Slaves of Mercury

Hilary Grendon touches down after a five‑year odyssey that left him the only survivor of a crew that dared to venture beyond Earth. The battered craft he pilots, the Vagabond, guides him back to familiar grass and birch trees, yet his mind races through the loss of friends on Saturn, Ganymede, Pluto and Mars. The arrival is both a triumphant homecoming and a stark reminder of the thin line between daring adventure and catastrophe.

The sky above the old world is no longer empty; alien disc‑shaped objects drift through the stratosphere and strange lords from beyond patrol the cities. Hilary’s first impulse is to race toward New York, to see Joan again and to report to President Peabody, while the bewildering new skyline hints at forces that may reshape civilization. His methodical training keeps him grounded even as the world he once knew feels alien.

As he rides the gleaming conveyors toward the metropolis, Hilary must balance his longing for ordinary human contact with the unsettling presence of extraterrestrial technology. The story follows his attempt to make sense of a changed Earth, to honor his fallen comrades, and to confront the mystery hovering overhead.