St. Ives’s Spaceflight

St. Ives’s plan to launch an experimental spacecraft is derailed by sabotage, then unexpectedly fulfilled in the alien vessel.

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The Oxygenator Plan

Engineering a Voyage Keeble’s contribution St. Ives asks William Keeble to finish an oxygenator for the spacecraft he has built in Harrogate. Their collaboration joins St. Ives’s scientific ambition to Keeble’s unusual mechanical ingenuity. A calculated risk The craft has not been tested in flight, so St. Ives intends to launch it unmanned. He would rather risk losing his ship than put a person aboard an unproven machine.

The Silo Sabotage

Sabotage at the Manor A thief gets inside Billy Deener enters the silo and tries to steal the Keeble box from St. Ives’s spacecraft. In his search for it, he damages the ship’s plants and controls. An accidental launch Deener’s interference sets off the rocket before St. Ives can safely test it. The spacecraft separates from its booster and crashes near Lord Kelvin’s property, leaving St. Ives to face both a ruined experiment and public scrutiny.

The Alien Craft’s Second Chance

A Voyage Recovered A new vessel After rescuing Dorothy from Drake’s house, St. Ives finds the alien spacecraft and climbs inside. Its controls are unfamiliar, and his first attempts send it tumbling wildly through the air. Skill earned in flight By learning to make restrained adjustments, St. Ives stabilizes the ship and reaches the Heath. His abandoned dream of spaceflight becomes a real journey, though the Homunculus and Birdlip ultimately take the vessel onward.

April 1875, during St. Ives’s London stay

After St. Ives returns to Harrogate

Late in the climax, on Hampstead Heath