A Distant View in Blue
31 Jul 2019SmamMiguel
MIGUEL, APPROACHING DESTINATION.Miguel snapped out of his reverie and refocused on the current route, setting down his celebratory glass of Eranin Whisky. He had identified a system of interest on the way back to civilisation - a planetary nebula named A Distant View in Blue with a Black Hole at its centre. While it wasn’t a neutron star or white dwarf, care would still be needed on entering the system.
"Make the jump, LUCY. Apply 0% throttle as soon as we leave witchspace."
YES MIGUEL. FRAME SHIFT ENGAGE IN 3.. 2.. 1. ENGAGE.
Something felt… wrong. Miguel pulled the throttle way back and strapped himself in, just to make certain.
No sooner had the Got Buns Hun? emerged from hyperspace, it had smashed headlong into the black hole’s exclusion zone.
EXTREME GRAVITY WARNING. FRAME SHIFT EXIT FAILURE. EMERGENCY STOP. HULL INTEGRITY COMPROMISED.
"WHAT THE FFFFUUUUUU-"
FLIGHT ASSIST MALFUNCTION.
The Anaconda was pitching, yawing, and spinning violently. The crystal whisky glass smashed into the windscreen. The fragile hull groaned and squealed. The gravitational lensing blurred galaxy and nebula. Miguel could not tell what was up or down. First thing to do was to get control back.
"LUCY, SORT THAT DAMN FLIGHT ASSIST, GET IT BACK ONLINE BEFORE I YAWN IN TECHNICOLOUR!"
WORKING...
Miguel was fighting back the vomit, but the dizzying motion started to affect his vision - fringing it with dancing colours at first, and then it started to fade…
FLIGHT ASSIST RESTORED.
The Anaconda slowed, then stopped, as the computer balanced all thrusters to counter the gravity well.
Miguel released the harness and collapsed to the bridge floor. As his vision returned to normal, the beauty rendered him dumbstruck.
"What next?"