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Back The Long Sunset Save as PDF
Chapters (51)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Acknowledgments
  4. Prologue
  5. 1.
  6. 2.
  7. 3.
  8. 4.
  9. 5.
  10. 6.
  11. 7.
  12. 8.
  13. 9.
  14. 10.
  15. 11.
  16. 12.
  17. 13.
  18. 14.
  19. 15.
  20. 16.
  21. 17.
  22. 18.
  23. 19.
  24. 20.
  25. 21.
  26. 22.
  27. 23.
  28. 24.
  29. 25.
  30. 26.
  31. 27.
  32. 28.
  33. 29.
  34. 30.
  35. 31.
  36. 32.
  37. 33.
  38. 34.
  39. 35.
  40. 36.
  41. 37.
  42. 38.
  43. 39.
  44. 40.
  45. 41.
  46. 42.
  47. 43.
  48. 44.
  49. Epilogue
  50. About the Author
  51. Copyright

“If they knew for thousands of years,” said Hutch, “that the thing was coming, why would they have waited so long to start clearing out?”

Ken’s eyes grew thoughtful. “Imagine how we’d react if we got word that Earth would be destroyed in the fifth or sixth millennium.”

“You’re right,” said Derek. “We’d talk about it, but I doubt anyone would act until it got close. Until it got to a point where our grandkids were going to be in trouble.”

“It was a directed transmission,” said Hutch, “and the Van Entel just happened to be in the line of sight. For a few minutes. Pity we couldn’t have gotten more of it.”

“So what do we do now?” said Beth. “Go home?”

Derek’s smile indicated that he was not nearly ready to pack it in. “We know where the object is. It’s probably a black hole. What I’d like to do is go take a look. Confirm what happened.”

Beth literally laughed out loud. “We just got back from a star that’s ready to go supernova. Now we want to go take a look at a black hole?”

“We’ll be okay as long as we don’t try poking it,” said Ken.

Derek smiled. “It shouldn’t be far.”

•  •  •

With a black hole in the mix, it was a good idea to opt for caution. Hutch didn’t want to depend on the mass detector to keep them out of trouble if she jumped into normal space anywhere near the monster. The device came with a guarantee that stipulated whatever degree of mass existed in the area, it would block the transdimensional interface and keep the ship in hyperspace. The detector was also designed to react the same way if it picked up dangerous levels of radiation, which could be expected near a black hole. But those were engineering claims, and if the system failed, there’d be no one to make the report. A few interstellars had been lost without explanation.

Derek’s numbers would have taken them within a range of a hundred million kilometers. Hutch added another hundred million and gave the numbers to Barry. That would surely provide a safe zone.

Derek sighed when she informed him about her precautionary measures. He obviously thought she worried too much, but he understood. There was nothing wrong with caution when you were dealing with a black hole.

When they emerged from the first jump, they looked at a sky full of stars but saw nothing unusual. “But you wouldn’t, right?” said Beth. “A black hole is black, so naturally, we’re not going to see much.”

Hutch knew Beth was in for a surprise.

“How close are we going?” Ken asked.

•  •  •