Luna

By Allen Stroud

Fifth episode in the Fractal mini-series, building on the heavily-praised worlds of Fearless and Resilient set in 2118AD, now accompanied by an awesome soundtrack.

Retired Fleet Admiral, James Langsley, is called out of retirement to a secret meeting at the Moon colony. He is reunited with an old friend and a new enemy. Who will he choose to side with?

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Flame Tree Press
• Release date: Jan 12, 2024
• ISBN: 9781787588288

Allen Stroud

Allen Stroud (Ph.D) is a university lecturer and Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror writer, best known for his work on the computer games Elite Dangerous by Frontier Developments and Phoenix Point by Snapshot Games. He was the 2017 and 2018 chair of Fantasycon, the annual convention of the British Fantasy Society, which hosts the British Fantasy Awards. He is he current Chair of the British Science Fiction Association. His SF novels, Fearless, and Resilient and titles in The Fractal Series are published by Flame Tree Press.

Book preview

Luna

THE FRACTAL SERIES

5 of 6

flametreepress.com

FLAME TREE PRESS

London & New York

Prologue

In 2038 AD, the People’s Republic of China landed humans on the Moon.

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, the United States of America had been developing a strategy that would include permanent off-world bases. A return to the Moon was seen as part of that plan, so they could venture onwards and reach Mars.

The Chinese had a different objective. They were always planning to develop a settlement on the Moon.

As the failed democracy of America fractured, the NASA mission remained as a symbol of unity between the three new nations that would emerge from the conflict. The organisation became independent of direct control in the treaty of secession in 2090 AD and began meeting with other governments and corporations to make agreements so that its plans could continue.

Gradually, Fleet emerged as a global organisation from elements of the former United States military forces, mostly the navy and air force. With access to NASA research and technology, Fleet incorporated different countries into its collaborative agreement. This was more than the multilateral treaties or mutual defence pacts of the past. Fleet represented a solution to armed conflict between nations. Sign up, gain access to next-level resources and equipment, but as part of that commitment agree to stand down your military.

Whilst this global partnership gradually developed, China continued with its plans for the Moon. Chang’s Base became Chang City, although the population of ten thousand residents could only be compared to that of a small town on Earth. By comparison, the old NASA research base maintained a complement of thirty permanent staff and was proving inadequate to the needs of the economic future Fleet had promised to the rest of the world.

So, in 2110 AD, Fleet and the People’s Republic of China made a deal.

Chapter One: Marcus

A recurring dream.

An arid landscape, somewhere in a North African polity. I’m crouching behind a ridge, rifle in hand. The Sun beats down on me. My desert fatigues are sweaty. I’ve had to run and fight to get here, to the planned extraction site.

There are six of us. Survivors from a failed intervention in a war about oil, one of the last wars over exploiting the Earth’s natural resources and polluting the atmosphere. We were sent in to prevent any further drilling and extraction, but the local ruler has already signed a contract with a company who thinks the rules don’t apply to them.

The heli-transit plane is on approach. It will land on the flat plateau in front of our position. In the moment of landing and taking off, the vehicle is extremely vulnerable to small arms fire.

Currently, our pursuers are out of range. Now is the time to evacuate and get into the sky before we’re overrun.

Shouting from the captain. I follow him, taking position to his right, turning and covering the landscape behind us. I can see the dust trails of trucks and transports on their way to our position. Soldiers in those vehicles want us dead. We need to leave before they get here.

The moment I step on the mine is one I always remember. The ground gives a little under the heel of my boot. There’s a beep and I freeze in place, yelling to the others, trying to warn them. An explosion confirms that the warning is too late. The distant chatter of an automatic rifle tells me I don’t have time to try to disarm the device.

Shit.

The choice in that moment is one I always come back to. Letting the others go and surrendering to the enemy might have led to a different outcome, but that option didn’t even cross my mind. There was a chance, I took that chance and I live with the consequences.

Rolling back on my heel, I leap backwards. The mine explodes and a flash of intense pain overwhelms me. I—

* * *

I’m awake.

The clacking sound of the train is a fading reminder of the dream, as is the strange sense of displacement, like I’ve been hit hard in the head. It’s always like that when I have these dreams.

I glance out of the window. It’s dark. It’s always dark outside here. This is Luna, there are no sunset skies or puffy clouds, and there never will be. This is a dead world, killed at birth, according to the historians, by its much bigger and more beautiful friend.

The Earth.

The disorientation is fading. I’m here as a protector, employed by a retired military officer who wants to make a trip into Chang City. I’m on my way to meet him at the terminal at Forestal where I’ll take responsibility for him during his trip into the city. He’ll be staying for forty-eight hours and then returning.

I signed a contract yesterday. I’m authorised to use whatever means necessary to protect Admiral Langsley from harm.

Before I signed, I read about him. Former Fleet, former intelligence. The kind who don’t really retire all the way. They keep cards in their hand, even when they aren’t at the table, just in case someone tries to play a hand that might put their game at risk.

A flicker of movement. Someone in the aisle. The Moon’s weak gravity means people can leap and bound around, but still know which way is down. Exercise is good out here, less impact, more effort, so long as you’re careful.

The woman moves away down the carriage, using her hands and feet in an extended clamber. She looks practised, been here a few years I’d guess.

I note six other people in a seated compartment for forty or more. I let myself fall asleep around strangers. Not a good start, Marcus.

My gaze shifts to the display board in the centre of the aisle – Forestal: Three Minutes. Nearly there then, good.

I’m thirsty. The water dispenser is by my right arm. I flick a switch and the tube is in my hand. I put it in my mouth and press the button. Cold moon water, mined from the centre of this little world. A mouthful or two washes away the dry taste of my fitful dreams. As soon as I let go, the flow stops, ensuring there is no residue.

The train is slowing down. I can feel the shift, but it’s a very different sensation to what I’d experience on Earth. The control of velocity in a low-population, energy-scarce environment is a big part of successful infrastructure design. The rail link between the Fleet base of Forestal and Chang City was built thirty years ago, but the way in which generated kinetic movement is managed and reused is crucial to how this works. Out here, there is no air resistance. That helps with acceleration but gets to be a problem when you want to slow down. Flywheels bleed away the train’s momentum, turning it into electricity, which recharges the system for the return journey.

I hope the woman who passed by made it to her seat in time.

I can see lights outside the window. These give me a reference point to get an idea of how fast we’re travelling. The distance between Chang City and Forestal is around two hundred kilometres. Both are located around the Luna south pole, built over extensive water-ice deposits. They need to be to ensure the residents have easy access