by Nick Cook
‘Future missions is about the last thing on my mind right now,’ Mike said. ‘All I want to do is get back and have a beer or three in the Rock Garden.’
Lucy clicked her fingers and Mike’s champagne glass was replaced with a bottle of beer. ‘Well, part of that can start right now.’
Jack gave Lucy a guilty look. ‘Hey, I don’t suppose you have one of those for me? I’ve always been more a beer man.’
Ruby widened her eyes just a fraction. ‘And me…?’
‘Of course,’ Lucy replied. She snapped her fingers and beer bottles appeared in Jack’s and Ruby’s hands.
Lucy raised her glass of champagne. ‘Before we discuss anything else, I’d like to propose a toast. Here’s to saving your planet.’
‘To saving our planet,’ we all echoed. I took a sip of champagne and clinked my glass on Jack’s beer bottle. Over his shoulder I noticed a lone seagull wheel over the ocean. As it rose into the sky, my heart soared with it. It was starting to feel as if we really might have a chance against the Kimprak after all.
Afterword
So here we are again at the end of another book, one that has been incredibly interesting to write.
I probably had far too much fun coming up with the concept of Eden. It was an idea that just seemed to grow and grow with each edit. As well as SPECTRE’s volcano lair from the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice, I was also influenced by the Krell’s hidden city in one of my all-time favourite sci-fi movies Forbidden Planet. But there was also a third influence at work – and a real-life one – Biosphere 2, an attempt to recreate Earth’s natural biological systems within a closed environment. This certainly needs to be cracked if we are to have self-sustaining space colonies on planets such as Mars in the future. The intention with Biosphere 2 was to create an environment where water, food and oxygen were all generated within the habitation. It didn’t exactly go to plan, but a lot was learnt from the experiment. I recreated this project on a far smaller scale in the Mars simulation chamber within Eden. If you interested in learning more about Biosphere 2, I recommend you watch this documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yAcD3wuY2Q.
Another area that I briefly touch upon in Earth Cry is research into technologies that might be able to help reverse global warming. Again, this is based on real and ongoing experimental work. The brilliant Joe Scott discusses some of the current possibilities in this excellent documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfRo8_RfefA. It’s well worth subscribing to his channel if you’re interested in this topic.
The vectoring rocket engine is also a real rocket design by NASA, but abandoned for cost reasons despite promising results. Curious Droid, another great YouTube channel, gives a fascinating insight into aerospike engines here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4zFefh5T-8.
Away from the technology, Machu Picchu is the main setting in the book. I visited the site a few years ago and I could honestly have spent chapters just describing how jaw-dropping it really is. But there’s another reason why Machu Picchu is close to my heart…it’s where I proposed to my wife, Karen. Thankfully she said yes – whilst the llamas looked on slightly mystified. There’s a good reason why it’s on many people’s bucket lists and all I can say is that it lives up to the hype. If you ever get a chance, do go. This video will give you a feel for what Machu Picchu is all about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNIEZ61PyG0.
Thank you for reading Earth Cry. If you’re reading on a Kindle, please take two minutes before you go to click to the next page and leave an Amazon review. Or if you’re reading a paperback, hop over to the Amazon or Goodreads website and leave your thoughts there. Each review really does help to spread the word.
Finally, to get exclusive cover reveals, writing and sneak peeks of my new books, you can subscribe to my newsletter here: www.subscribepage.com/b4n4n4.
Lauren and the team will return in Earth Shout in the not-so-distant future. I will be back!
Nick Cook, July 2019
