The Far Side of Man

"The Far Side of Man" is included as prelude No. 15 in *The Juno Contingency (novel)* and establishes the Erde universe.

## Teaser

On a low-spinning planet that rotates only once a year, an expedition from the southern hemisphere attempts to be first to breach the extreme weather at the equator.

## Plot

### 1. 90˚S

On a low-spinning planet that fully rotates only once a year, extreme weather means the pre-industrial civilization of the southern hemisphere has never been able to reach the equator or explore north of it. At the southern pole capital, explorer Sir Aksel Notch is equipping another expedition to make the latest attempt. It includes naturalist Wardin, Brother Gustan, and survivalist Embry, along with a large complement.

The expedition convenes in the Polar Cathedral to receive a personal blessing from the Archcardinal, one of the expedition's biggest financial backers. By funding an equatorial expedition, the Archcardinal hopes to revive the flagging political influence of his sect. Brother Gustan is anointed the Archcardinal's personal representative on the journey.

Afterwards the men convene to celebrate on their last night before departing. The men ask Embry to describe his past expeditions, as he is one of the few who has attempted the equator multiple times. Embry describes the first expedition he was on ten years ago equipped with horses; they made it as far north as 45˚S latitude, but then they suffered casualties and had to head back. That far north, if a horse went lame, the rider would never make it back south fast enough before the summer sun rose and brought boiling heat. They had to abandon several men in this fashion, all of whom perished.

The second expedition Embry was on five years ago was equipped with dog sleds; they made it to 30˚S latitude, but the immature nature of the equipment meant that they also suffered casualties and had to turn back. Now that Sir Aksel's expedition is using improved dog sleds and has plotted a more direct path north, Embry says that they have much better chances of success, but darkly prophecies that perhaps only half of them will die this time.

### 2. 29.8˚S

The expedition sets off on dog sleds tracing the frozen ground at the sunrise terminator, where the landscape is slowly emerging from the world's six-month night. The planet turns westward faster every degree farther north they go, so they have to spend increasing amounts of time traveling east each cycle to stay on frozen ground and to keep the weather from growing too hot.

It takes them a month to make it to 45˚S where the southern continent is known to end and to give way to the Equatorial Sea. Naturalist Wardin has the men start taking samples of sea ice cores to verify it is safe for travel. At one dig site they uncover a strange piece of metal, much stronger than their best steel, and formed in shapes too intricate for their metalwork. Wardin has seen samples of such metal before in the capital, and is excited that this is the largest sample ever found. No one knows their origin, but Wardin says the shape of this one confirms that they must serve an industrial purpose. Brother Gustan ridicules him for knowing nothing certain about the strange metal.

The team stops to celebrate as they reach 29.8˚S, setting a new record for northernmost latitude. At dinner Brother Gustan leads the men in prayer and thanks the Creator for having delivered them safely with no casualties. But the next cycle a dog sled breaks through a crevasse and the rider falls to his death. Several men rebuke Gustan for jinxing the expedition, and a fight nearly ensues, though Sir Aksel intervenes on the monk's behalf. He has more experienced ice riders lead their expedition to minimize further accidents.

A few cycles later, Sir Aksel observes that, despite the regrettable loss of life, they are making excellent time and he projects that they could make the equator in only four weeks. Their original plan called for leaving half the party at this latitude as a relief force, but Sir Aksel proposes keeping the party together to save the time it would take to redistribute supplies. Embry argues against it, remarking that they are deep in no man's land: where they are, the planet is turning fifty miles west a cycle, and they are still thousands of miles away from civilization. Wardin also advises prudence. But Brother Gustan supports Sir Aksel's plan, stating that the Creator has opened the way for them, but only if they stay strong and united. Sir Aksel proceeds.

### 3. 0˚N

As the expedition nears the equator, they begin hearing the thunderous cracks of ice calving. Wardin raises concerns about the state of the ice, although his ice cores still show the same conditions. Ultimately the expedition reaches the equator and throws a grand celebration. They erect a marker, which Brother Gustan consecrates in a drawn-out ceremony. Wardin later ridicules Gustan for elaborately blessing a marker that will simply fall into the ocean once the ice melts.

As Sir Aksel discusses their next steps, Brother Gustan argues that they should continue pushing north for a few cycles more, as he wants to test various religious theories about the unknown northern hemisphere that man has never explored. Embry and Wardin argue that the ice calving makes it too dangerous. However, now that the equator has been conquered, Sir Aksel knows that the next competition will be to reach the north pole itself, and he wants to establish himself as the frontrunner. He announces they will continue pushing north, and Brother Gustan assures him that his bravery and faith will be rewarded as before.

The expedition makes it to 2˚N latitude and finds no further discoveries, when Sir Aksel orders them to return. While heading back to the equator, however, ice calving opens a rift that bars their progress. They spend a cycle bypassing it only to get interrupted by another ice fracture, which this time claims two more members of the expedition. They spend more time racing east to get to thicker ice but their way back south keeps getting barred.

Sir Aksel holds a council to appraise their situation. Wardin theorizes that there's a warm water current under the equatorial ice that is causing it to destabilize much faster than thought, and they have no idea how far this persists. Embry warns that, if they keep heading south, the closest land is at 45˚S latitude, which is impossible to reach with the ice in this condition. He suggests their only option is to turn north and hope they hit landfall sooner. Brother Gustan says that this must be the Creator's will, but Sir Aksel cuts him off to assert that they must continue north.

### 4. 30˚N

The expedition heads north and takes another month to escape the danger zone of the equatorial ice, during which several more men perish. Once they reach 30˚N they sight mountains in the distance and realize they're out of danger. Sir Aksel declares they will still have to continue northwards to replenish their supplies before attempting any trip back.

As they get farther away from the equator, the planet rotates less each cycle and the expedition is able to make it back eastward to the sunrise terminator. In the twilight conditions they see lights in the northern sky that outshine the stars. Brother Gustan ecstatically proclaims that this must be the realm of the Creator, and he quotes: "And I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying, 'Behold! the tabernacle of the Creator shall always lie but the far side of man!'" Wardin and Embry are skeptical of the lights but have no better scientific explanation for them.

The next week they hear thunderous, repetitive booming in the distance and see a wall of black smoke ahead. Brother Gustan's religious musings fall silent as they draw closer to the fiendish sounds. Eventually they come upon a massive quarry that has no workers but is instead being carved out by gigantic metal beasts each as large as a cathedral. The men observe dumbstruck for hours until Embry volunteers to reconnoiter the quarry, and Wardin goes to accompany him. They spend a cycle wandering the grounds, and they come back declaring that they saw no animals or people, just these metal beasts—dubbed "automata"—that were repetitively digging up and transporting the earth. Wardin also collected some of the samples of the ore the automata are collecting, but he cannot identify their significance.

They follow the automata to a large facility where the ore is being collected by even larger machines. It is then loaded onto wheeled carriages that are set along metal rails heading north. The expedition watches several of these "carriage convoys" with hundreds of loads of ore depart into the distance.

They discuss what their next step should be. In the face of so many unexplained phenomena, the men express fear about continuing farther north and threaten to mutiny. Sir Aksel yields and allows most of the expedition to set up base camp at the quarry and proceed to foraging. Meanwhile he wishes to continue exploring farther north, but only if there are sufficient volunteers. Wardin quickly joins as he is eager to discover more of what the northern continent holds, as does Embry. Brother Gustan does not initially volunteer, but after goading from Wardin he agrees.

*Read the conclusion "5. 90˚N" on Amazon.*