20 Million Leagues Over the Sea (55 page)

"You are the first Terran scientist to set
foot on Mars, Gemma. Even if no one but us will ever know, you are
the first. We made it. Even if we never leave here, we made
it."

She touched his hand back and gave him a warm
smile. "And you are the first sailor, Christophe. Let us see what
we can see, my friend."

As the door hissed open, Gemma looked down at
the ground, concentrating on it so she would not fall. Even minor
injuries could be deadly now. Still focused on the ground as she
hopped down from the boulder beneath the craft, she saw what must
have been the sole patch of green on Mars.

Christophe reached the ground ahead of her.
He gasped with the effort of moving in the weighted boots, meant to
keep them from bouncing so much in the lighter gravity of the Red
Planet. She settled beside him and finally looked up. She gasped
too, but it had nothing to do with her exertion.

The Red Planet was no longer Red.

Gemma gazed up into the first blue sky that
she had seen in forty days, a sky so blue that she could have dived
into it for a luxurious swim. Spires of glass and metal pierced
that never-ending blue in the distance, and the world about them
shimmered with living light.

This world was not empty, after all...

The adventures of the crew of the
Thunder Child's Fury
continue in Book 2:
The Mysterious Planet of Captain Moreau
.
Coming in 2016.

###

~~~~

Acknowledgements

Writing feels like a very lonely enterprise
at times, but no book is written in a vacuum. There are always
people along the way to give you a helping hand and a lot of hope.
I had so many people assisting me and encouraging me in my
years-long journey that a full list would be a mile long at this
point. A big hearty thank-you to everyone and especially…

My dear husband, T. D. Raufson, for making
this dream possible and for managing the process with me.

My parents, Gary & Beverly Smith - thank
you for always encouraging creativity in your children. You have
always cheered us on and never, ever called any of us crazy for the
artistic endeavors we took on. Thank you for encouraging us to read
whatever we could get our hands on, whether it was the Bible or
Jane Austen or Alan Dean Foster or our favorite comic books. You
helped prepare me for this journey from very early on.

My patient beta readers: David Thurmond, Eve
Taggart, Jeff Smith, Jason Smith, and fellow indie author K.S.
Daniels. You are all awesome! I loved working with each of you on
this!

Heather & Darold Raybon, Sam &
Camie.

The Bromfield family (Chris, Lisa, Courtney,
& Chris Jr.) and David & Robin Lawyer, for all their love
and encouragement.

Author Elise Stokes, for checking up on my
progress from time to time. You really helped when I was stuck in
the doldrums!

Margie Cox (the idea for this book was
hatched at your annual party) for all your encouragement and
writing advice, Grace Moss, Jessica Moss, JaBarr Lasley-King,
Jessica Smith, John "El", Paul Charles, Frank Hui, and all my
friends in the Superhero Costuming Forum. Your creative energies
are matchless!

Dr. Allen Hansard, for the use of his
name.

My former co-workers (and still friends) who
encouraged me to follow the dream.

Author A. C. Crispin - I took your writing
class at DragonCon years ago, and it meant a lot to me. Thank you
for all the beautiful stories you told over the years.

Thanks to Franklin Chang-Diaz for inventing
the VASIMR technology, which served as the basis for the Oberth
Engine design.

I am grateful for the many men and women who
spent their lives, and in some cases gave their lives, to get the
human race into space. I am especially thankful for Sally Ride,
Ph.D., the first American woman in space.

Many thanks to Jules Verne and H. G. Wells,
for writing the works that inspired this novel and have inspired
generations of readers and artists.

And to you, dear reader, for giving my little
story a chance.