M O O N

DUST
g r a p h i c

n o v e l

DEDICATED TO
NEIL A. ARMSTRONG ,
BUZZALDRIN AND
MICHAEL COLLINS
(APOLLO 11)
screenplay, dialogues and drawings by:
Nikolai Koriagin
Thank you for the childrens encyclopedia, mom. Dad, you have never
recommended bad books. Your library card has saved not one summer,
grandpa. Grandma , we missed you so much.

2016

Translation from Russian by Globus-M, Kazan. / Correction by Nikolai Koriagin

1985, nowadays
Mare Ingenii (sea of dreams), far side of the moon

there is no
time...

the glass is
covered with
frost...

I wish it were
enough.

You wont
kill ME...

he undocking took
place as planned,
we enter a given
trajectory...

three days earlier

two days ago

-1-

day ago

and increasing
brake rod

300...
200...

Im igniting
brake engines

1000 meters...
800... 500...

the moon surface, a lander

contact with the surface made. Houston,

everything is ok!

well done guys,

you touched down
nice!...

well, gonna take a

nap for an hour or
two and go?..

orbit, command module

...a couple of miles

to the South, like
chimps.

good idea.
>> YAWNS <<
tomorrow will be a
long day...

Its okay for our

purposes, captain,
nothing to worry
about.

from nasas archives

three manned program were

scuttled

moreover, it became clear that the

USSR has already lost moon race.

1981
but by that time we already had
more than 130 kg of moon soil.

...Apollo Project was closed in 1973.

the dream turned into too

expensive reality, said
Richard Nixon.

-2-

we have been studying it for ten

years and... I dont even know how
to say it.

1983

at the moment we keep it in secret

from the public, but trust me...

...then its the best thing we

could ever dreamed of.

If the return of mankind to the

moon must have a reason...

look...

one small step for

man... damn, Ive
always wanted to
say that.

whats
there?

do you see
what I see?

Reeves is on the line,

over! No, Im... five hundred kilometers from
you, I hardly can help.
I see. but I cant
recall anything like
that on the map...

me too...
okay, anyway
were need to go
in that direction.

James, were going to the

south-west, two degrees to
the south of the route. Theres
a strange formation there, perhaps therere discovered deposits of iron or titanium, I cant
make out it. I cant see anything
from above, over?

...The visions dancing in my mind

/ The early dawn, the shades of
time / Twilight crawling through
my windowpane...

moon orbit

Am I awake or do I dream? /

The strangest pictures I have

seen / Night is day and twilights
gone away

By the way, you should

hurry up: an hour later I pass
over the terminator line, there
will be no reception for four
hours - so now is the time to
gather stones, haha...

With your head held high and your

scarlet lies / You came down to me from
the open skies / Its either real or its a
dream / Theres nothing that
is in between...

Twilight,
I only meant to stay awhile
Twilight,
I gave you time to steal my mind
Away from me...*

But anyway, let me know

if you see a UFO: I love
such stories.

* Electric light orchestra - twilight

(time, 1981)

-3-

the main goal of the

expedition was the collection of lunar soil
on the dark side of
the moon - Yes, like in
Pink Floyds thing.

of course, a device
like Viking, which
weve sent to Mars,
would do it, but...

the moon is
quite different.
this is a history,
modern legend,
a myth...

the first
celestial body on
which we landed.
and we had to
return...

wait.
what?!

heres the first

surprise of the
dark side of
the moon...

Holy cripes!

We... we... we just came here,

didnt we? Or not? No, look, that
point right behind us, its our
lander, weve left from there? So
what the hell this thing is doing here,
where its
coming from?!

The nearest
landing point in the sea
of tranquility, it is generally on a
different side of the
planet!

Dylan, calm down,

stop going into
hysterics.

the hatch is not

closed. lets find
out whats
there.

the appearance of
the landers has not
changed almost since
the Apollo 11, except
that...

-4-

...

it cant be
true.

frozen
blood...
holy
shit...

arent we the first

people on the other
side of the moon? Is
THIS the landing point
of the previous
expedition?

oh!

what
happened to them?
Where are their bodies if theyve died
here? how many
questions...

that really
cant be true.

am I hallucinating?..

!!
...wait. am I
asleep?..

we should immediately get

in contact with
earth...

All fucking
trashed. oxygen
is at zero...

it looks
vaguely
familiar...

NO

...fuel tank is
damaged...

not
again. a
picture in
the newspaper...

ellie, ellie!
-5-

N-n-nothing,
its just...

well ok, but

dont turn off
the radio.

