Lunatic

By Chris Daruns

When ex-soldier Marc Weaver discovers the broken body of his nephew on the lunar surface, it was easy to presume he'd suffered an all-too-common accident. Helium mining is dangerous, as everyone knows. But the facts just don't add up. With mineral rights in play and a shaky political situation brewing, Marc begins to discover his nephew was up to more than just idle teenage activism. Harried by ruthless prospectors, rival family clans, and his own demons, Marc is determined to solve the murder of his nephew, even if it means unlocking the door to his violent past.

• Language: English
• Publisher: World Castle Publishing, LLC
• Release date: Jan 29, 2024
• ISBN: 9798891261358

Chris Daruns

Chris Daruns works as a paramedic in Colorado when he's not writing or goofing off in the mountains. His work has previously been published in Infernal Ink Magazine, The Colored Lens, and Alcyone. His stories have appeared in several anthologies, including Bonded by Blood V and Zombies Gone Wild. He has a short story collection, We Were Always Monsters also available.

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Lunatic

by

Chris Daruns

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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World Castle Publishing, LLC

Pensacola, Florida

Copyright © 2024 Chris Daruns

Paperback ISBN: 9798891261341

Smashwords Edition

eBook ISBN: 9798891261358

First Edition World Castle Publishing, LLC, January 29, 2024

http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com

Smashwords Licensing Notes

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

Cover: Cover Designs by Karen

https://www.cover-designs-by-karen.com

Editor: Karen Fuller

Chapter 1

I hate the moon. Ten years on a gray rock more than two hundred thousand miles away from fresh air is a special kind of purgatory.

My nephew’s body, face swollen and eyes bloodshot, was wedged between several large rocks. His faceplate was shattered, and he was coated with that fine moondust that was such a nightmare to deal with here.

Fuck this place.

Gavin Stills stood next to me, staring at the twisted form.

It looks like he fell, Gavin said simply, motioning to the crater ridge above us. Probably, he could leap down from there no problem, but if he tripped, smashed his helmet… I’m sorry to be the one to tell y’all.

I’m glad you found him when you did, I said through the radio mic in my helmet. He’d been past due for a few hours. James and Aiden are checking the south ridgeline as we speak. It’s good they didn’t find him. They don’t need to see him like this.

To be honest, I rather despised my nephew. Declan was fifteen when we’d arrived here for our prospecting claim, and unlike the other kids in neighboring homesteads, he hadn’t pined away for his life on Earth but rather threw himself into this new world full force. Any mention of Earth would elicit a scoff and an eye roll from him. To him, I didn’t belong. I wasn’t all in, as he said. That made me suspect, and it made him a lunar-class prick.

But I hadn’t wanted him dead.

Want help carrying him? Gavin asked.

No. I shook my head as if he could see my face in my helmet. I want to look around first. Could you swing by our hole, though? I left the grandkids on their own when I got your transmission. Just check on them, will you? I need to poke around here for a minute.

Gavin nodded with his hand.

Our hole was our home. A borehole into a cliff face and outfitted with an airlock. Some of the newer colonists had domes, but we were bootstrappers, first-gen. We just drilled into the rock and hung a sign.

I watched Gavin bounce away.

He was wrong.

I looked up the ridge. Sure, it was possible to jump from a height of fifty meters here and not be hurt. But no one would ever attempt it. It wasn’t the height of the fall apt to do you in, but any tumbling in the process. Nobody risked tearing their suit, no matter how small or easily repairable. An experienced luney like Declan would never risk that.

I knelt next to him to get a closer look. Yeah, dead bodies bother me, but I’ve seen more than my fair share. I’m not afraid to look.

His faceplate was partially smashed in. Water vapor from his exposed flesh was steaming. I reminded myself that it was about a hundred degrees Celsius in the direct sunlight of our crater. I wiped away dust where I could, looking for tears. He had several: small ones to both arms, to his left knee, and a larger one at the seam of his right leg. That one was longer, almost ten centimeters, and alone could have done him in.

A fall.

I wish I could say I was suspicious then. That it screamed foul play. But, at the time, I didn’t think that at all.

You poor, dumb bastard, I said.

──────

There are no lawmen, per se, on the moon. The nearest equivalent was Antonio Lin, a NASA liaison who investigated property claims. He’s an accountant type: lean and severe. I liked him almost immediately.

He arrived four hours later direct from Artemis, the main city on this godforsaken rock and named after the mission that founded it. He hung his suit in the airlock of our homestead as if the hook belonged to him.

Declan lay on the floor of the first room, covered in a space blanket.

Aiden sat on the bench on the far wall, still teary-eyed. Christ, it wasn’t even his kid. Aiden was my sister’s husband. Declan was the son of James, my younger brother. He stood in the center of the room, waiting for Antonio to enter.

How long is this going to take? James asked, the hard