Space: 1999 "Breaking Ground" Short story Written by Patricia Sokol 2019

The personnel of Moonbase Alpha must face some unpleasant facts if they are to make a semi-permanent home on the errant Moon.

 

NOTES FROM THE SPACE: 1999 CHRONOLOGY

 

This story opens shortly after the events of "Earthbound".

 

DIDJA KNOW?

 

"Breaking Ground" is an original short story published in the Space: 1999 Year One omnibus from Powys Media.

 

The page numbers presented here come from the full Space: 1999 Year One omnibus. "Breaking Ground" begins on page 102 of the book.

 

CHARACTERS APPEARING OR MENTIONED IN THIS STORY

 

Commander John Koenig

John Koenig's grandfather (in Koenig's dreams only, deceased)

John Koenig's grandmother (in Koenig's dreams only, deceased)

John Koenig's father (in Koenig's thoughts only, deceased)

Dr. Russell

Commissioner Simmonds (mentioned only, deceased)

Paul Morrow (mentioned only)

Patrick Osgood

Dr. James Warren

Sandra Benes (mentioned only)

Dr. Mathias (mentioned only)

Frank Warren (mentioned only, deceased)

Eric Sparkman (mentioned only, deceased)

Collins (mentioned only, deceased)

Ben Ouma (mentioned only, deceased)

Kaldorians (mentioned only)

Victor Bergman (mentioned only)

Joan Conway (mentioned only)

Anton Zoref (mentioned only)

 

DIDJA NOTICE?

On page 103, Commander Koenig reflects on the presumed death of Commissioner Simmonds on the Kaldorian sleeper ship. This refers to the events of "Earthbound".

On page 103, Dr. Russell remarks she's not looking forward to the day the base's coffee stores are depleted and suggests maybe their organic chemists can work a substitute.

On page 104, Koenig muses that Alpha was never meant to be self-sufficient and when the final shipments of food from Earth were exhausted, they would need another means of sustenance. This contradicts the statement on the back cover of the 1975 Space: 1999 - Breakaway novelization from Pocket Books which states that Moonbase Alpha is self-sufficient.

Koenig reminds Dr. Warren that the people in his department are skilled at vermiculture. Vermiculture is the process of producing compost by using worms to convert organic waste products. The plan that Koenig has come up with Dr. Russell, Dr. Mathias, and Professor Bergman is to build an underground cemetery for Alphans as they die and to use the decomposing bodies as fertilizer in the otherwise sterile lunar soil for growing crops. Warren will head up the vermiculture and Osgood will head a team to dig tunnels.

On page 105, Koenig jokingly asks Dr. Russell if they should offer a toast to Commissioner Simmonds' memory with a glass of amontillado. Amontillado is a variety of sherry.

On page 106, Koenig tells Dr. Russell he has another meeting at 10:00 with Joan Conway and Anton Zoref to get redundancies in place so what Simmonds did can never happen again. Conway and Zoref are seen to work at the nuclear power generating plant, so Koenig is referring to Simmonds' hijacking of the power converter from the Nuclear Power Station that left Alpha without main power and in imminent danger of not being able to sustain life in "Earthbound".

It is not revealed if Dr. James Warren was any relation to Frank Warren, who died in "Breakaway".