Give Back a World

A crew of five hundred Survey Service specialists hurtles toward Mercury aboard the starship Sun Child, their nerves tight as the ship’s deceleration pushes them into five‑g. Among them, the enigmatic Frank Fane—sole survivor of the ill‑fated Martell Expedition—carries a reputation that borders on legend. Beside him, fresh graduate Rick Mills balances curiosity and caution, drawn to Fane’s cryptic hints about a “push‑button war” locked away for fifty million years. The tension between camaraderie and mistrust sets the stage for a daring descent onto the planet’s blistering sun‑facing side and its permanently frozen dark side.

As the Sun Child’s engines roar and the red signal lights flicker, the crew prepares for a brief, perilous landing that may decide the fate of their mission. Fane’s restless excitement and cryptic jokes mask a deeper obsession with the planet’s hidden history, while Mills wrestles with memories of home and the pressure to prove himself. The story balances hard‑won science with the raw human drama of men thrust into an alien world where every step could awaken an ancient danger.