Acknowledgements

Had it not been for a considerable number of people other than myself, this book would never have been. First and foremost, kudos to Andy Frankham-Allen, the series editor. The entire series of Space: 1889 & Beyond books would never have happened without his vision and tireless effort. Andy came up with the idea, pitched it to Untreed Reads, and sold them on the concept before they approached me. Then, when one of our authors had a scheduling conflict and had to withdraw from the project, Andy asked me to fill in with a story set on Mars, and this book is the result.

Beyond that, my thanks to Jay Hartman, founder of and senior editor at Untreed Reads, for his enthusiastic support of the project as well as for simply making Untreed Reads a reality. Thanks also to K.D. Sullivan, CEO at Untreed Reads, my patient fellow explorer in the surprisingly uncharted realm of licensing contract verbiage—at least for this particular sort of license.

My heartfelt thanks go out to my select band of readers—unstinting in their encouragement and unflinching in their criticism, the two qualities essential in a reader: Bart Palamero, Arturo Lorioli, Jake Strangeway, and Beth Strangeway, secret love of my life. (Don’t show Jake that part.)

A special thanks to Craig Cutbirth and Bev Herzog who were my hosts during the marathon writing sessions it took to bring this story in on time. Great food, great conversation, great friends.

Last, but by no means least, thanks to all the loyal fans of Space: 1889, both those who have been with the world from the beginning and those who have discovered it along the way and taken it as their own. This one’s for you, folks.

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Frank Chadwick is no stranger to the Victorian science fiction field. He is the creator of the Space: 1889 universe, with the first in a series of role-playing adventures, board games, and miniatures rules appearing over twenty years ago. He is known throughout the gaming industry as one of its most prolific designers, with over a hundred published games. He is also well-known in the history and military affairs field, with over two hundred books, articles, and columns. His 1991 Desert Shield Fact Book reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list, but he still lists steampunk as one of his first and greatest loves. He also, currently, has two novels on the cards with Baen Books, one of which is a Space: 1889 novel.