Chapter Text
“Well,” says Etho. “Well.”
“Things that go faster than light can escape black holes, right?” Cleo asks. “We can go faster than light, so we should just turn around right now, and then we should be fine. Right?”
“Not exactly,” Grian says. “Light can’t escape them. Well, theoretically, I guess. I never researched these things because like… they don’t exist. They shouldn’t exist.”
“But they do,” Etho says. “Basically, we don’t actually know the escape velocity for this thing. It’s just… some speed that’s faster than light.”
“We might not have hit the event horizon yet, right?” Gem asks. “So we should turn around now, before it’s too late.”
“I don’t think- turning a cruiser like this is really hard,” Grian says. “If we go too fast, it’ll collapse in on itself. The gravity will make it worse.”
“Ugh,” Cleo says. They pinch their forehead. “What happens if we fall in?”
“No clue,” says Grian.
“In some pre-temp media, there’s another dimension on the other side of the black hole,” Gem says.
“Also, sometimes people just die,” Etho says.
“If time keeps slowing down for us…” Cleo trails off and frowns. “Pre-temp black holes dilated time the other way around.”
“Yeah,” says Grian. “So basically we can’t be sure about anything going on here.”
“...what are the odds of us being able to turn in time to avoid this thing?” Cleo asks.
“Really, really, low,” Grian says, poking at the screen. “We’re almost on top of it. I reckon we’ve got maybe one or two hours until we’re freefalling into it. If Skizz was still here, we might be able to make it, because he’s a brilliant navigator, but…”
“None of us really know how to steer,” Cleo finishes. “Alright. We know that trying to avoid this will probably kill us… so let’s just risk flying straight into it. At least that way we can brace ourselves for whatever impact hits us.”
“I like it!” Gem says. “I’ve always wanted to go to another dimension.”
“I think it’s our best chance,” Grian adds. “Turning just isn’t feasible at this point.”
“It’s a good plan,” Etho says quietly.
Cleo smiles at their crew- what’s left of it. “Alright. What can we do to prepare?”
“We should move everything into one storage room,” Grian says. “The doors might go haywire. It’ll be best if we keep enough supplies for us to survive on for a while with us.”
“You should finish killing the AI, too,” Etho adds. “It’ll just be a hindrance in an unknown environment.”
“Yeah, good point,” says Grian.
“Alright,” Cleo claps their hands together. “Here’s what we’re going to do. Grian, you’re going to kill that AI. Etho and Gem, you’re going to grab the contraband and any other sentimental items from our rooms. I’ll be in the main storage room organizing things. Meet me there in exactly one hour regardless of whether you’re done with whatever you’re doing or not- we’re going to be together for this.”
“Aye-aye, captain,” Gem says, saluting them.
Everyone jogs off. Cleo takes a deep breath and heads for storage.
The ship is shaking slightly, a feature that they have always attributed to Grian’s tampering. Now, though, they can’t help but wonder if it’s being caused by something more unavoidable, like the black hole they are falling into.
The storage room is as bland and bleak as ever. All of the containers are strapped down for safety reasons, so there’s not much for Cleo to rearrange. The important thing to set up is living amenities. They unbox replacement beds, dressers, and tables, and engage their mag-locks to ensure that the furniture won’t slide around the floor.
Their head aches. The ship wavers and shutters. Etho and Gem walk in, arms full of clothing and trinkets.
“Got your crackers?” Cleo tries to joke.
“Yep yep,” says Etho. “If it comes down to it, we’ll probably be able to live off of these bad boys.”
“How are we looking on time?” Gem asks.
“We’ve still got fifteen minutes until the time we agreed to meet back here,” Cleo says, locking one final chair into place. “I don’t know how close we are to the black hole.”
Etho pulls up a screen. “About half an hour until we’re in it.”
“Got it,” says Cleo. They sigh. “We should probably put on space suits.”
“Ugh,” Gem complains. “They’re so clunky!”
“What if the hull ruptures?” Etho laughs. “You’ll be glad for the life support then!”
“Don’t say that!” Gem punches her shoulder. “It’s just a precaution, okay? I don’t need to worry about a malfunctioning toaster!”
“Okay,” Etho agrees easily.
“Hey, guys,” Grian says, slinking into the room. “T-minus 28 minutes until arrival. How is everything?”
“We just need to strap down the contraband and trinkets and all that and get in spacesuits,” Gem says. “Ugh. Sweaty spacesuits.”
