Captain Astra MacGuire scanned the area of space that showed on the forward screen. It was empty. Not a single star, just emptiness; and only emptiness. She frowned. Something was wrong, but, despite her years in the Space Flight Academy, she had no idea what was in front of her.
The navigator was checking for her, but then shrugged, and shook his head.
“Nothing there Captain,” he said.
“Nothing,” she echoed, still frowning. “Abort present course, and let’s head back to base station.”
“Right Captain.”
After five seconds Astra realised they were still going forward.
“I said abort present course, Lieutenant!” she snapped.
“I’m trying, Captain,” the Lieutenant said, his hands flying over the computer console. “I can’t! The engines aren’t responding.”
“What?”
“The engines are working, Captain, but we’re still going forward. I can’t understand it, there’s nothing out there, and we’re heading right towards it!”
“Captain,” the navigator said with some anxiety, “we’ve allowed for all gravitational upsets caused by nearby stars and planets. But whatever it is out there, it has one massive pull.”
Something flashed in the lower half of the screen. Astra sat bolt upright.
“What was that?” She demanded, staring at the forward screen. “Ensign Reagis, magnify section 2x 5y onscreen.”
The image grew quickly, and Astra found that they weren’t the only things caught by the nothing out there. There were spinning rocks and dust and various space debris, twirling around in circles. And then, a rock stretched out long, as if being pulled to the edge of something, glowed for a momentary second, and then vanished in a bright flash of light!
Astra’s eyes widened in horror.
“It can’t be,” she said. “They said there were none in this sector of space!”
“Of any what, Captain?” Ensign Reagis asked.
“Black holes, Ensign,” the Captain replied. “Sound the alarm, it’s a red alert!”
The whining, shrieking noise of the alarms sounded, and lights flashed deep crimson on the walls and ceilings.
“Engines on full power, Lieutenant,” Astra said. “Get us out of here!”
The spaceship shuddered as it pulled back against the gravitational force pulling it closer, and they slowed their advance. But it didn’t stop, and the ship was on the brink of collapsing in on itself.
Hers was only a small ship - if they weren’t ripped apart inside the black hole, they would be ripped apart trying to get free.
“Cut engines,” she snapped. “Don’t argue, just do it. Transfer all power to communications link, and patch a call through to the base.”
They stopped, and their leisurely, involuntary advance on the black hole quickened its pace.
“This is the spacestation StarBase 4000 answering system,” said a pleasant, feminine voice. “None of our authorised operatives are able to answer this call at the moment, but if you would like to leave a message, please do so after the beep.”
Astra found there were plenty of messages she’d like to leave on this answering system, but they were full of terminology better used in a midnight pub on Earth, if anywhere at all.
There was a beep.
“This is Captain Astra MacGuire of the Starship Trailblazer,” she said through gritted teeth. “I felt it should be known that we are just being pulled into a black hole at co-ordinates 473445x 548872y section of Neptunian space. Thank you for your inattention.”
“Your message has been saved in the database and will be replayed as soon as an authorised operative returns. If you would like to place a comment about the StarBase 4000 answering system, please patch a call to Services Board. Thank you.”
On that far-too-cheerful note, the link snapped off.
“Blasted modern innovations!” Astra cursed.
“Well, if you can’t beat it, join it, Captain,” Ensign Reagis said. “The black hole, that is.”
She looked up. The emptiness surrounded them like a damp black cloth, wrapping them in a darkness no light could penetrate. The stars were gone, and only the blackness remained.
Something came towards them. If it hadn’t been so dark, she might have called it a wall of light speeding like some mile-wide bullet at them.
“I always boasted I would go in some strange way,” she said.
But I never..
..Thought..
..It would be..
..Like this....
The wall slammed into the ship; there was a moment of fiery pain, and then the world around her vanished with the pain, into a floating silence of absolute black.
Tori Sanford groaned as she lifted her head, peering about at the bunker. She was the only one there, the only one who was still in bed. It was no wonder, for the bells were clanging wildly - no one, not even she, could sleep through that noise.
She rolled onto her side, and then swung her legs out over the edge of her bed, glancing out through the window. It was absolutely dark out there, not the dark of night, but the dark of nothing which has never seen the light of day.
Pulling on her jumpsuit, she hopped over to the window, and stared out at the universe. It was kind of freaky, being unable to see Earth from the space station, but she was a well trained engineer - young, granted, one of the youngest workers on the station - and she had her duties.
She shook out her length of hair, and gave it a vigorous brush.
Today was a redletter day for her. She was one of the ten specialised people chosen to go and make a detailed study of Neptune, the third gas planet beyond Jupiter. She had to admit to herself, however, that she’d miss orbiting around the Gas Giant. It looked rather pretty in the right light, all swirling hydrogen and helium.
Tori shook her head, and turned away from the window. She had best be on her way to the docking station, otherwise she’d miss her flight, and she would go through absolute hell if that happened.
She walked out of the bunker, down the corridor; she had travelled these selfsame passages for eight months, and knew them like she knew her tools: very well. She had a blueprint of the station laid out in her mind.
The docking station was only small, the only colonies anywhere in this solar system were on Earth, and on Mars, always held to be the next planet that would be colonised, people began building livable homes there in the year 2123. It still got chilly at night, and there was little vegetation growing, but they were surviving, and slowly the planet was changing.
Her grandparents were living there now, and sent her wonderful holographic postcards every Sunday. Of course, she would have to tell them that they would be unable to reach her now.
She blinked, wondering how she’d got so sidetracked, and then marched up to the ID Console.
