The Forever Journey
Space: 1889 & Beyond—The Forever Journey
By Paul F Gwyn
Copyright 2013 by Paul F Gwyn
Space: 1889 © & ™ Frank Chadwick 1988, 2013
Cover Design & Art © Tom Webster and Untreed Reads Publishing, 2013
Space: 1889 & Beyond
developed by Andy Frankham-Allen
Asunder
by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786–1859)
The author is hereby established as the sole holder of the copyright. Either the publisher (Untreed Reads) or author may enforce copyrights to the fullest extent.
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This is a work of fiction. The characters, dialogue and events in this book are wholly fictional and any resemblance to companies and actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Other Titles in the
Space: 1889 & Beyond
Series
Journey to the Heart of Luna
Vandals on Venus
The Ghosts of Mercury
A Prince of Mars
Abattoir in the Aether
Dark Side of Luna
Conspiracy of Silence
Mundus Cerialis
Leviathans in the Clouds
A Fistful of Dust
Horizons of Deceit, Book I
“THE FORVER JOURNEY”
By Paul F Gwyn
(Based on an idea by Mark Michalowski)
Prologue
“Seeing Patterns”
HAVING DEBRIEFED SIR henry Routledge on the events on Phobos, and their discovery of the not-Heart at the moon’s centre (he refused to call it the Eye, despite Stone’s recommendation), Folkard was the first to return to
Esmeralda 2
. There was much he left out of his report, of course, since Sir Henry was not cleared for all things, but he needed to be aware of certain pertinent information. The British government would soon be taking a greater interest in Phobos and Sir Henry needed to be prepared for that. The link between the not-Heart of Phobos and the Heart of Luna could not be easily dismissed, and there was no law preventing other interested parties from actively excavating the interior of Phobos. Luna was, at least legally, protected from such activities… Not that it prevented the work being undertaken at Otterbein Base, Folkard considered ruefully.
More and more connections were being made; the further they advanced on their mission to find the minerals needed to propel them beyond the asteroid belt, the more they were discovering the secrets of the Solar System. The moons, for example, judging on their discoveries so far, appeared to all be hollow. Folkard knew it was a bit of a jump to say all, but he would not be surprised to discover some kind of Heart at the centre of every moon in the system. He would be making note of that in his next report.
Something much bigger was going on—a mystery was being revealed to them, a secret so old it pre-dated man. It was as Folkard had considered before, everything seemed to be connected.
Before reaching Mars he had witnessed the most amazing thing, uncovered the biggest secret of them all. He had not thought much about it since, instead focussing his mind on their mission to Phobos, but now, as he sat at the controls of
Esmeralda 2
, he allowed his mind to drift back several weeks to the events that transpired after they left Earth and set course for Mars…
Chapter One
“What the Heart wants…”
1.
A WEEK
HAD passed since leaving Earth and the changing atmosphere on board
Esmeralda 2
was tangible. If the rest of the crew had not identified this among themselves, then Arnaud had. He had seen the pattern many times before. Take a group of people, place them in one space for a long period of time, and they were bound to suffer from some kind of
fièvre
.
Regardless of Arnaud’s thoughts on the mental state on the crew, he endeavoured to maintain a positive disposition. Poetry had kept him occupied since depositing the minerals found on Ceres and Venus with the research team on Earth; he had bought several books during their “shore leave” in London.
But poetry could always wait for the company of friends. He set his literature aside, placing it in his little net bag, when Annabelle entered
“As much as I trust Jacob, I still cannot but harbour a slight scepticism of his decisions from time to time.” Annabelle’s eyes focused on nothing as she spoke
“He believes in the Heart. Do you not also?”
She looked out of sorts, but Arnaud didn’t think it would be an apt time to probe. Another indication of
cabine fièvre
? No doubt.
“No, I do.” A hollow half-smile crept up her face, and she looked Arnaud straight in the eye.
Ah, there was the direct girl he knew. But when he smiled back, she averted her gaze again with a soft sigh.
“It’s just that, I feel…” Her voice trailed off.
“The journey, let alone the mission, is tiresome at times, Annabelle. I’m sure Captain Folkard is tested as much as we,” Arnaud said, prodding a small mass of corned beef on a plate in front of him. It had a strong enough adhesive property to stick to the plate and not float away. The scientist in him was intrigued by the demonstration of the principles of viscosity. The gourmand in him was trying hard not to think upon it at all.
