Author's notes. This story is based on a novel by John Windham written in 1957. It's quite dated when you read it, but it is still a good read and has a quintessential "Englishness" about it. (Title at the end for those who haven't guessed) Two films have been made based on the book. I've seen the original black and white film, and it made an impression on a young child. The novel was set over a 9 year period, so I've brought it up to date with 21st century technology, and a Torchwood makeover.

All Dr Who characters are the property of the BBC, and all the village characters are the property of John Windham.

References to events in some of the BBC novels are used in this story.

An explanation. (You can ignore this and get on with reading the story if you want to.) I have been working on this story for over a year now. The main story chapters were written, and then it ground to a halt. I couldn't get it to go anywhere, and it didn't take on a life of its own like other stories did. I mixed in an idea about being at the beginning of space colonisation, rather than the usual sci fi idea that it had happened years ago and everyone was used to it. The story still didn't take off. I would keep coming back to it and re-reading, and then recently, I had the idea of introducing a new character. Suddenly the story took off and flew, and here it is.

Chapter 1

Memories At A Dinner

The European Space Research and Technology Centre.

Noordwijk, The Netherlands.

Saturday 25th July 2026.

Pete and Jackie Tyler, along with their daughter Rose and son-in-law Doctor John Smith, were just finishing their meal in the conference hall of the European Space Research and Technology Centre. They had been invited to the banquette along with the other members of the International Space Consortium and members of the press to announce the completion of the Lunar Conveyor project.

Pete and John were wearing their dinner suits with black bow ties, whilst Rose wore a simple yet elegant little black dress. Jackie on the other hand, wore a typical "Jackie Tyler" outfit which was tight, sparkly and showed her ample cleavage. Rose had renamed John's "dinner suit of doom" to the "dinner suit of desire", as she thought he looked SO sexy when he wore it.

The room was full of politicians, scientists, engineers, businessmen, entrepreneurs, and journalists from all over the world. A man in his late sixties, walked up the few steps and stood at the podium on the stage.

'Ladies and gentlemen, fellow colleagues, and members of the press. Thank you for coming this evening,' he said with a German accent. 'For those of you who do not know me, I am Johann-Dietrich Wörner, Director General of the European Space Agency here at Noordwijk. We have brought you all together tonight to say thank you to all the governments, space agencies, and businesses that have shared a vision, shared a purpose, and shared a common goal of establishing a permanent colony on the Moon.' There was a ripple of applause from the audience.

'Tonight I can inform you that construction of the colony base is nearing completion, and colonists should be departing in the next few weeks.' There was another, louder round of applause. 'I will now ask Robert M. Lightfoot Junior, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, to come to the stage.'

There was a round of applause as a man in his fifties stepped lightly up the steps and shook hands with Wörner. He had a wide, friendly smile on his face as he stood at the podium.

'Good evening. As Professor Wörner said, we are here because we shared a vision. What some of you might not realise though, is that vision belonged to one man. The physicist and space activist, Gerard O'Neill. In 1974, he chaired a conference on space colonisation at Princetown University, and after the success of that conference, a year later he organised the much larger conference on Space Manufacturing, which had two dozen speakers. At this conference he proposed the idea for mass drivers, powerful electromagnets which would throw baseball-sized chunks of ore mined from the surface of the Moon into space. Once in space, the ore could be used as raw material for building space colonies and solar power satellites,' Lightfoot explained.

'In June of 1975, he then led a ten-week study of permanent space habitats at NASA Ames. During the study he was called away to testify in July to the House Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications. In January of the following year, he also appeared before the Senate Subcommittee on Aerospace Technology and National Needs. In a presentation titled "Solar Power from Satellites", he laid out his case for an Apollo-style program for building power plants in space. He returned to Ames in June to lead studies on space manufacturing. In these studies, NASA developed detailed plans to establish bases on the Moon where space-suited workers would mine the mineral resources needed to build space colonies and solar power satellites.'

He paused and looked around the auditorium. 'Up to now, we've had the single, international research base in Peary crater, which was adapted from the experience of the Antarctic research bases; supplied every six months by a very large rocket. From today however, we have a new, low cost transport system which will make round trips to the Moon every five days. To explain how this was made possible, I'd like to invite Pete Tyler to the stage.'

'Go on Dad,' Rose said as she started the applause.

Pete stood, kissed his wife and made his way to the podium.

'Hi there,' Pete said into the microphone, giving them his trademark cheeky smile and thumbs up. 'Now, Professor Wörner said we were here because we shared a vision. I don't know about you, but I'm here for the food.'