“State your name, ide-en-tify-cay-shun codenumber and insert your ide-en-tify-cay-shun card,” the metallic voice of the console droned.
“Tori Sanford,” she said in a low whisper; you could never be too careful. “ID number 6495851.” She ran her card through the slot, a few lights blinked, and then the ID console replied.
“Thank you, Tori Sanford, you may continue.”
“No, thank you,” she muttered as the doors slid open. By whatever deity humankind believed in now, she was sick of ID consoles and their pitiful attempts to be cheery.
“Ah, Tori, you’ve arrived.”
Leaning against the hold of the passenger conveyer, was a tall, lean young man with dark hair and eyes, and a face that was not unpleasant to look at provided you could deal with the ice coldness of his gaze. She knew this man well from old. They were firm enemies. A sinking feeling hit her in the stomach.
“You’re not coming too, are you, Jared?”
“Of course I’m coming,” Jared said with a casual shrug, “I’m to be head of operations.” He smiled. Somehow, Jared Connell had never mastered the art of smiling; it always came out glacial.
“Oh.” She tried not to show the irritation she felt. It was a perfect day ruined; of all people, why Jared? She’d have cheerily settled for an alien captain rather than Jared. He was just like his grand-uncle; a man who had made a living out of being incredibly cruel and emotionless. A man who, thankfully, had disappeared, and likely died, a century ago.
“Disappointed?” he asked, with that icy smile. “Ah, such a pity. I was hoping that we could put aside our mutual hatred for this one trip.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Tori said. “I know what your grand-uncle did, and your defence of him is quite pointless.”
“Well, I know what he did too,” Jared replied, “and I’m actually rather proud of him.”
Tori stared at him, and then turned away in disgust. She could hear him chuckling to himself as she boarded the conveyor, and that white-hot hatred threatened to boil up into her head and sprout volcanos.
She took a deep breath, and walked towards the back of the ship, to where the bunkers would be.
She was pleasantly surprised when she found out that there were no bunkers; instead, they each had a room to themselves. She opened her door, took a look around at the nearly empty room, and decided that she’d better order her stuff down here.
She looked out at the rest of the doors, each with their own name plate to stop confusion, and, oh joy of joys, Jared’s room was right opposite hers. Tori sighed, and then turned to the computer console which was the only thing, save the bed, in her room.
She sat down in front of it, and typed in a string of commands.
c5+id?tori_sanford+pass?6495851+objective?open_inform.clm
A smiling woman’s holographic face appeared onscreen.
“Hello Miss Tori Sanford,” she said. “How may the Informative Board be of help to you?”
c883question?=What_is_the_MacGuire_mission_about?
There was a fizzing noise as the computer processed this.
“This mission is going to Neptunian space, to make a detailed study of a possible black hole, and check for any signs of lifeforms, which have occasionally been spotted there.”
c883question?=What_lifeforms_on_Neptune?
Everyone on the Starbase 4000 knew of the “unfortunate incident” concerning the Starship Trailblazer, it was common talk. But she had never heard of any sightings of life-forms on Neptune in all her years as a space Cadet or Engineer.
“I’m afraid that is classified information, Miss Tori Sanford.”
“I’m going on this mission!” she shouted at the screen. “I have a right to know what the heck this is all about!”
“This computer is not programmed to answer to verbal instructions, so I am unable to understand what ”
“Shut up.”
“This computer is not programmed to ”
c7objective?end_link.clm
The console blinked off.
For a few moments she stared at the screen, letting stray thoughts run through her overactive mind.
Neptune of the Seas, that was the planet they were going to.
They all had the additional names now: Earth- Terra Alpha and Mars- Terra Beta; Jupiter the Gas Giant; Saturn of the Marvellous Rings; Venus of the Venom; Uranus of the Vertical Rings; Mercury the Inferno. Pluto had been discovered as a mere asteroid in 2078 when it was first visited by the robotic race.
Neptune of the Seas. An imaginative name for a planet made entirely up of ice-dust and gases.
She sighed, and then caught herself. She’d already sighed twice. Depression could become addictive. She stood up, and then sent a link to the Cleaners to fetch her stuff, which was what the robots did anyway. Fetch. Cleaners were aptly nicknamed Fido’s.
Oh well; she thought to herself; Perhaps this mission might give some excitement to my life.
Whether that would be good or bad she would later find out, or so she guessed. She glanced at her wrist timepiece. It was 0611. They would be leaving in less than an hour, at 0700 on the dot.
She held a few suspicions about the exact mission, but she knew about it on a general basis.
They were going to stay in this thermostat-controlled conveyor ship for three months, studying the new black hole and... whatever else it was they were meant to study. She was coming along for the technical side of the work, setting up equipment, and dealing with whatever problems may arise from them.
As soon as a human - that didn’t include Jared - came aboard, Tori was going to ask some questions. She had not been fully briefed, and, technically, that was against the StarBase Code. You could get a ration-depletion for failing to give, non-classified, information when it was needed.
Then she heard the clanking of Cleaner’s tank tread like wheels coming towards the ship, and smiled.
Ah well. She’d best be settling down here for the while, because she was going to have one heck of a journey. It took about three weeks to get from Jupiter to Neptune, and that was in a exploration ship; a conveyor ship was slower.
She had best get used to this place and mission, despite the faults in it. Her smile turned slightly awry as she recalled a line of an old reggae song she had once heard that rather suited the occasion:
Because, mama, itsa long way home, and I don’t wanna be lost.
The End... or is it?