The Capsule

By Maurice Ellis

During the Blitz, in the second world war, a mysterious object landed in the River Thames and lay undiscovered for the next ninety-five years. Had it not been for an accident it may never have been discovered. When it was finally brought to the surface it proved to be a find of some magnitude. One which would prove that Humans were not alone in the galaxy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Maurice Ellis
• Release date: Dec 28, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463561782

Maurice Ellis

I'm retired and bored, so I thought I'd have a go at writing fiction short stories. This is my first attempt and, hopefully, not my last. I love sci-fi, so I decided this was the best genre for me. I did write a full-length murder story some years ago, but it wasn't accepted, so I gave up writing for a few years. But now I'm at it again. old, but not obsolete. This is a rewrite of my first version of The Capsule, so I hope I have made the story more interesting. I've had to give up playing keyboard because of arthritis, so I decided to write a book with some of the tips and tricks I learned as a beginner. See my Keyboard Master book.

Book preview

The Capsule

‘Tellius’

A Science fiction short story

By:

Maurice Ellis

‘Smashwords Edition

The Capsule. Tellius’

Copyright © 2019 by Maurice Ellis

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the author.

ISBN 9780463561782

This book is a work of fiction and any similarity to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Approx.: 9000 words

Acknowledgements

I want to thank my brother David Ellis, B.Eng. (Hons) M.Sc. for his helpful advice and editing.

It was our long discussions on science and science fiction which led me to writing this story.

Contents

Chapter 1 -The Discovery.

Chapter 2 – Investigation.

Chapter 3 – Inside the capsule.

Chapter 4 – Deciphering.

Chapter 5 – The test flight.

Chapter 6 - The return.

Chapter 7 – Manned flight.

Chapter 8 – Lost in space.

Chapter 9 – The Onawans

Chapter 10– Homeward bound

Chapter 1 - Discovery

During the Blitz on London from 1940 to 1941, the German Luftwaffe dropped over 30,000 tons of bombs and more than 40,000 people were killed. After which London enjoyed a period of relative calm. Then, without warning, on the evening of January 22nd, 1944, at around 8.45 pm, they came again. More than four hundred German bombers dropped a massive number of incendiary bombs and high explosives. The Germans called it 'Operation Steinbock'.

With such a huge number of explosives being dropped, and with people running for cover, no one noticed the incongruous object which landed in the River Thames about three hundred metres downstream from Tower Bridge. It didn't explode but sliced through the water and sank into the river bed to about tree metres below the silt and mud. It lay undisturbed for the next ninety-five years.

* * * * *

On July 12th.. 2039, a small motor launch with a married couple on board caught fire and exploded approximately three hundred metres downstream from Tower Bridge. The river police were soon on the scene and rescued a middle-aged woman who had been thrown clear. She suffered serious but not life-threatening burns and was quickly taken to the nearest hospital. There was no sign of her husband. After fifteen minutes of searching the police diver found the body of the woman's husband. He was lying at the bottom of the river, straddled across what looked like a large rock. After the body was raised to the surface and placed in the police launch the diver said he was going back down to have another look at that rock.

The rock was not completely exposed. The