“Time to go,” said the dragon. “The Moon awaits.”
The Rainbow cascaded down before us. Tumbling endlessly out of nowhere, the blazing colours filled the sky until there was nothing else left, and the dragon flew straight into them. I could hear the true song of the Rainbow now, in my heart and in my soul. It wasn’t just a doorway, like the Merlin Glass; the Rainbow was alive. An elemental thing, old as the universe. The dragon didn’t summon the Rainbow; it came because it chose to.
Because we needed it.
This time, the transition wasn’t instantaneous. There was a sense of falling forever, in a place that wasn’t a place. I couldn’t feel the dragon’s spine beneath me or Molly’s arms around my waist, and I wondered, Is this what it will feel like to be dead? And then we burst out the other side of the Rainbow and all the colours were gone, replaced by a shimmering silver-grey light as the dragon went soaring over the surface of the Moon.
• • •
I heard Molly gasp, and I would have too if I hadn’t been so exhausted. I’d seen recordings of the Apollo landings on television, but I’d never seen the Moon for myself, up close and personal. The dusty surface stretched away like a solid grey sea. There were mountains like frozen crested waves and craters the size of cities, full of mysteries and concealing darkness. Anything might be lurking at the bottom of craters like those. And all of it unnaturally still and silent, like the ghost of the world. The dragon descended steadily, until the grey plains were so close it felt like I could reach down and touch them. I expected the beating of the dragon’s wings to stir up great clouds of dust as we passed, but nothing moved. When I looked at the dragon’s wings, I saw they weren’t moving either. He was just gliding serenely over the lunar surface, with no effort at all.
“Enjoying the view?” said the dragon. “I thought you might appreciate the scenic route.”
“It’s amazing!” said Molly. “I’ve never been to the Moon. Been pretty much everywhere else, but . . . How far are we from where the eagle landed?”
I pointed off to the left. “Fifty, sixty miles. Which was actually a lot closer to Moonbreaker than my family was comfortable with, but it wasn’t like we could say anything.”
“If you’re interested,” said the dragon, “I can tell you that Gerard and Edmund are already on the Moon. Somewhere.”
“Is this, by any chance, a dragon thing?” I said.
“Of course.”
“But you don’t know exactly where they are?” said Molly.
“No,” said the dragon. “Must be a living god thing.”
“I know where they’re heading,” I said. “The only place they could go to activate Moonbreaker. Under the surface, inside the Moon.”
“What is there inside the Moon?” said Molly.
“You’d be surprised,” I said.
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Molly said darkly. “I mean, being here is cool, but the Moon doesn’t strike me as a particularly hospitable place.”
“Dragon,” I said, “why didn’t the Rainbow transport us directly to Moonbreaker?”
“Something to do with the nature of its location,” said the dragon. “No use pressing me for details; it’s not like I have long conversations with the Rainbow. I just know things.”
“Then we’ll have to get down to Moonbreaker the way my family did,” I said. “All those years ago . . .”
“You know how to do that?” said Molly.
“I do now,” I said. “It was part of the information package the dragon passed on. We need to find one particular crater.”
“Already there,” said the dragon. “We’re almost on top of it.”
“Hold everything!” Molly said sharply. “I have questions. Urgent and very practical questions. How are we still breathing? Why aren’t we floating right off the dragon’s back, due to the low gravity? Why aren’t we dying from the subzero temperature and the vacuum? Answer the first question first, but don’t skimp on the others.”
“Relax,” said the dragon. “You’re protected from any and all local conditions as long as you’re with me. Just part of the package when you fly Dragon Airways!”
A crater loomed up before us. It looked like one of the smaller impact sites, barely two or three hundred feet in diameter. I tried to visualise the size of the meteor that could have caused such damage, and then thought about what meteors that big would do to Earth if the atmosphere wasn’t there to burn them up. The sheer number of craters made it clear that as far as the universe was concerned, the Moon was just one big target. The crater before us looked increasingly deep as we approached, its base concealed by dark shadows.
Molly leaned in close to put her mouth right next to my ear. “How are you feeling, Eddie?”
“Like there’s less and less of me, all the time,” I said. “I can’t feel anything now inside my armour. I don’t even want to think about what shape my body must be in if my armour has had to cut off all sensations. I probably don’t look very pretty any more.”
“But, then, what’s going to happen when you have to take off your armour?” said Molly.
“I can’t,” I said. “If I armour down now, even for a moment, I’ll die.”
“You mean you’re going to have to live in it forever?”
“No,” I said. “Only until it can’t keep me alive any longer. We’re in the end game now, Molly. No way back, not for me. I’ve known that all along, but it’s still hard to accept. I wish . . . I’d found the time to hold you in my arms and kiss you good-bye properly before I sealed myself up inside the armour. So many things I should have done while I still had time.”
Molly couldn’t bring herself to say anything. I saw her tighten her arms around my waist, but couldn’t feel them. I was isolated from everything now, like a ghost haunting my own life.
“We’ll be landing soon,” I said. “And then we’ll have to leave the dragon and his protections. My armour will support me, but what about you, Molly?”
