Venus Warning a Novelette

By John G. Bluck

The year is 2086. A dozen astronauts fly to the cloudy planet, Venus, to explore it in heat-resistant spacesuits. Temperatures at that world's surface are hot enough to melt lead. What the explorers discover astounds the inhabitants of Earth and may well determine the survival of the human race.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John G. Bluck
• Release date: Nov 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370624805

John G. Bluck

John G. Bluck retired from NASA as a public affairs officer. Previously, he was the Chief of Imaging Technology at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. Before that, he worked at NASA Lewis (now Glenn) Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, where he produced numerous NASA documentaries for television. Earlier in his career he was a broadcast engineer for the ABC radio network at WMAL-AM/FM, Washington, DC. At WMAL-TV (now WJLA-TV), in Washington he was a news film cameraman who covered local news, crime, sports, and politics including Watergate. In 1976 he was named the National Press Photographer's Association runner-up cameraman of the year in the Northeast. In addition, he was a member of the White House News Photographers’ Association. During the Vietnam War he was an Army journalist at Ft. Lewis, Washington.

Book preview

Venus Warning a Novelette

Copyright 2017 John G. Bluck

Published by John G. Bluck

Cover composite art created using a NASA JPL background image of Venus combined with a NASA Ames Research Center picture of the Vykukal space suit. Both source images are courtesy of NASA.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1 -- The Struggle for Life

Chapter 2 -- The Lake

Chapter 3 -- Memories

Chapter 4 -- Beetle Attack

Chapter 5 -- Forward to the Lake

Chapter 6 -- The Mystery Figure

Chapter 7 -- Eye for an Eye

Chapter 8 -- Onward to Venus

Chapter 9 -- Venus Close-up

Chapter 10 - Dreams of Alien Life

Chapter 11 - The Descent Begins

Chapter 12 - Stormy Venus

Chapter 13 - Flights of the Suit Ships

Chapter 14 - The Surface

Chapter 15 - Search for the Lander

Chapter 16 - Venusian Surprise

Chapter 17 - Calm After the Storm

Chapter 18 - Aboard the Mother Ship

Chapter 19 - Houston Has a Solution

Chapter 20 - A Historic Discovery

Chapter 21 - The World in Awe

Chapter 22 - Astounding Discovery

Chapter 23 - The Message

Chapter 24 - The Circle of History

About the Author

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Acknowledgements

I am especially grateful to my wife, Sheryl, for giving me her opinion about this story and for correcting my grammatical and spelling errors.

Eloise Hamann and Kris Rogers, members of the California Writers Club, Tri-Valley Chapter, helped me a lot, providing me with ideas on how to improve this tale.

I hope I haven't omitted anyone. Any errors in this book are mine and mine alone. I hope my readers will enjoy Venus Warning, a Novelette.

Chapter 1 -- The Struggle for Life

Ruthless sunlight baked Figar as he lay on the burning hot mud. It was rapidly thickening and soon would turn hard. His lizard body was ill-suited for the abrupt change in climate that was underway.

Figar had stopped to rest by a jagged boulder. He drew his deadly dart pistol, and leaned back against the rock that protected him from enemies that had followed him.

Figar's head fell forward into a fleeting sleep for mere seconds. Suddenly there was a high whining as a swarm