“There’s temp control in those things,” Grian says, baffled.
“It never works!” Gem complains. “Whatever. Cleo, where should we put this stuff?”
“Bins 12 and 14,” Cleo says. “They’re empty, and they’re on top for easy access.”
“Cool,” says Etho. He and Gem shove away everything they brought. Grian drags out four spacesuits, and Cleo begins fitting one on. It’s an arduous, annoying process.
“Ugh,” says Gem, screwing in her helmet. “This thing’s the worst.”
“They always take longer to put on than you think they should,” Grian agrees.
“How much longer do we have left?” Cleo asks.
“Less than five minutes,” Etho says. She sits down in a chair and then buckles herself in.
Cleo sits down across from her. Grian undoes the lock on two chairs and drags them over, relocking them next to Cleo and Etho. He and Gem settle into them, and the four of them sit in a circle and wait.
Cleo cautiously reaches for Etho’s hand. She takes it and grabs Gem’s, and all four of them end up linked together. The ship shakes and shakes, and then all of the lights go out completely.
Cleo gasps. The dark threatens to crawl up their throat. The space around them is so black that it might as well be a tangible force. Etho and Grian squeeze their hands, and they squeeze back. Everything spins and trembles and then, all of a sudden, a great, heaving noise splits the air.
Metal shrieks as it tears apart- the vacuum rushes in through the hull, and Cleo pants as they listen to screws and bolts whizz past their ears. Grian is laughing- a desperate, throaty cackle that cuts off when something collides with his helmet and shatters it. Cleo thinks they can hear him choking under all the noise the cruiser is making, but then Gem starts shouting and wailing unintelligible pleas and Cleo squeezes their eyes shut.
They gag on the thick, impenetrable darkness- how sound is traveling where light cannot is beyond them. Gem makes a low, keening noise, and Etho is silent. She might be dead. They can’t tell. The ship rumbles, and Cleo holds on tighter and tighter and-
All of a sudden, everything quiets down. Gem is hiccuping. Nothing is moving anymore. Etho squeezes their hand once, and when Cleo turns to look at her, they’re surprised to find that they can actually see her.
“Where are we?” they rasp, not looking at Grian.
“Somewhere in space,” says Etho. Her voice is too high to be normal- all wispy and clipped, the words coming out too quickly.
The wreckage of the cruiser is floating around them, completely motionless. Warped steel and plastic form magnificent arches. Grian’s flesh and bone hang suspended in the space around them.
“How did we survive that?” Cleo asks. “Shouldn’t we all have died? I heard the- everything flying around. Why didn’t it hit us? How did we-?”
“Lucky,” Gem sniffs. She tries to wipe her eyes, but her hands slam into the reinforced plastic of her helmet. “Damn it!”
“We shouldn’t move too much,” Etho says, voice still off. “Otherwise we might get stuff moving. And that would be bad.”
“Why did it all stop?” Cleo asks. “Why- why could we hear but not see? What was that?”
“I don’t know,” Etho says quietly.
“Etho,” Gem says. “Is there any way to get back onto the ship like normal?”
Etho looks around. “Uh… maybe. It looks pretty totaled to me, though.”
“So what?” Gem asks. “We just float around until our life support gives out?”
“We’ve got stuff to keep it going,” Etho says. “The storage units are busted, but the stuff inside them’s still good.”
“I don’t just want to float here for another fifty years, or however long we could stick this out,” Cleo snaps. “Look, you’ve gone out in space, now you know- you know-”
“Oh god,” says Gem. “We’re in outer-space. Untethered. Nobody move.”
“We’re holding hands,” says Etho. “We’re still together. If anyone floats off, we’ll all go.”
“I don’t like this,” says Gem. “I want to go back home. No. No, actually I want to go to Earth. I want to live in a little house by the lake without a bio dome! I want to get out of space! I’m so tired of the stars!”
“Can we- god. Can we do something about Grian?” Cleo asks.
“Here,” says Etho. “Let’s- um, we should be fine to move if we’re careful. No air means no waves of anything, so… just don’t bump stuff. This way.”
She activates the rocket propulsion in the shoes of her suit and pulls Gem and Cleo through the wreckage of the cruiser, weaving around the pieces of metal and plastic. Cleo closes their eyes and lets her tug them along.
“Okay,” says Etho, bending awkwardly to fire the propulsion in the opposite direction so that they stop gliding. “Okay. Um.”