Im going
outside.

huh?

I think
Im going
crazy...

eight years, eight

years, why, Ellie,
just today?

...but the
vision has never
deceived me.

wait, this
shadow...

oh fuck!!

brace yourself, Howell...

get out

Robertson,

quickly out!

of there!
holy sh...

P!!

TH
UMP

WHAT?

-6-

U
FUCK

at

c
ill

ou
ch y

what just
happened
its hard to
say, but I
have to.

the command
module lost
the orbit.

we wont
return.

NOWADAYS

you wont kill

me, bitch.

Ill survive, Ill

survive...
-7-

five hours earlier

James, you... you

gotdamn bastard, man!
Where are you up
there?..

shhhh!!

and where else

would I be, you
son of a bitch?

so whats up
fellas, did e.t.
phoned home?

Robertson,
Howell! you dont
contact for a
long time,
over!

Im afraid thats
unlikely - there is
nothing left to get
the night side, communication will soon
be interrupted.

...Cause this is thrill-

er, / thriller night /

And no ones gonna
save you from the beast
about to strike!*

* michael jackson - thriller

(thriller, 1982)

spit it out,
what have you got
there? have you found
the skull, adventure
seekers?

its a... long story, bro.

where are you now? can we
contact with the earth? herere
the news the hair will rose
on your head, buddy.

!
couch-couch!

damn dusty, its

even in a space
suit.

here
youre almost
right...

look, you
too..?

damn, this weed

should be too damn
high, bros! Let me know
where did you keep it, but now run-run to the
rover and to the point of
the samples collection,
quickly.

me too.

but still - what

happened? come
on, it cant be
russians..?

Lan..? Anthony,
isnt he on
high?

in general,
we stumbled
upon the lan

shadow
zone.

I still have ten

minutes till

shhhhhh!

-8-

I think
this way: lunar
soil will have to
wait. and james
too.

yeAP, i
agree.

I close my eyes
tight and shake my
head. I open your
eyes and... no, it
doesnt seem
to me.

what blood?

something wrong
in Dylans voice.
how did he get that
accent?

wait...
here was the
blood, right?..
where is the
blood from?
think about
it.

listen, youre
scaring me,
buddy.

well,
on the walls, frozen. dont you remember? you passed
your hand over it.

youre scaring
me too, Neil.

neil?!

damn, even the

way he moves
looks somewhat...
wrong.

what? We came to the

surface, as we had
to, didnt we?

what
air?! There was
absolutely nothing
five minutes
ago!

okay,
lets finally
close the hatch
and let in a
little air...

were the
first ones,
right?

Robertson,
she saw...

listen,
relax, Neil. weve already gone down in
the history, and we can
relax before
takeoff.

help me to detach
the valve...

-9-

it cant be
true...

!
!
!!

james!!

!! !

eternity...

hes on a
different
frequency...

I saw eternity,
it passed through me...

Jay, is that
you? how did you
get here? weve been
talking a minute ago!
you were in
orbit!!
I looked into his
empty eye sockets...

what is he
about?..

he is an emptiness.

millions of years
of emptiness...

look,
his life support system is going to stop
soon. lets take his
helmet off?
wait, it
seems he
recovered from
the shock.

Jay,
herere
we...

in the beginning was the Word,

the word was at God...

I saw God

wait, wait, what

do you want to
say?..
shit, Howell,
- his legs are
broken...

what am I...

emptiness sees!

Darkness
will eat you

and feast eternity long is

about to begin!

but I

you..! so im...
no. theres no salvation...

emptiness
watches...

wont be
there!
you wont

- 10 -

get me back alive!

stop!!

...

stop...

listen,
uhm...

you didnt let

me take the
helmet off.

damn
visions.

lets get out of

here, well contact the earth
from lander

thank
you.

...

if there is still
someone in the
orbit...

do you think
Apollo is still
there?

fuck
knows it.

- 11 -

NOWADAYS

i will
survive...

Ill survive.

three hours ago

is there any
radio signals?...

Ill
get the damned
module, Ill start it up, if
need be, Ill even find Apollo
in the orbit and dock with it
- but you wont get me.
not here...

nope...

it seems that
were going
for ages.

I remember about
camera.

I hope at least
it works as it
should.

LETS CHECK IN
THE MODULE IN
A HOUR.

what a lifeless,
deadly-pale
desert around
us...

- 12 -

in any
case. rampage of the
astronauts NASA may be
found interesting...

