“Johann, I found it!” Karl Zeisser shouted from his workbench in the observatory. “Get over here and take some notes.”

“Coming Meister Zeisser,” Johann said. He waded through the corridor with an eight book tall tower that threatened to topple over if he dared move faster than a snail. Johann arrived in the observatory, with considerable effort, and bending in ways he didn’t think were possible, stashed the books on a nearby table. He retrieved pen and paper and went over to the thirteen inch reflector telescope Zeisser was peering into once more.

The telescope was one of Konigsberg Observatory’s prized possessions and a gift by the late king.

“Classification as a moon, strike that, a planet. Roughly six thousand kilometers in radius.” Zeisser leaned back from the sights and waited for Johann to catch up scribbling his notes. “Name…Amazon. Do you have that boy?”

Johann finished transcribing and held up the sheet for Zeisser to inspect. Zeisser’s claims weren’t new. In fact, every other week the master would shout his name and proclaim to have made a fascinating discovery. “Amazon, that’s a strange name for a planet. Aren’t they normally named after Roman deities?”

“Jupiter’s moon is named after the Greek mythological persona of Europa, a Phoenician noblewoman abducted by Zeus. Amazon is a fitting name for a planet as wild as what we are witnessing today, my boy.”

“Meister, planets aren’t capable of being wild. They follow the laws of physics.”

Zeisser urged him over with a wave of his hand and Johann complied. “I’ve been using the meridian to track this planet for some time now and have concluded that it is nearing our system.”

Zeisser got out of the chair and indicated for Johann to take his place. He did so and peered through the lens. He saw a small sphere, hardly larger than a children’s toy marble, engulfed in blackness with the occasional sun in the back.

“That’s very unusual,” Johann said. “It might be an asteroid then.”

“Nonsense, Amazon is far too large to be a mere asteroid. I believe this planet has a wide orbit,” Zeisser moved his arms in a large circle around his body, “and once every thousand or so years it skims our system for a few months before vanishing into the darkness once more.”

“That’s quite a claim Meister Zeisser,” Johann said as he got out of the chair. “I’m sure the Astronomical Society would love to read your report on the matter.”

Johann went back to the table and sorted the books he’d retrieved for Zeisser. Dozens of sheets and notes were spread across the table in an order Johann couldn’t comprehend, let alone hamper with. He noticed that the recommendation slip still laid at the same spot it had earlier in the evening. Johann couldn’t muster the courage to ask Zeisser directly for a recommendation and had instead slipped the form onto the table in hopes of his master discovering it on his own. Those hopes were either ignored or squashed.

He considered becoming an assistant to Zeisser at the university as a stepping stone to his true endeavors. The great wilderness he heard about but never saw for himself. Every day Johann spent looking at the stars was one day closer to when those earthen mysteries would all be discovered and he’d be left with nothing. Joining the expedition to German New Guinea or exploring Antartica were the final frontiers he could delve into.

“There’s still plenty of reading and documentation I most perform beforehand.” Zeisser stroked his greying beard. He earned his master title from his days as a pupil to the German astronomer Auwers and helped catalog sky charts in these same halls. “Yes, the photographic equipment would be well suited for the occasion. I’ll be needing solid evidence if I wish to hold off against those that doubt my claims when Amazon leaves our system once more. Would you be a fine boy and fetch it for me?”

Johann sighed but agreed. The daytime studies, followed by the hours he spent with Zeisser in the evening were beginning to have a toll on him. Of course, Zeisser would point out that the best time to view the stars was when they peeked out from the curtains at night and revealed their true face.

Johann found his way to the storage room and entered. He felt his way along the wall until his fingers brushed against the nob. He flicked it to the side and the bulb began to glow, lighting the room in a vibrant orange. He noticed a dark speck move on the floor and jumped back screaming. He paused and calmed his breathing, watching the spider crawl along until it was under a shelf. Only then did he feel safe enough to step back into the room but made sure to glance over every few steps in case it tried to sneak up on him.

I hate spiders!

A heater was planted on the far side of the room with a bag of coal lumped beside it. Large pipes led across the ceiling into the various parts of the observatory.

He went through the shelves, bending over to read the labels and stopped when he found Photography. The light began to flicker but didn’t go out, merely casting a shadow over his corner of the room.

Casting a shadow, Johann thought as he straightened back up. Electricity and light didn’t act like that.

The light flickered again and Johann heard the bulb swaying in the air behind him. He turned slowly and met the eyes of his intruder. Not just a pair but three pitch black pairs of eyes, mere inches away from his face. The spider hung from a line attached to the bulb and lowered itself in front of him.

Johann fell back, crashing into the shelf and knocking it over. The contents crashed onto the floor with the shelf going on to knock over the next in line, slowly drawing full circle around the storage room. Johann pressed his hands to his ears and watched in fright as he became the last thing to be standing in the room.

“De-dear lord,” he said, slipping back to the door as he felt his heart pound against his chest. He kept a watchful eye on the spider and looked out for the other one he saw. His real problem still laid in a thousand pieces before him.

The door swung open behind him and Hans stepped in. His mouth hung open in just as much shock as Johann.

“I can explain,” Johann said, holding up the photographic equipment. At least he managed to save the one piece.

“I’m sure you can, but you need to come outside and hear this for yourself.”

Johann cocked his head to the side, studying the face of his friend. “More important than a lifetime’s worth of debt I’ve just built up?”

“Full mobilisation is underway,” Hans said. “We should all join up together. Franz and Maximillian have already agreed and it’ll be an adventure you won’t find in those books you keep reading.”

“I don’t know. Have you asked Katarina yet?”

“Are you serious? She’d kill me before I ever got a chance to step foot in a barracks. Just think about the stories we’ll get to tell our children and grandchildren when this is over with.”