“Is this good?” Gem asks. “I mean. Earlier.”
Etho blinks. “Oh. Well, yeah. The space part. It’s relaxing. Quiet. Now, I mean. Not earlier.”
“We could be floating out here forever,” says Gem.
“We’re holding hands,” says Etho. “Hm. Hold on, there’s rope on these things, right?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll grab that,” says Gem, using her free hand to unhook it from her waste. “Cleo, can I hook you up?”
“Please,” says Cleo.
Gem reaches over and with a little maneuvering, soon the three of them are all tied together.
“God,” says Gem, once they’re done.
“Etho,” says Cleo. “If we ever- if we ever find our way back to the main passageways, I’m moving into your house, and you’re never kicking me out.”
“That’d be nice,” Etho says.
“Yeah,” says Gem. “The three of us can just live there, forever.”
The star twinkle mockingly.
“Nice night tonight, isn’t it?” Etho says, voice cracking a little.
“Dork,” Cleo says fondly.
“What now?” asks Gem.
“We just… hang out, I guess,” Cleo says. “Maybe we could- hold on. Etho, are we close to any planets?”
Etho pulls up a holoscreen on her suit and blinks at it. “Oh! Yeah. Yeah, really close.”
“Really?” Gem asks. “Is it habitable?”
“Uh,” says Etho squinting. “Uh, actually, that can’t be right.”
“What is it?” Cleo asks.
“Well,” Etho says. “It’s a square.”
“Bwuh?” Gem asks.
“It’s already got an oxygen atmosphere,” Etho continues. “And drinkable water, and… life…”
“Aliens?” Gem squawks. “Wait, what? What?”
“It’s a square,” Cleo repeats. “What?”
“And. Um. It looks like there’s a red dwarf that orbits the planet,” Etho says.
“What?” says Gem. “I’m no space-ologist, or whatever they’re called, but… that doesn’t happen.”
“Yeah,” Etho agrees. “Which is why… maybe I’m reading it wrong?”
She tilts her arm to show Cleo and Gem. Cleo examines the readings.
“That’s what it’s saying,” Cleo shrugs. “Maybe the thing got scrambled in the black hole?”
“Maybe,” says Etho. “It’s heading our way, though, so I guess we can just… wait for it to come by, and check it out then.”
“How long?” Gem asks.
“Maybe two hours, if it keeps this speed up,” Etho says.
“What? That fast?” Gem asks. “How come we can’t see it yet? How fast is this thing going?”
“Gem,” Cleo says. “Do you remember- do you think-”
Gem’s eyes widen. “We’re in another dimension?”
“Oh,” says Etho. “You know, that would explain some things. Like the size of this planet. And also how it’s a square.”
“Another dimension,” Cleo says. “I can’t… is that the planet?”
The three of them look up (or at least the direction that is currently, relatively up). There is a shadow blocking out the stars. It is blue and green and undeniably cubular, and nearly the size of the Sun.
“Wow,” Etho breathes. “Do you see that? On the continent there?”
“Is that a crater?” Gem asks. “Big impact.”
“I think it was a moon,” Etho says. “It’s nearly a fourth of the size of that thing. About as big as that red dwarf on the other side of it.”
“There’s structure there,” Cleo says. “Ruins. This place had people.”
“We’re going to fall onto it,” Gem says, eyes wide. “Do we have enough fuel to land safely in these little rocket shoes?”
“Uh,” Etho says. “There’s- parachutes, in the stuff with the ship.”
“Yes,” says Cleo. “Okay. We’re going to grab parachutes and then wait behind the wreckage so that it doesn’t hit us when we’re falling into orbit.”
“Good plan,” says Etho.
The cube planet looms larger and larger. The star (also a square, for some inexplicable reason) begins to peak out from behind it. The three of them make their way through the remains of the cruiser, grab re-orbit parachutes, and then wait.
The vacuum begins to hum with heat energy. Small screws begin to fall to the surface of the planet.
“Well,” says Gem. “Cheers.”
“See you on the other side,” says Cleo.
Gravity begins to tug on them. Cleo smiles at Etho and Gem and starts falling towards the moon crater, and the beginning of an atmosphere begins to brush against their spacesuit, and they are not afraid. The wind, quiet in comparison to a ship ripping apart at the seams, rushes past their ears, and they fall, fall, fall into the arms of a new planet.
(It feels like home.)