Annabelle got up from the table, having hardly touched her own food.
“Arnaud,” she cut through a brief, but uneasy silence. “I am suffering from quite the niggling headache and feel it fitting to retire to my stateroom. Would you mind attending to my things?” She gestured to the food and drink receptacles on the table.
Arnaud nodded graciously
He had been eager to read through the newly published poems of the one his father called
La femme en blanc.
But wasn’t he in the middle of something?
Arnaud pulled out a well battered, leather-backed book, many pages of which were misshapen or misaligned. He opened the book. Fragments of paper floated freely from it.
Ah, yes, Tennyson.
Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark.
2.
IT FELT
GOOD to stretch his legs in the ship, even if it was just a stroll along the observation gangway. Nathanial was in a genial mood at that moment. He was very much looking forward to testing the newly-installed aether propeller governor. Passing so close to the aether vortex normally would have made him terribly anxious, but he had confidence in this latest addition.
He reached the engine room, letting himself in, and peered around for Jack; s
eeing no indication of him, Nathanial proceeded into the room
. A jet of steam escaped one of the pipes, letting out a high pitched whistling noise, causing him to catch himself.
“Evening, Prof.”
Nathanial jumped.
“Sorry,” Jack Fenn said, laughing. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I was not scared, merely testing the gravity, or lack thereof.”
“So…scared, yes?” Fenn continued, with an easy grin.
Nathanial gave Jack a reprimanding look, and the young seaman looked away. Nathanial stalled for a second, surprised by Jack’s unusual glance aside. It was not like Jack to give in so easily. Deciding to leave it for later, Nathanial continued; “We have business to discuss.”
He walked through the steam, over to the aether propeller governor. They had finished its construction shortly after leaving Venus and had finally installed it while
Esmeralda
had rested in its cradle at Chatham Dockyard. He placed his hand on the oak finish. “It seems we may get to use this soon.”
Jack nodded. “The captain has predicted a vortex?”
Nathanial had not considered that. He forgot that the aether vortex was not a constant, but rather the result of Earth and Mar’s orbital wakes crossing. “Ah, I did not ask.”
“Then perhaps we’ll get lucky.”
“Lucky?” Nathanial shuddered at the memory of
Peregrine
and the loss of life one such aether vortex had caused. “Hmm, remind me to tell you about the
Peregrine
disaster.”
Jack frowned.
“I think I shall retire to the laboratory now,” Nathanial said, “unless you require me to take over from you tonight? I could keep the engines ticking over while you get some rest.”
“Thanks, Prof, but tell you the truth, been itching to get back in the aether.”
There was something in the way Jack said that which gave Nathanial pause. He shook it away once again. Jack’s reasons for wanting to return to the aether were his own, and it wasn’t Nathanial’s place to pry.
“Very good, Jack. In that case I bid you goodnight.” He left the engine room and headed for his favourite part of the ship—his lab.
3.
THE PLATE GLEAMED
in the light of the single Edison bulb that poorly illuminated the lab. Arnaud smiled as he ran a finger over the crystal plate but froze at the sound of footsteps clicking along the gangway.
He lurched forward, with such force he almost ploughed face first into the floor. Upside-down he scrambled underneath the cot for the small leather satchel in which he kept the plate, and shoved it inside
He heard the wooden door behind him begin to open. He clumsily fastened the strap and returned it untethered to its hiding place, and hoped that it would not find the momentum to float away from beneath the cot. That would be…unfortunate. It had happened in the past. Arnaud’s clutter often mingled with Nathanial’s.
Nathanial strode in: as best one can stride in a place void of gravity. He coughed.
“Are you well, Nathanial? It would be most unfitting for you to become ill after my own ailment has finally subsided, thanks to successful application of asterium, of course.”
“No, no, I’m fine, Just a slight cough.”
Nathanial looked flush. Strange. It was just a small cough he seemed to have. Regardless, Arnaud was glad that Nathanial was seemingly unaware of the plate.
Nathanial glanced around the room. “How goes the research with the minerals?”
“There was actually something else I had been interested in for the time being,” Arnaud replied, gesturing to a medium-sized wooden crate that was strapped to a table. He had in fact been quite occupied with his minerals; however, he had something else that he wanted to tell Nathanial about. This was something that Nathanial could involve himself with a lot more than his passion for minerals.