“I am perfectly capable of looking after myself,” Molly said immediately.
“Good to know,” I said.
The dragon touched down on the lunar surface, just short of the crater. Dust rose in thick clouds all around us, before settling back again very slowly. I thought about how long it must have been since anything disturbed the dust in this still, silent world. The silence of the tomb, in a dead place.
“Why aren’t you bothered by the lack of air?” I asked the dragon.
“Because to an unnatural creature such as myself, all natural conditions are equally irrelevant.” The dragon peered around him with a certain sense of satisfaction, studying the various marks his landing had left on the Moon’s dusty ground. “Just think! In years to come, when the astronauts finally return to the Moon, they will come here . . . and find dragon tracks in the dust.”
“No they won’t,” I said firmly. “Because whatever happens, you are going to clean up all traces of our visit before you leave. Humanity isn’t supposed to know about the likes of us and the things we do. For everyone’s peace of mind. Do this for me, dragon. It’s a Drood thing.”
“Of course, Eddie,” said the dragon. “Anything for the family.”
Molly surrounded herself with a protective force field. I caught sight of it out of the corner of my mask and glanced back, over my shoulder. The field shimmered and sparkled, suggesting it had energy to spare, but it didn’t seem very big.
“How much oxygen do you have inside there?” I said. “How far can you travel before it runs out?”
“The field generates its own air,” said Molly. “Don’t ask how; you know you never understand my explanations. And don’t fuss!”
Her tone made it clear there was no point in pressing her. I swung one leg over the dragon’s spine and started to climb down his side. Molly went to help me, the way she’d helped me climb up, but I stopped her with a gestu
re. I appreciated the offer, but I needed to do things for myself, while I still could. I worked my way down the dragon’s side, slowly and carefully, watching where I put my hands and feet, because I had no feeling in them. I had to dig my feet in hard to make sure they wouldn’t slip, but the dragon didn’t say anything. I finally dropped down onto the Moon’s surface, and dust puffed silently up. I peered around me, into the spectral light, taking in craters named after people who had never been here, and mountains no one ever climbed. A world that had grown old and tired, waiting for Man to come and visit.
Molly was right. Even after all the places we’d been, the Moon was special.
Molly clambered quickly down the dragon’s side to join me. And then we allowed ourselves a moment to just stand there and admire the sheer spectacle of the scene. All of it bathed in an eerie silver-grey light that made everything seem like a half-remembered dream. Molly suddenly grabbed hold of my arm, and raised her voice excitedly.
“Eddie! I just realised! I’m the first woman to walk on the Moon!”
“Well,” I said, “given that Elspeth Drood was part of the original installation team . . .”
Molly scowled and pushed my arm away. “You had to spoil my moment, didn’t you?”
“Sorry. I suppose there’s always the chance . . .”
“No. Too late. The moment’s gone.”
“You must have been the first woman to walk in far more exciting places than this, Molly.”
“Of course I have! It’s just, this is the Moon.” And then she stopped and turned back to glare at the dragon. “Are you positive this is the right crater? I mean, there are an awful lot of them.”
“This is where you need to be,” said the dragon. “Trust me; I’m a dragon.”
“This is the right place,” I said. “Trust me; I’m a Drood.”
Molly looked at me challengingly. “How can you be so sure?”
“Because my family provided me with the exact coordinates, and a map downloaded into my armour. I couldn’t get lost if I tried.” I studied the rising wall of the crater carefully. “We need to get moving. It’s possible the Merlin Glass transported Edmund and Gerard straight to Moonbreaker. It’s always been good at getting into places it shouldn’t be able to.”
“How could it do that, when the Rainbow couldn’t?” said Molly.
“Because it’s Merlin’s Glass,” I said. “A man famous for doing things no one else could.”
“He wasn’t infallible,” said Molly. “As you’d know, if you’d met his last girlfriend. I’ve talked with him, remember, in the Nightside. Of course, that was after he was dead, and he’d slowed down a bit.”
“Just more proof, if proof were needed, that he was far more powerful than one man should ever be,” I said.
Molly scowled at the crater. “If Moonbreaker’s buried underneath that crater, how are we supposed to get down to it? I didn’t think to bring my digging equipment with me.”
“There’s a door at the bottom of the crater,” I said
“Of course there is.” Molly folded her arms stubbornly. “I am not taking one more step until I know exactly what I’m getting into. You’ve been keeping too many things from me, Eddie Drood, and this is where I draw my line in the sand. Or the dust. So, talk to me. What is Moonbreaker?”
“Something so appalling, most of my family couldn’t be allowed to know about it,” I said steadily. “So they could sleep at night. I only know because I used to run the family. I had to be told, in case I ever needed to authorize its use. There is a bomb inside the Moon. Powerful enough to blow the Moon apart and send its pieces crashing down onto Earth. Pieces big enough to destroy Earth and every living thing on it.”
Molly stared at me. “Dear God . . . If the world knew about this, they’d tear your family apart!”
