Moon Fate is the sixteenth book in the series of Deathlands. It was written by Laurence James under the house name James Axler. Plot synopsis Ryan Cawdor arrives in the remains of the New Mexico MAT-TRANS chamber with his son Dean, having rescued him from a slave camp to the north. Once they exit the facility the pair see smoke coming from the direction of Jak Lauren's ranch, where their friends Krysty Wroth, J.B. Dix, Dr. Theophilus Tanner, and Mildred Wyeth were waiting for Ryan's return. Ryan and Dean set off for the ranch, fearing the worst. When they arrive they discover the ranch burned to the ground and completely deserted, but curiously find no bodies, not even the remains of the absent livestock. Further adding to the confusion there are only a small number of bullet casings found on the property, and inside the still-standing smokehouse Ryan discovers several pieces of smoked meat infested with maggots. A final, cryptic clue comes when Dean tries to pull water from the well and discovers a note from Krysty affixed to the top of the rope. The note urges Ryan not to drink from the well but offers no other explanation, saying that for some unstated reason there's not enough time for one. Reluctantly Ryan and Dean leave the water and head north, towards their friends. Several miles north the pair come across a deep mining pit, now filled with bodies. Dean examines them up close, discovering each has been shot through the head, apparently at point-blank range. Disturbingly, this includes at least a dozen children. Finally as they head into the foothills, Ryan discovers a long note from Krysty, explaining the situation. Sometime after Ryan's departure, an oxen train of religious settlers passed by the Lauren farm, asking for permission to camp nearby for the night. Jak and his wife Christina cautiously agreed, but along with Ryan's friends made plans to watch their new guests carefully. This proved wise, as that night a number of the settlers attempted to take the ranch by force. Poorly armed and ill-organized, the attackers were quickly fended off and killed. Somewhat alarming signs of sickness on the corpses of the attackers led Mildred to examine other members of the group. She discovered advanced symptoms of the bubonic plague, but an even more disturbing discovery came when Mildred learned the time between the onset of symptoms