by Murray Swift

The story so far:

• 2009 Uranium is found on the Moon, and plans begin to mine it
• 2012 The Moon is declared a free nation, with a new government to rule made up from all nations
• 2016 The 'Moon Rush' begins, just like the gold rushes of earth, prospectors race to the Moon to stake their claim
• 2017 The first reported death is recorded from 'unknown causes'
• 2017 An outpost of 256 people is wiped out suddenly, and a life form soon to be known as a Lunar Leech is discovered. They attack from under the lunar sand and quickly kill their prey.
• 2018 Research begins on finding out more. It seems the creature is not a lunar native and, like the humans, has come to the moon - only recently finding a food source and reproducing quickly. Now they must be hunted or stopped before they spread to Earth, where they would be unstoppable.

Our story is set in 2017: the first recorded attack, somewhere on the dark side of the Moon.

The race to the Moon has been a quick one, and prospectors have begged, borrowed and stolen to get the the Lunar surface. Spacesuits and most equipment is mash- mashed, some military surplus, some private claimers.

Since the invention in 2012 of an oxygen-recycling life support, there is no longer a threat of running out of air, and space travel and lunar excursions are becoming common place.

Our hapless lunarnaut is on the surface alone, following a vein of uranium on his recently acquired claim. His suit is old, his equipment past its prime, but just like Earth, crime was one of the first things to be established on the moon, reminding many of the gold rushes of old. So the claimers take what they can and hope to be left alone in peace.

While bending down to look at an odd rock, the sand suddenly shifts below him and without warning the 'thing' leaps and attaches to his helmet. A sharp 'beak' appears, much like an octopus, starts trying to break through the visor. He grabs for anything, finding a hammer within reach in his tool pocket. Repeatedly he strikes it....then the cracking of glass.....then......

The main astronaut is a action figure of Ben Grim/The Thing from fantastic Four. All the do- dads inside that made his head spin from one to the other have been removed. Much extra detail was added using parts from the bits box (the front pack is something ..... I dont know what), and straps/pads from some foam sheeting available at craft stores. He is painted in all types of paint.

The base is built on a lid from a blank DVD container. It's covered in air-drying Dass, again painted in several colours and types of paint.

The 'leach' is a Monsters Inc PVC cut in half, his legs becoming the mouth section, plus some bits from parts box and a cheap rubber scorpion claw for the tail.

The scanner is half a chainsaw from an action figure and the walk sign light thingy from a Spider Man action figure set.

Image: Left side

Image: Back

Image: Close up

Image: Other side

Image: Base