SciFi Shorts Collections

The Suit: Black Hole-1

“A black hole? You want me to jump into a black hole?” asked Samuel.

“No,” replied the Venadra, the ship they were on. “Not into the black hole. Just near to it.”

“Well that’s okay then. What could possibly go wrong?”

“I think you’re overreacting,” said the Suit. “The physics checks out, at the speed we’ll be going there is no danger of us being captured by the black hole’s gravity and pulled beyond the point of no return. We’ll fly by, perform a quick scan of the ship sitting out there, and be past in no time. Then the Venadra picks us up at the other side.”

“I might have known you’d be up for it! This is the sort of scientific stupidity that’s right up your street!”

“Well it’s hardly my fault you can’t understand basic science. This isn’t even rocket science. It’s simple ballistics. There’s no way the black hole can capture us.”

“Fine then! You go! I’ll be waiting here on the ship when we pick you up. Assuming you make it. Then you can explain to me just what I missed out on.”

“You know that can’t happen,” replied the ship. “The Suit is only a Class III autonomous entity now. It’s not allowed to operate independently.”

“Yeah, not since Helios Five!”

“There’s no need to bring that up,” replied the Suit sniffily. “It was one little miscalculation. Anyone could have made that mistake.”

“Maybe, but you’re the one who made it. Just shows what happens when you go off without me. Your first solo mission and how did it go? I heard Helios Five was a nice station to visit. Until you finished with it, at least.”

“That is completely uncalled for. I’ve a good mind to let you carry out this mission in a standard spacesuit. Or no suit at all!”

“That’s enough. Both of you!” snapped the ship. “Samuel, do I need to remind you that you are currently on probation too?”

“As if I could forget! It’s not like I blew up a space station. All I did was take a lady dancing.”

“You took the betrothed of the Sixteenth Emperor of the Star Clan out dancing on the eve of their wedding, and ended up doing the sort of dancing that requires a bed… or in your case a very publicly viewable terrace. You almost started a war.”

“How was I to know she was the Emperor’s fiancee? And what was she doing allowing herself to be seduced the night before her wedding?”

“You should have known who she was because you were part of the security detail assigned to protect her on her wedding day! If you’d read your briefing notes, or retained them in your mind when all the blood rushed somewhere else, then maybe you could have avoided the incident and the punishments that came with it.”

“Fine! I still don’t see why you had to bring it up.”

“Because,” replied the ship. “Neither of you has a choice in this mission. Not if you want any chance of continuing to work for the Agency… and if you want to avoid a significant risk of ending up in prison for your actions.

“While the physics are clear, very few people were keen to volunteer for this mission. Fortunately, the Agency had both of you. It’s too late to argue now. You’re going to make the jump, and you’re going to do it in fifteen minutes. Any questions?”

Neither Samuel nor the Suit said anything. Which pleased the Venadra greatly!

Samuel held still as the Suit deployed around him. Often it was impossible to even tell it was there, but today it was in full protection mode. In some ways it now resembled an ordinary space suit, though one designed by somebody with a jarring sense of style. The lurid golden red stars were bad enough, but the wavy blue lines at random angles between them were enough to finish off his eyes.

“Did you have to pick this colour scheme?” Samuel asked. “If I’m going to die by having my head ripped away from my body by the tides of the black hole you could at least let me do it with a shred of dignity intact.”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” replied the Suit. “This is the height of fashion at the moment. Amongst the educated set, at least. I suppose I shouldn’t have expected you to appreciate it.”

Samuel just snorted. At least he wouldn’t see it once they left the ship. And frankly, if he survived to see it reflected in a mirror again the insults to his eyeballs would be a small price to pay for having survived the ridiculous mission.

He stood in the ship’s airlock, waiting to be cast out into space and towards the black hole. Despite what the Suit thought, he did understand the calculations, and had to admit they seemed correct.

But it wasn’t the calculations he had a problem with. It was his knowledge of Murphy’s Law. Something, anything, that could go wrong almost certainly would on such a dangerous mission. And something going wrong on this mission almost certainly translated into him dying horribly.

“I’m sure nothing will go wrong,” said the Suit. “But… well… I hope you’ve backed yourself up. I have.”

Was that a sign of fear from the Suit? Worry that Murphy might strike? Had it backed itself up because it thought it might need to be reincarnated? Its personality and memories would be complete right up to the moment the backup was taken.

“No,” replied Samuel quietly. “I’ve never been backed up. I don’t believe in it.”

