
Part 1
A daring astronaut crashes his experimental rocket onto the barren, powder‑white plains of the Moon, knowing there is no way back. As the ship’s hull is torn apart and the silence of space presses in, his mind oscillates between triumph and dread, driven by a desperate yearning for fame that has haunted him all his life.
He discovers that his greatest victory is stained with a dark secret: a fellow crew member lies dead beside him, the result of a cold‑blooded act that secured his place in history. With the world waiting for his broadcast, he must decide whether to reveal the truth, conceal the murder, or simply let his name echo forever from an alien landscape.
The story unfolds in a tense, introspective first act, exploring the thin line between heroic ambition and moral ruin, set against the stark, haunting beauty of the Moon’s desolate surface.
Language
en
Duration
~11 minutes (10K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
Mar 3, 2021
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1921–2004
A versatile mid-20th-century storyteller, he wrote hard-driving science fiction, thrillers, and adventure fiction shaped in part by his experience as a World War II fighter pilot. His work ranges from pulp-era magazine stories to novels remembered for their tension, speed, and big speculative ideas.
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