About this story
A war scare and a returned engagement ring force the proposal you had both been avoiding, and you marry before the ship ever leaves Earth's air. The honeymoon becomes an expedition: landing on the Moon, you and Zaidie find a crater city ringed with giant bones and a temple too dark to map, then turn toward a deeper crater where instruments detect air.
How it opens
The Astronef crossed the rising sun above an Atlantic liner whose officers called the sight impossible.
Captain HawkinsAirship or apparition, it is approaching faster than anything with a right to float.
Andrew MurgatroydRelative speed matched; the bridge can extend without striking the liner's rail.
Zaidie Rennick stood among the passengers, two years removed from your last unfinished conversation.
You kept your promise to conquer the air, Lord Redgrave, but perhaps too late.
The Astronef can cross more than an ocean; let me show you before you decide what is late.