As the crew finally began to exhale, Jack’s voice cut through the cabin, sharper and more desperate than before.

  “LOCKY! INCREASE THE SHIP'S WEIGHT! THE BLACK HOLE!”

  Locky’s eyes snapped to the console. Instinct took over; his hand flew across the controls, cranking the artificial mass to maximum. Heloá’s voice rose above the blaring AI alarms.

  “We’re clear of the event horizon, but to break free now, we have to perform a slingshot maneuver!”

  Alice cut the velocity, her gaze locked on the thruster toggles. Zenny let go of the primary controls for a brief second, drawing a ragged breath.

  “We only have one shot at this,” he said.

  His gravelly voice betrayed the nerves beneath the General’s mask. Knuckles white, he gripped the control stick once more. The ship drifted deeper into the gravitational well, the air thick with the weight of their own breathing. Locky stared out the viewport as the singularity warped the stars around them.

  “Now!” Heloá screamed. “ENGAGE EVERYTHING! MAX OUTPUT!”

  The General slammed his foot onto the pedal, shoved the lever forward, and disengaged the orbital brakes. Alice’s voice cut through the roar of the engines.

  “Velocity at 102%! Power output at 97%!”

  Harnessing the black hole’s own crushing gravity, Ship 7 was flung forward, narrowly escaping Thanatos’ dark, eternal grip. Everyone exhaled shakily. Alice’s eyes glistened with tears, salt stinging her cheeks. Jack pressed a hand to his chest, trying to calm his racing heart. Oliver closed his eyes, lips moving in a silent, desperate prayer. Heloá slammed her fist against the armrest—not in anger, but in a rush of pure, adrenaline-fueled triumph.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Zenny remained composed, a mask of command, but his eyes betrayed worry as they settled on Locky’s hollow, vacant stare. Once the ship stabilized, safely outside any gravitational pull, the crew unbuckled and made their way to the central hub for a moment of much-needed rest.

  “Well… it’s been four years and seven months, in total,” Heloá said, voice tight. She sank into one of the couches beside Oliver.

  “That means we only have time to explore fifteen planets out of the seventeen,” she added quietly.

  Locky remained seated across from them, silent, eyes dimmed and distant. Soft footsteps approached. Alice knelt before him, gently lifting his chin.

  “Hey, Locky… are you okay? I’m here now. We’re here.”

  He looked into her eyes, the Vice-General’s walls finally cracking. He pulled her into a tight embrace.

  “I thought…” His voice broke, barely a whisper. “I thought we had failed.”

  Zenny stared at the holographic map, mind racing through a million variables. He closed his eyes as Locky spoke again.

  “Let’s analyze the chip. Then we set course for the binary system—specifically Ares. Time dilation there is almost identical to Earth’s. We can finish recon in less than three days.”

  Locky stood, a faint smudge of lipstick on his cheek—a silent mark of Alice’s kiss. He inserted the data chip into a high-performance 777Hz monitor. A crackling, desperate voice came through: the General of Team 1.

  “Our ship… it broke during the last wave. It’s already been… ten years on Earth. The SFS-N abandoned us. Damn them. This planet is a death trap. If you’re seeing this inside that suit, RUN! A human cannot survive here. We’ve already lost three of our own and—”

  A violent thud, like a massive impact, cut the transmission short.

  Everyone’s faces hardened. Locky crossed his arms.

  “Judging by the state of that body, he must have died a long time ago,” Locky said coldly. “Which means… they were sent as a sacrifice.”

  Zenny nodded slowly, grim.

  “Complaining won’t change our situation. We head to Ares. Out here, time is life.”

  Jack stole one last glance at the black hole before heading back to the cockpit. He raised his middle finger to the swirling darkness.

  “Screw you, Thanatos! Suck on this, you bastard!”

  He was immediately met with a heavy smack to the back of the head from Oliver.

  “Watch your mouth! I told you, kids shouldn’t swear, dammit!”

  Jack flipped Oliver off in return, and they all returned to the cockpit, leaving the ghost of Team 1 behind as they set course for the twin suns of Ares.