Ten Lunar Years of Solitude

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Episode 59 of The Trigan Empire

Ten Lunar Years of Solitude
aka Vengeance!
The Disappeared
Dood uit de ruimte (Dutch title)
Death from Space (Dutch title, translated)

Written by Mike Butterworth
Illustrated by Oliver Frey

Ten Lunar Years of Solitude was originally published in 8 instalments in issues 753 (19 June 1976) to 760 (7 August 1976) of Look and Learn magazine.

It is reprinted in Volume 5 of The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire (Rebellion).

Plot summary

After a demonstration flight, Marshal Rossu lands at the base. The mechanics see that the marshal has disappeared from his plane, but his clothes are still there. An arms dealer also disappears while his clothes are left behind. In the city, a beggar vanishes as well, with his clothes left on the street. At the air force base, an intruder is detected in the airspace. Janno goes to check in the sub-stratosphere and finds nothing but an old, abandoned weather station. But suddenly, he is fired upon from the weather station and crashes. Using his ejector seat, he saves himself but ends up tangled in power lines and is taken to the hospital.

Senator Rossi has large gambling debts and is called by an unknown person. The caller promises to pay off his debts if he pretends to drive his auto into a ravine. He leaves his clothes in the vehicle. Shortly after the auto plunges into the ravine, he is kidnapped by helicopter. The vehicle is discovered the next day, and he becomes the eighth person to disappear in this manner.

Janno regains consciousness in the hospital and tells them about the weather station, but he is not believed. That night, Janno secretly leaves the hospital. He goes to the base and steals a plane. He flies to the weather station, enters it, but is immediately knocked out and taken prisoner.

In the council of Trigan City, the mysterious disappearances are discussed. Peric reflects on the situation. At the weather station, the nine missing men are present. The man responsible explains that ten years ago, he asked a passing passenger plane for help. Everyone at the weather station had died from a virus, and he wanted to be rescued. The crew and passengers refused to help him. For ten years, he lived in solitude at the weather station and worked on an aircraft to descend to Elekton. Once he succeeded, he blackmailed the eight men and brought them to the station. Marshal Rossu had been the commander of that plane.

Janno is an unwanted intruder. When the man cuts Janno’s ropes, Janno attacks him. The man tries to shoot him, but at that moment, Peric enters the weather station with a group of military police. He had discovered the connection between the eight missing men and, together with Janno’s story about the weather station, had figured out what was going on.

Later, when the man is to be sentenced, Trigo grants him a pardon because his mind had been damaged. Marshal Rossu has resigned for health reasons.