“What? You mean all those times we risked our lives together, all those times you nearly died… you might have really died? For good? Why won’t you back yourself up?”

“Because whatever lived on, it wouldn’t be me. It would be a copy. A fake. If I’d backed up ten minutes ago then the real me has moved on from there. The real me is standing in this airlock wondering whether we’re going to survive this trip. I have no desire to leave a fake me behind, one who won’t have experienced every part of my life.”

“I never knew you saw things that way. I guess you have a point.”

“I do?” Samuel was amazed there was actually something they could agree on. “Are you feeling okay?”

“To be honest, no. We’re about to jump into, or damn close to, a black hole. I’m not really feeling my usual cheery self.”

“No. Me neither,” said Samuel. “How long have we got?”

“The ship will warn us when we’re thirty seconds from being dropped off. There’s still a few minutes to go.”

“Great. More waiting. I hate…”

What Samuel was saying was cut off by a yell as he and the Suit were flung out into space. For a moment he was convinced everything had gone wrong, that this was Murphy’s Law kicking in. Then they received a message from the Venadra.

“Sorry about that. I figured waiting around would be quite painful, so I misled you slightly about the time frame. Don’t worry, you’re precisely on schedule. Have a nice trip, and I’ll see you on the other side.”

“Bastard!” said the Suit.

Samuel chuckled. “I couldn’t have put it better myself. Why exactly couldn’t the ship take this route with us instead of flinging us out on our own?”

“You know… I never thought to ask. I can’t see any reason for it at all.”

Samuel sighed. “I can. If things go wrong then the ship will survive, and will have whatever information it gets from our journey.”

“Oh. I suppose that is… logical.”

There was a definite edge to the Suit’s voice. Samuel was used to it using logic against him whenever it could. He couldn’t help but be amused at seeing the ship turn the tables on it.

He forced himself to pay attention to their surroundings. He stared around, hooking into the Suit’s systems to orient himself, and became aware of the location of the black hole. It was completely invisible to his eyes, and the ship they were due to take a fast glance at wouldn’t be visible until they were almost upon it.

“This is worse than waiting on the ship was,” he said. “We’re stuck floating here in a huge pile of nothingness, but out there is a silent but insane twist in space-time waiting to suck us in and rip us apart!”

“It is a little unnerving, yes. Would you like a display showing how long we have until we reach the target?”

“I guess so. It’s either that or we have to keep talking for the next fifteen minutes to try and keep me sane. Neither of us wants that.”

The Suit didn’t bother to answer, it just brought up the display which slowly started to count down. It was going to be a long fifteen minutes!

Samuel hadn’t known how right he’d been. The seconds really did seem to be dragging past painfully. He frowned, staring at the countdown which was still stubbornly above five minutes, and asked a question.

“Are we getting caught up in the time dilation of the black hole? Is that why this seems to be taking so long?”

“No. And even if we were, that would make the rest of the universe seem to be going faster. It wouldn’t change your personal perception of time passing.”

“And you’re sure your counter is working? It’s not running slow? You’re not messing with my head?”

“No. I’m not messing with the counter, and it is most certainly working properly. Although… it does feel like it’s been much longer than ten minutes so far, despite what my internal timers say.”

They both fell silent. What they were attempting weighed on Samuel’s mind as they floated almost helplessly on what should be a perfectly safe trajectory. Should. Such a little word, but one which had so much riding on it.

“Finally! Some progress!” said Samuel as the timer dropped below five minutes. “But I can’t see the ship yet.”

“Of course,” replied the Suit. “At the speed we’re going we won’t be able to detect it at all until we’re a few seconds from its position. Even then, it will only be visible via my enhanced sensors. A few seconds more and all the excitement will be over.”

“Sounds like the encounter with the Emperor’s fiancee which got me into this mess!”

“Well, really!”

“No! Quite the opposite actually!”

Samuel smiled to himself. He’d learnt early in their relationship that the Suit did not approve of his rather relaxed approach to relationships. It wasn’t exactly a prude, it would be extremely hard to be in their civilisation, but it did feel Samuel should act with more dignity.

Which just made him act with less. Annoying the Suit was never the primary reason he went chasing after a woman, man, or other sentient who’d caught his eye, but it was a powerful bonus. It led him to take far more chances than he ever would have.

At least… that’s what he’d always told himself. But the Suit had been a thousand light-years away when Samuel had enjoyed his ill-advised liaison with Darforay, the Emperor’s fiancee. For the first time he had to face the fact that just maybe it wasn’t the Suit’s presence which pushed him to take such chances.