There was laughter and cheers of agreement as Pete grinned at the audience. 'Only kidding, although it was a magnificent dinner. No, I'm here because I happened to be in the right place at the right time. The right time was the 5th of May 2014, and the right place was Reaction Engines Limited, in an unassuming little industrial unit in Oxfordshire . . .'

'Oh, I remember that day,' Rose said to John. 'We'd just got engaged.' They shared their memories of that visit telepathically.

Culham Science Centre.

Oxfordshire, England.

5th May, 2014.

Pete Tyler, Doctor John Smith, and his new fiance Rose Tyler, walked towards the industrial unit of Reaction Engines Limited, a small company with big ambitions. Other people were also approaching the building, some who Pete recognised as government officials, and some who John knew were engineers and scientists from the European Space Agency.

Pete Tyler was there not as the director of the Torchwood Institute, but as an executive director of Cybus Industries. John was there as the scientific advisor to the government.

The founder of the company, Alan Bond walked towards the group and greeted them, thanking them for coming to the test run of the prototype Synergistic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine, or SABRE for short. Although he was seventy years old, he still had a youthful enthusiasm for innovative engineering. He was wearing a charcoal grey suit with a striped tie, and wore wire rimmed glasses which framed his intelligent eyes. His mouth had an upward cast at the edges, ready to break into a smile.

'Mister Tyler,' Bond said, shaking Pete's hand enthusiastically. 'It's so good to meet you at last.' He then shook John's hand. 'Doctor Smith, it's such an honour to meet you.'

'Is it?' John said cheekily. 'Yes. I suppose it must be.'

Rose stifled a laugh and nudged him in the ribs to behave.

Bond looked baffled. 'Er, yes. Right.' He turned to Rose. 'And Miss Tyler. I saw the announcement of your engagement in the media. Congratulations.'

'Oh, thank you. And it's Rose,' she replied shaking his hand.

He smiled at her and then turned to greet the other guests. When he'd finished, he addressed the group. 'So. If we are all ready, We'll start the test.'

He led the group through to the test facility at the rear of the building, where an ordinary looking jet engine with a red rimmed nozzle at the back. They went into the control room, where engineers and technicians were seated at control desks. A large window looked out over the test bed.

'An' this is the future then?' Rose whispered to her fiancé, as she looked out of the window.

John looked like all his Christmases had come at once, and gave her an open mouthed smile. 'Oh Yes! The designed thrust-to-weight ratio of SABRE is three times that of a conventional jet engine. Oh, and six times that of a scramjet.'

'And that's good is it?' Rose asked.

'No. It's not good, it's brilliant. The combination of high fuel efficiency and low-mass engines permits a single stage to orbit approach, with air-breathing to over Mach five at seventeen miles altitude, and with the vehicle reaching orbit with more payload mass per take-off mass than just about any non-nuclear launch vehicle ever proposed,' John said enthusiastically.

'What. So it's like havin' the space shuttle without the big tank and solid rocket boosters?' Rose asked, hoping she'd understood the concept.

'Precisely,' John agreed.

Outside the window, the engine started a high pitched whine, and a fog of supercooled oxygen vapour vented out of a tank. John was literally giggling with excitement. There was a "whoosh", and an orange flame flew out of the exhaust. After a few seconds, the flame turned an incandescent blue and the engine strained against the test bed. After a few minutes, the exhaust reverted to an orange flame and went out with a "pop".

Everyone applauded the successful firing of the SABRE. John went over to one of the workstations, took out his brainy specs and leaned over the technician.

'Can I?' he asked, pointing at the screen.

Bond had come over to join him. 'I was hoping you would,' he told John. 'Would you run the test data for Doctor Smith please.'

John looked intently at the screen as the data scrolled down. He raised his eyebrows and nodded his head. He straightened up, grinned at Bond, and walked over to Pete. He took Pete by the elbow and led him to a corner.

'Well? What do you think?' Pete asked him.

'I think mankind's journey to the stars starts here, today,' John said seriously. 'And Cybus Industries could lead the way.'

'That's good enough for me,' Pete told him. 'I'll recommend it to the board when we get back . . .'

John and Rose came out of their memories as Pete was winding up his story. '. . . Once Cybus Industries and Vitex had signed up to support the development of SABRE, and a space plane to put it in, other companies followed suit.'

Pete looked around the auditorium. 'Alan should be in tonight. Where are you Alan?' Alan Bond stood and gave a little embarrassed wave as everyone applauded. 'You'll be hearing from Alan later about his engine design. First though, we are going to hear from someone who knows what it's like to live on the Moon, and why we need this lunar colony. Please welcome former Peary Base commander, Pavel Vinogradov to the stage.'

