A few years before she met Catherine, Hannah attended a Conspiracy Society lecture about spaceflight. Even though the necessary engineering was more than half a century away, physicists were confident that it was possible. It was a popular topic of speculation within the Conspiracy; Cassandra had written of it, describing a moon landing as one of the most famous scientific achievements of her fictitious home world. People in those days had hoped that such a project could unite and inspire humankind.

By the time a moon mission was actually launched, the term “humankind” was considered anachronistic. A significant fraction of the world’s people were no longer human. That includes the astronauts on their way to the lunar surface, of course, since vampires can survive extreme temperatures and have no need to breathe.

The television broadcast shows the view from a camera on the outside of the lunar lander, as it free-falls towards the surface. It seems as if the engines ignite at the last possible moment, suddenly slowing the craft until it sets down gently on the ground. As the lunar dust settles, the broadcast switches to another camera, showing a view of the capsule’s hatch.

Hannah, Catherine, Luna, Lily, and their other partners are gathered around a television. Most are seated on couches or chairs, though Hannah has chosen to sit on the floor in front of her mistress. They cheer along with just over a billion people when the camera shows a vampire, clad in a silver suit to protect him from the sunlight, climbing down the ladder and taking the first footsteps on another world. He makes a short speech in Abya, the indigenous language of his home country. According to the interpreter on the broadcast, he thanks all the people of the world who made this achievement possible.

Catherine pets her thrall’s hair, and Hannah turns away from the television to smile at her.