This is a true story; it just hasn't happened yet. Viral Pandemic The year is 2142. The Earth has been ravaged by a pandemic virus that is inexorably killing mankind. Over one billion people have already succumbed to the plague and man's attempts to stop the virus have failed miserably. Man's only salvation seems to be escape, to leave the Earth and the extraordinarily lethal virus behind. War with Islam In 2142, the strain between Islamists and non-Islamists have eased, but it has eased only because the task of burying the dead has become all-consuming on Earth. On the Moon, however, man may have escaped the tentacles of the virus, but the war fueled by the ideology of the Islamic State has followed them to their new home. On the Moon, a new and titanic battle rages between Texas and her allies and the State of Islam and its devotees. Colossal machines sail the seas of the Moon to fight a war that is nearly 2000 years old.
By 2142, the great caliphate of the Islamic State has spread through Europe and Scandinavia, consumed half of Africa, and all of the Middle East. Two billion people are now ruled by Sharia Law normalized by Sunni and Shiite at the Conclave of Aqaba in 2053. In Europe, the island of Britain had again become a lonely fortress, this time as the last bastion of Christianity in Europe. Texas Secedes from U.S.A. In 2142, Texas was the Independent Republic of Texas. The withering economic strain from the so-called "socialist States" and the insidious corruption of Texan values by the nihilists that dominated Washington and Hollywood finally forced Texas to seek separation from the United States. In 2092, Texas was invaded by cartels from the south and the United States refused to support Texan efforts to defend itself. This refusal became the seminal event that resulted in Texas secession in 2104. After independence, Texas welcomes the accession of twelve former U.S. States and twelve countries of Central and South America and the Caribbean. Escape to the Moon In order to escape extinction, humans have fled to the Moon. The Moon has become the only practical, viable refuge from the planet-killing virus. By 2142, new technologies have enabled the completion of massive engineering projects in the Ocean of Storms allowing life to thrive in the otherwise sterile vacuum of the Moon. Sixty million people now live in stunning terraformed domed cities constructed of material mined and refined on the Moon.
In 2142, many of the barren craters of the Moon have been transformed into vibrant Earthlike domed cities, including Port Plato. Sixty miles in diameter and encompassing nearly 3000 square miles, Port Plato is the capital of the Republic of Texas on the Moon. Ten million people live in Port Plato. They live in the soaring high-rise buildings of urban Houston County, in the sprawling suburbs of Belize and Palm Beach, on the rolling grasslands of Pecos and Santa Fe, around the fresh water of Lake Caribe and the salt water of the New Salt Lake.
By 2142, the Moon has six sovereign territories and nine city domes. The largest territory is controlled by the Republic of Texas, with its domed cities of Plato, Bliss, Bianchini, Archimedes; by the Islamic State with its capital of Aqaba; the Federation of Africa and its capital Aristotle; India and Port Hippolytus; Russia and Port Putin; China and the Port of Qingdao. A Classic Story of Ships and Seas This is a classic story of ships and sailors, patterned after the sagas of Horatio Nelson and the Royal Navy of the 18th and 19th centuries. It is a story about the men and women who fight the battles and build the cities of a lunar sanctuary. It is a story that follows genuine people through great ferocious battles as well as everyday life on the Moon. It is the story of a ship that sails on seas without water and the men and women that take that ships into harm's way.
About the Author: Joe Piteo (1945- ) was born on a kitchen table in New Haven, Connecticut, without ever knowing the identity of his parents. He was raised by a local Italian family and took the name of the patriarch of that family. In 1964, he joined United Technologies vaunted "Advanced Materials Laboratory" headed by the renowned physicist, Dr. Maurice Shank. Joe was assigned the job of washing glassware and cleaning lab equipment. By 1980, Joe had become the Director of Technology for United Technologies and advisor on the efficacy of future technologies for all the UTC divisions that including: Sikorsky Aircraft, Pratt and Whitney, Space Systems, Carrier, Otis, Fuel Cell Systems, and Hamilton Standard. In 1994, Joe started the company Matrix, a software company that pioneered collaborative engineering. Matrix was eventually sold to Avions Dassault. In 2006, Joe started the company, Exulans, that worked on the cutting edge development of energy storage, generation, and optimization.