A stocky man with a moustache and dark hair which was greying at the sides, stood and walked up onto the stage to tumultuous applause.

'Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I have been privileged in my life to be able to not only command the International Space Station, but to also command the research base in Peary crater on the Moon. It was during my twelve month tour of duty, that an event occurred which changed my view of our world forever . . .'

Peary Base.

1st February, 2007.

Base commander, Pavel Vinogradov was five months into his year long stay at the lunar science base. The fifty four year old Russian cosmonaut had flown into space three times previously, aboard Mir and the International Space Station. He was one of the top ten astronauts in terms of total time in space, and had also conducted seven spacewalks in his cosmonaut career. He also held the record for the oldest person to perform a spacewalk.

He made his way to the recreation room, where he found the present research director, Professor Richard Fortey and other british members of the lunar base. They were huddled around the large screen television. Other members of the sixty strong team who either lived in London, or had relatives who lived there, joined them to watch the breaking news.

['We have an unconfirmed report that the President has been killed by an army of robots that gatecrashed the birthday party of Jackie Tyler, the celebrity millionairess,'] the newsreader announced. ['Nobody knows where these robots have come from, or who is controlling them. We do know that they have killed a number of people at the Tyler Mansion, and those who weren't killed are being taken to Battersea for some reason.']

Aerial footage of Battersea Power Station was shown on the screen, where thousands of people could be seen walking into the large building. ['Police are warning that anyone who is not wearing Cybus earpods should not insert them. They appear to be controlling the people wearing them and causing them to travel to Battersea Power Station.']

Physics professor, Tara Shears had tears in her eyes as she tried to dial her home number on the video phone in one of the private booths. 'I can't get through. All the networks are down.'

'What? All of them?' one of the telecommunications specialists asked.

'All the ones in Britain,' she informed him.

'The internet!' One of the Information Technologists called out. 'Get on Faceblog. Social media should be able to connect us to our families and friends.'

The people in the room hurried to the computer terminals and started logging onto their social media accounts. And that was how the fifth group of colonists on the moon found out about John Lumis and his cybermen through social media. When they had finished their twelve month tour of duty, they returned to a very different Britain . . .

'. . . And so we realised that the human race had had a lucky escape. If John Lumic had succeeded, then the sixty people in Peary Base would have been the last bastion of humanity. We would either have had to return to Earth and live as Cybermen, or stay on the Moon and die as humans when our supplies ran out.'

There was a deathly hush in the auditorium as he finished. John and Rose looked at each other and nodded. They stood and started to applaud. The rest of the guests stood and took up the applause. Vinogradov had given the best reason yet for starting another branch of humanity away from the Earth.

The evening continued with other members of the Space Consortium giving presentations on their contributions to the project. Alan Bond explained how his hybrid engine switched from an air breathing jet engine, to a conventional rocket engine and back again. Elon Musk told how Spacex had taken Reaction Engines designs for a space plane and made it a reality. Richard Branson introduced the Virgin cargo modules and passenger compartments which fitted inside the fuselage of the space plane.

Jackie reminded Pete where they were when they saw the inaugural flight of the Space Plane.

Vitex Luxury Airship.

Somewhere over the North Atlantic.

Friday, 27th April 2018.

Pete, Jackie and Tony Tyler were four hours into their flight to join John, Rose and Eyulf in New York, when the CNN midday news update started on the media screen. It showed a live report from Ecuador where a futuristic plane sat on a metal track.

'Oh look Dad. It's your Space Plane,' Tony said.

'Well really, it's the International Space Consortium's Space Plane,' Pete said. 'But our company was involved in developing it. And it wouldn't have gotten built in just four years without your clever brother-in-law.'

He was referring to a symposium John had organised after Cybus Industries signed up to invest in Reaction Engines. At that symposium he had laid out the principles for a vehicle that could launch passengers comfortably into space, and a vehicle that could take them to the Moon and back every few days.

On the screen, they could see the plane, which looked like a larger version of Concord, sitting on a raised metallic track which led off into the distance and up the side of a mountain.

['You join us live here at Chimborazo Spaceport in Ecuador, where this remarkable plane will be launched into space to rendezvous with the International Space Station,'] the science correspondent explained. Behind him, there was a large digital clock which showed there were two minutes left.

['All the pre-launch checks have been completed and the test pilot reports that he is ready for launch. For this inaugural flight there will be just one pilot and a cargo hold full of supplies for the space station.']

'Will it be able to get to the Moon?' Tony asked.