...you know, Im in
space for fifteen
years, - I built
Skylab, worked
with the Russians at
Soyuz-Apollo...

silence sits
heavy on my
mind.

...but I
had no expedition
like this before,
man. I wonder if Neil
Armstrong was under
hallucinations on the
moon too? weird,
huh?

i dont even,

couch! know...

you know, i...

cou-u-u-ugh!
oh crap, im...
oh.

I DONT
LIKE THAT
COUGH...

aaarh-yu

ookaaaaaaai?!

hey, are you

okay?..

a-argh!

emptiness...
millions of years
of emptiness.

- 13 -

twenty
minutes AGO

the darkness is coming... feast eternity

long...

you need to
wake up.

air...
its hard to
breathe.

Im still
alive?

how long was I

unconscious?

The hose is
torn... there is
no air.

...

heck.

...maximum
thirty minutes.

emergency
air is...

no time.

no time...

- 14 -

NOWADAYS

not here...
not now, whatever
you are. you wont

kill me!

come on...

wait,

just a
little bit...

wha?!.

what the hells

going on?!

there are

ten days

before the
sunset!

-h!

no...

not the
lander...

no, no,

noo!!
- 15 -

this isnt
real...

..!
h.

!!

!..

youre all
dead...

..!

dylan...
james...

someones
look...

- 16 -

...and a giant
leap for mankind...

how far
weve gone,
havent we?

far...

ellie, forgive
me.

- 17 -

!!

huh?..

...

ive got what

you want...

she was killed when I was

at the space station. damn
Skylab... I almost killed
myself when found it out.
...

- 18 -

eight years ago I

lost my daughter.

my poor little girl... it took a

lot of effort to come back
to space after this loss.

but now...
I, a veteran of NASA, on the
moon, in a punched spacesuit, in
front of... whatever you may be,
and from all the demons of my
soul you chose the image of a
daughter whose death I could
not prevent.

I actually came
myself.

K-keep
away from
me!

you won,
Ellie was only the
weakness of mine.
it is pointless to
continue to fight.
let her kill me and
lets get it over
with.

what a
goosey...

oh, great
lunar deity!
such
a big and scary
monster...

...and scared
of the girl.

why are
you silent...

do I look so
terribly?

..!

...creatorgod?

well, erm...

I didnt
create
you!

though you control everything

that you create.

but not me.

not anymore.

- 19 -

technically
I am only a
phantom, like all
those people you
killed.

ye--ah...

Im, your own

flesh and
blood

what... what
are you doing?
...is the phenomenon
of a different
kind.

...

grrrrh!..

now Im
everywhere
too...

stop it!!
get used to it
Im here for a
long time.

ice of the
craters of
the South
pole...

now Im
everywhere
too...

cold
of the
tranquility
sea

we switched
roles now.
faults of
mountain
ranges...

sorry, I ran
away with it. So how do
you like that... schizophrenia? unexpectedly,
is it?

I feel them
with every
fibre... thats
beautiful.

...wha-a-at
a-are you-u?!

I am a part
of the world,
infinitely distant
from you...

what am I?
well, Ill
answer.

A world, as alive
as you are, and so different. A world
in which not one body but many. Where
the mind is not one in a million particles. A world that you first
met seventeen years ago.

I cant...

...stir a
foot...

July 20, 1969,

I was three at
I...
that time.
I took you with my
mom to the Cape
Canaveral on that
day, to cheer for
uncle Neil do
you remember?
of course. and
there was delicious ice cream.
so was
it Shepard?
I thought it
was just your
school
friend...

exactly, Shepard
treated you.

...who accidently
became the first
American to go into
space, ellie.

my dad always
had the most
badass friends,
i knew it!

What did you feel?

May be a tiny change in pressure,
electrostatic and magnetic fields,
temperature and density? But for
the first time in millions of years
you met something new. And could
not understand
what is it.

- 20 -

You became
curious, youve started to
observe. You began to learn, to
copy... But then everything ended.
The voices became silent
inside you.

it hurts...

until this

day

and youve
found yourself alone...

purgatory
is closed,
asshole.

ashes to
ashes.
ellie...

- 21 -

Im not afraid
to leave... not
anymore.

Ellie... are
you here? its
getting dark and
blurry... but I...

hush...
its all right,
dad.

Dylan and James...

familiar faces...

my last
flight...
yeah, dad?
Im here with
you...

...starts
here...

...my dear
major tom*.

good luck
and new
discoveries...

the end
* DAVID BOWIE - space oddity
(space oddity, 1969)

- 22 -