“I know,” I said. “That’s why we keep it to ourselves. And why most of my family can’t be trusted with the knowledge. Someone might have an attack of conscience and give the game away.”
“But why?” Molly said angrily. “Why would your family want to put such a thing here?”
“In case we ever need to destroy Earth,” I said. “As a last resort, to take a conquering enemy with us. Or to provide a compassionate end for Humanity. One last act of mercy in an unbearable situation. Think, Molly: What if the Hungry Gods had won their war against us? Would you have wanted to go on living in the world they would have made? Endless horror and endless suffering? There had to be a way out, we decided. And it must be said, my family have always been very bad losers.”
Molly shook her head slowly, trying to come to terms with my family’s idea of forward planning. “How could you . . . ?”
“That’s my family’s job sometimes. To think the things no one else wants to think about. To do the things no one else is prepared to do or can be trusted to do. We are the defenders of Humanity . . . but when that’s no longer possible, we are prepared to be Humanity’s avengers.”
“Why not place the bomb inside the earth?”
“Because that’s the first place anyone would look,” I said. “I wonder, were Gerard and Elspeth part of the planning team that came up with the Moonbreaker scenario? Were they made to think the unthinkable, and that’s what started Gerard down his path? Is my family responsible for creating Grendel Rex?”
“Gerard made himself into the Unforgiven God,” said Molly. “He chose to make himself more dangerous than Moonbreaker could ever be. Grendel Rex didn’t want to just kill Humanity; he wanted to replace it.”
“This is why he came to the Moon,” I said. “Not to carve his features into the surface; he was here for Moonbreaker.”
“So he did want to destroy Earth, after all?”
“No,” I said. “No, you’re right, that doesn’t make sense. That was never what he wanted . . .”
“All right,” said Molly. “Was there anything else Moonbreaker could do?”
“Not as far as I know,” I said. “What did Grendel Rex want with Moonbreaker? And why waste time with such an act of vanity? If he hadn’t exhausted his powers carving his face into the surface of the Moon, my family might never have been able to take him down.”
“Could he really have set off Moonbreaker on his own?” said Molly.
“Oh yes,” I said. “It was designed to be simple to operate in an emergency. So that even if only one of us was left, we could still do what was necessary to put Humanity out of its misery.”
“But how did Edmund know about any of this?” said Molly. “He never ran his family.”
“Who knows what information he had access to in the Other World?”
“But if he knew about Moonbreaker, why not use it to destroy his Earth?”
“Because he never meant to destroy all of Humanity,” I said. “Just the Droods.”
“Then why is he ready to destroy Earth now?”
I felt like shouting at her to stop asking me questions, but that was just the tiredness. Molly was right. I was missing something.
“Edmund isn’t crazy,” I said. “As such. He still needs somewhere to live. Unless he’s had enough of our world and intends to move on to some other earth.”
“He must have a plan,” said Molly.
“Of course. Edmund always has a plan.”
“Where is Moonbreaker, exactly?”
“In the City.”
Molly looked at me. “City? What city?”
“Droods know lots of things,” I said. “We are, after all, the keepers of the secret histories. I’m talking about the underground City of the Selenites. The original inhabitants of the lunar interior. A very old race.”
“As old as Humanity?” said Molly.
“Older,” I said. “All gone now, of course.”
“Oh,” said Molly. “Like when we visited the Martian Tombs?”
“Not really,
” I said. “Whoever or whatever lived on Mars disappeared millennia ago. The Selenites have only been gone a few centuries.”
Molly looked at me suspiciously. “Did your family do something to them?”
“No,” I said. “They did something to themselves.”
“But they were here, when your family first installed the Moonbreaker device?”
“Oh yes.”
“And the Selenites were fine with you people putting a bomb here?” said Molly. “Something big enough to blow the whole Moon right out from under them?”
“They understood the need for it,” I said. “They were in charge of guarding Moonbreaker.”
“So what changed a few hundred years ago?”
“It’s complicated.”
She gave me a hard look. “Simplify it!”
“Wait till we get to the City,” I said. “Everything will be much clearer once we get to the City.”
Molly sniffed loudly, in a way that made it plain the conversation wasn’t over, just postponed.
“All right,” she said. “Where is this underground City of the Selenites, and how do we get to it?”
“There’s a door at the bottom of the crater.”
“I don’t know why I even ask you things,” said Molly. “No, hold on. It’s only just occurred to me, but . . . How are we able to talk to each other without radios or anything?”
“My torc allows me to contact your mind directly.”
“You can read my thoughts?” said Molly.
“I wouldn’t dare.”
Molly smiled suddenly. “You do know that was the only acceptable answer?”
“Of course,” I said.
I turned to the patiently waiting dragon. “I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to stay on the surface. You can’t follow where we have to go.”
“Suits me,” said the dragon. “Think I’ll go for a nice fly around. Take in the sights, see if I can scare up a little action.”
“On the Moon?” said Molly.
“You humans have such limited expectations,” said the dragon. “I see all kinds of possibilities here.”
“I still don’t see how you can fly when there isn’t any air,” I said.