, and I’m here to see Captain Folkard.”
The man nodded. “Harrison, Punjab Frontier Force, and officer commanding, Otterbein Station.”
“Ah, Colonel Harrison, of course. I did not expect the commanding officer to meet us, sir.”
“Didn’t intend to. We’ve suffered a security breach. Regrettable. Losses, you know, losses all around.”
“Losses all around?”Bedford
“What? There’s a lady down here, too? Damn me if I can keep track. But no, it’s your young officer, Ainsworth. Identified him from his papers. Sorry, one of those damned ants got him. Chopped him up rather badly. Care to look? No? Just as well. Private Anil Singh suffered the same fate. Ghastly. Good chap, Singh. Why’d your people take the cutter away and leave this Ainsworth behind alone, eh?”
“Our people did not take the cutter. The Selenites, probably the ones who attacked him, did. Five of them, with Russian-made Berdans. They took the cutter up and attacked Sovereign.”
“What’s that? Ants with Berdans? Well then, where are your people?”
Bedford
Harrison looked around, as if he might find the others from Sovereign standing within arm’s reach, then he looked back atBedford
“One of the Selenites, I imagine, as only they were on board when they docked with us.”Bedford no longer kept the sarcasm
from his voice, but it was lost on Harrison ,
as a good deal else seemed to be as well. Bedford
“What? No. Ants can’t fly one of those cutters. I’ve never seen one at any rate,”Harrison declared and then nodded
forcefully, as if that settled everything.
Bedford Bedford
thought that made Harrison a singularly bad
choice for lunar duty. Well, that was the Army for you.
“I wonder, Colonel, if you could have your men clear enough of the landing ground for my coxswains to bring the other three cutters down? One of the men is new to his job and I wouldn’t want him to injure any of your sowars.”
Harrison turned away to clear his men off the field as another man, of slighter build and in a suit coat instead of khaki, trotted up from the direction of the main building. He paused for a moment to catch his breath and mop his brow with a handkerchief, and then extended his hand.
“Professor Robert George, director of the base,” he said.Bedford
“Captain Folkard and his men, and Doctor Grant’s niece, have gone in pursuit of Grant. Three Selenites accompanied them. They have been gone some hours, I know not in what direction.”
“You do not think they have approached the Heart?”
“The Heart is made up of many parts, Lieutenant. Colonel Harrison has posted guard details at those nearby parts we know of, but I doubt any man, even Grant, knows where every piece of the Heart is located.”
Bedford
“Ships troops assembled and ready,” Larkins said casually afterBedford
Bedford Bedford
“Colonel Harrison,” he said, “I believe the Berdan rifles suggest a continued Russian presence on Luna. Someone armed those red Selenites, someone taught them how to use a breach-loading rifle…”
“Not very well, I shouldn’t think, or you wouldn’t be standing here now,” Major Larkins put in.
“Thank you, Major, that may be true. But the fact remains someone did arm and train them, however inadequately, and most importantly someone taught one of them to fly a cutter equipped with a Grant-Stone-pattern aether propeller governor.”
“Oh, I see,” Director George said and mopped his brow again. “That is quite extraordinary. I should like to have seen the Selenite pilot your craft. I would not have thought they had the forelimb manual dexterity to do so.”
“Nevertheless,”Bedford
“Well I still don’t believe it,”Harrison
grumbled. “Oh, the Russkies are probably behind it all, you’re right on the
score, but I warrant some tsarist hero piloted the ants to your ship and jumped
clear immediately before they docked, just to throw us off the scent.”
“How would he have survived?” Director George asked.
“Survived? How does that enter into it? Those chaps don’t put the same value on human life we do,”Harrison said.
Major Larkins looked at Harrison and then atBedford Bedford
met his eyes and, though neither man’s expression changed, they understood each
other: Harrison was a fool.
“It’s still very odd, though,”Harrison
continued. “I haven’t seen evidence of Russians in this part of Luna for quite
some time. Indeed, the only relic of their occupation left is the wreck of
their flyer Borodino , on the opposite side of
the reservoir.”
