The Dark Side of the 86th Moon (Happy New Year!)

Adro Brannur held a book in his hands and read.

He was reading very intently; that much was obvious. You did not even need to look at his dark face to arrive at the correct answer with ease—he was utterly absorbed.

As old men often said, the book had turned into a fairy and stolen away his soul. Only a trace of instinct remained within that flesh-and-blood shell, enough to keep him breathing.

Enough to keep him alive, so that he could keep reading.

Absorbed, fascinated, bewitched.

The book's cover had been sewn from some unknown leather. Its original brown had largely been replaced by deep white marks. Perhaps tens of thousands of borrowers had rubbed it with their fingers in the past, wearing down even such sturdy material.

But that posed no problem for Adro Brannur. He was a Salamander, and he possessed a pair of blacksmith's hands, both unyielding and supple. They ensured that his strength would wholly obey his will, no matter what he read in the book.

Yet the words in the book were murmuring, casting a concept before him. It was of no benefit whatsoever to an Astartes, yet it sent a shivering chill through the Salamander and compelled him to continue reading.

The dark side of the moon. The book smiled. Did you know, Adro Brannur? Had you ever heard this term before? No? Good. Let me enlighten you.

The moon was Terra's satellite. Terra rotated, while the moon revolved around her and rotated as well. This meant that one side of it could never be observed by astronomers on Terra.

In the distant past, that side had poetically been called the dark side of the moon. It still existed now. Even though Terra had shattered and the gravity that bound it had long