'With most of the cargo hold full of fuel, yes it can,' Pete told him. 'But the plan is to use the Space Plane to build a bigger ship in orbit which will be able to give the plane a piggyback ride on a continual loop around the Moon and the Earth. That'll make it cheaper to get into space and to the Moon.'

'Cool.'

They watched the clock count down as the reporter gave a commentary on the day's proceedings, and it eventually got to the last ten seconds.

'This is it then,' Jackie said. 'The human race's first step into a larger universe.'

The count reached zero, and it was a bit of an anticlimax. They had seen the Space Shuttle and Moon Rocket launches, and they were really spectacular with a lot of flames, steam and noise. The Space Plane however, silently started to move forwards, being propelled on the frictionless magnetic field of the Maglev mass driver. The camera followed the plane as it accelerated into the distance, and the telephoto lens showed it climbing up the side of Mount Chimborazo.

As the plane reached the end of the three mile long track, they saw the SABRE jet engines ignite, pushing the plane beyond the peak with an an accompanying sonic boom which the microphone picked up a few seconds later. The camera followed the bright dot in front of the contrail for as long as it could before it was obscured by the wispy, high altitude cirrus clouds, making its way into orbit, and history.

['Wow. That was impressive,'] the news reader said as he came back on screen. ['And finally, we finish with a report from Vanessa Penfold, who's been in New York all week reporting on the setting up of the new Torchwood Institute.']

'Oh my God! Pete, Tony, look. It's Rose, EJ, and John on the news . . .'

The final presentation was given by a group of aeronautical engineering companies who had constructed the vehicle which would take the Space Planes to the Moon and back. John and Rose recalled how it had been broadcast on the news.

Northumberland Place.

Notting Hill, London.

Tuesday 6th November 2018.

After their evening meal, the Smith family sat down to watch TV in the living room. The evening news was just starting when Ricky, their new Cyber Dog squatted in the middle of the room.

'John, what's he doin'?' Rose asked in horror, expecting a pile of poo that John would find hilarious and other owners would be finding less than amusing.

John just sat there with a smirk on his face, as two rechargeable penlight batteries popped out of Ricky's backside onto the carpet.

EJ burst into a fit of giggles. 'He poos batteries,' he announced. 'That's brilliant Daddy.'

Rose snorted a laugh. 'Batteries?'

'Yeah, they're his treats, your Dad thinks that'll be a major selling point.' They looked at EJ, who was still in fits of giggles, and reckoned he was probably right.

The news channel was showing a view from the International Space Station, looking out at the bright, curving arc of planet Earth. ['Just seven months after the first test flight of the Space Consortium's Space Plane, a fleet of these planes have been busy delivering materials to the International Space Station.']

The camera panned from the Earth to a large cylinder attached to the Space Station. Two large Spacex rocket boosters were strapped to the cylinder, and at the end of the cylinder there was a large rectangular slot with a Space Plane sitting inside. ['And this is the result,'] the news reader said. ['This is the Lunar Conveyor, a "space ferry" which will carry the Space Planes to the Moon and back on an endless conveyor belt.']

'Oh my God! Look at that John. I had no idea they had made so much progress,' Rose said as they watched the report.

'Yeah. It's surprising what you can do with a fleet of space trucks and a team of astronaut engineers,' John agreed.

['The conveyor is now ready to undock from the ISS so that it can be put into its translunar orbit.']

The commentary switched to the astronauts on the ISS. ['Roger Control. We have green lights on all airlocks. We are ready to undock. Over.']

['Copy that Greg, standby. Lunar Conveyor this is Mission Control. What is your status for undocking? Over.']

['Mission Control, all systems are go for undocking. Over.']

['Copy that Lunar Conveyor. ISS, you are go to initiate undocking maneuver. Over.']

['Copy Mission Control. Confirming undocking maneuver.']

The robotic arm of the ISS gently pushed the core away from the airlock. ['From now on, Space Planes at the Moon will dock directly with the Conveyor to build the "spokes and wheel" of the completed ship.']

'Cor. That is SO cool,' EJ said as he watched the Conveyor move slowly away from the cameras.

At the end of the news, it was time for the "and finally" item, and there on the screen was Ricky. The real Ricky, trotted over to the TV and sat down to watch himself.

['It appears Cybus Industries have done it again, with a high tech toy which promises to be the must have toy this Christmas,'] the presenter said . . .

Finally, Johann-Dietrich Wörner brought the evening to a close, and handed out one hundred flight tickets to the people who would be the first space tourists to go to the moon. The Tylers and Smiths were amazed when they were given tickets for their families.