Bedford
Things change abruptly when Sovereign is ordered to return to Luna, and retrieve Doctor Cyrus Grant, who has been sending increasingly confusing heliograph messages back to Earth. There is an air of uncertainty in Otterbein Base, and concern over Grant’s well-being. Once again he’s gone missing, turning his back on the Selenites and the British research team stationed there – leaving with creatures who are neither human nor Selenite.
A search-and-rescue mission is soon underway, taking our heroes deeper inside Luna than ever before. There they will discover the mysteries of the Drobates, and their amazing City of
Dark Side of Luna is the series one finale of Space: 1889 & Beyond, and signals a new era of political upheaval and adventure for the series, as the key to humanity’s future is unveiled.
Excerpt:
“Have a care, Coxswain. Let’s not crush any sowars today when we set down,” he said and the helmsman smiled slightly in reply. The cutter settled gently to the gravel landing ground and had scarcely come to rest when
“Who’s that and what’s your purpose?” the man demanded.
“I am Lieutenant Bedford of HMAS Sovereign, and I’m here to see Captain Folkard.”
The man nodded. “Harrison, Punjab Frontier Force, and officer commanding, Otterbein Station.”
“Ah, Colonel Harrison, of course. I did not expect the commanding officer to meet us, sir.”
“Didn’t intend to. We’ve suffered a security breach. Regrettable. Losses, you know, losses all around.”
“Losses all around?”
“What? There’s a lady down here, too? Damn me if I can keep track. But no, it’s your young officer, Ainsworth. Identified him from his papers. Sorry, one of those damned ants got him. Chopped him up rather badly. Care to look? No? Just as well. Private Anil Singh suffered the same fate. Ghastly. Good chap, Singh. Why’d your people take the cutter away and leave this Ainsworth behind alone, eh?”
“Our people did not take the cutter. The Selenites, probably the ones who attacked him, did. Five of them, with Russian-made Berdans. They took the cutter up and attacked Sovereign.”
“What’s that? Ants with Berdans? Well then, where are your people?”
Harrison looked around, as if he might find the others from Sovereign standing within arm’s reach, then he looked back at
“One of the Selenites, I imagine, as only they were on board when they docked with us.”
“What? No. Ants can’t fly one of those cutters. I’ve never seen one at any rate,”
“I wonder, Colonel, if you could have your men clear enough of the landing ground for my coxswains to bring the other three cutters down? One of the men is new to his job and I wouldn’t want him to injure any of your sowars.”
Harrison turned away to clear his men off the field as another man, of slighter build and in a suit coat instead of khaki, trotted up from the direction of the main building. He paused for a moment to catch his breath and mop his brow with a handkerchief, and then extended his hand.
“Professor Robert George, director of the base,” he said.
“Captain Folkard and his men, and Doctor Grant’s niece, have gone in pursuit of Grant. Three Selenites accompanied them. They have been gone some hours, I know not in what direction.”
“You do not think they have approached the Heart?”
“The Heart is made up of many parts, Lieutenant. Colonel Harrison has posted guard details at those nearby parts we know of, but I doubt any man, even Grant, knows where every piece of the Heart is located.”
“Ships troops assembled and ready,” Larkins said casually after
“Colonel Harrison,” he said, “I believe the Berdan rifles suggest a continued Russian presence on Luna. Someone armed those red Selenites, someone taught them how to use a breach-loading rifle…”
“Not very well, I shouldn’t think, or you wouldn’t be standing here now,” Major Larkins put in.
“Thank you, Major, that may be true. But the fact remains someone did arm and train them, however inadequately, and most importantly someone taught one of them to fly a cutter equipped with a Grant-Stone-pattern aether propeller governor.”
“Oh, I see,” Director George said and mopped his brow again. “That is quite extraordinary. I should like to have seen the Selenite pilot your craft. I would not have thought they had the forelimb manual dexterity to do so.”
“Nevertheless,”
“Well I still don’t believe it,”
“How would he have survived?” Director George asked.
“Survived? How does that enter into it? Those chaps don’t put the same value on human life we do,”
Major Larkins looked at Harrison and then at
“It’s still very odd, though,”
