The Return of the Cloud

Prologue- Author's note & part one

Author's Note:

There can be no greater destination than one which leads us through a journey of intrigue, mystery, fear and the imaginings of the unknown. So, come with me to another existence, to another place, another world- a world in which the laws of science have far simpler workings and the silver rockets of the earthlings have already landed on Venus. In this universe, Venus and Mars have oxygen, have life and wilderness, exploration and adventure. Here dreams of reaching the stars are so close but so, too, is the Return of The Cloud...

Come with me to a destination that is... 'Not of This Universe'

The intention and aspiration of this series is to recreate the atmosphere and excitement of a twentieth century pre-technological age- an age of innocence and ignorance, an age in which the populous could believe in simple, easy space travel, in Martians, werewolves, monsters and all manners of nonsensical, unscientific but loveable fun. The episodes are designed to intrigue and excite and to inspire the reader to read on, and on and...

Part one: Sister Sororis

Amidst the vast expanse of time and space, there are infinite universes, with infinite other Earths and other earthlings and somewhere, so very close, there is a sister universe with a sister Earth. Sororis, our sister earth, has a story to tell. In this sister universe the stars are reachable. In this sister universe the story and the future are very different. The Earth of this other, near identical universe has a science and a reality that is not quite the same as our own. The science of this universe, with different expectations and limitations, make this Earth a world of different wonders and different adventures. The earthlings in this other universe have begun to explore their solar system but their planets are not the same as our planets- their Mars and their Venus both have oxygen and life and these earthlings are about to meet that life, but there is also another form of life that approaches our sister Earth. Soon, the people of Sororis will learn of life from another solar system, scores of light years away, and from the fruits of this other life will come the chaos of fear.

Unknown to Sororis' earthlings their solar system contains the remnants of another planet- a planet from another solar system, a planet that was destroyed and shattered to dust. That dust, now a cloud, is trapped to forever orbit their sun and the time has come for the orbits of Sororis and the cloud to cross paths- yet again. The cloud will bring with it the seeds of mythology, creatures and beings that defy science and explanation...