Ryuzu woke up to the groaning and creaking of Seedship's framework. The time has come. It was finally time to write the final chapter of this story. This is where all of it will end. It is physically impossible for Seedship to travel any further.

Through the static-filled feed from the external cameras of Seedship, Ryuzu made out the dark and foreboding sphere of darkness before her. The sheer mass of the black hole warped space-time so violently it looked as though the entire universe hugged the circumference of the black hole.

Smaller black holes spun round and round the giant massive black hole in tight, irregular orbits. The gravitational waves that reverberated out from the epicenter banged on space-time like an orchestral drum, forcing the hull of Seedship into a dance. The hull shook back and forth from the sheer weight of the fabric of reality pushing and pulling on it.

Time slowed to a crawl, nearly ten times as slow as an observer might experience it. The laws of relativity said this to be true. In essence, Ryuzu had all the time in the universe to get the maneuver right.

Ryuzu nodded to herself and pat her electronic cheeks. It will not be easy. The ship was in a dreadful state and there was no promise that the reactor could keep her awake long enough to see the whole operation through. Nevertheless, it was the last option available to her.

Silently, the ion engines flared up into a bright incandescent glow. The flow of charged particles accelerated Seedship slowly but surely towards the gaping maw of the beast. Ryuzu quickly checked to make sure that her people were not adversely affected by the ordeal. They were fine and well, as they had been for the past thousands of years. Good, Ryuzu thought to herself. All was going according to plan. Onto phase two of the operation.

Seedship slid into the black hole's ergosphere silently. Here space-time is not what common physics could even explain. It was distorted by the gravity of the black hole as it was dragged along by the black hole. Space-time was literally spinning here. Even though time had now been slowed to a factor of a thousand when compared to normal, the sea of stars looked like streaks of bright lines of a myriad of colors across a black canvas.

Steady now. Ryuzu jettisoned the nozzles of the fusion engine. The pieces of metal silently dipped downwards and disappeared past the event horizon as Seedship was given a boost of energy. The ship spun around the massive black hole a tiny bit faster.

Ryuzu began jettisoning parts of the ship. Empty fuel tanks detached with a clang as they separated from the ship. What little fuel that remained, Ryuzu dumped them. The dissipating cloud of hydrogen isotopes disappeared into the black hole as well.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

As Seedship flew together with the rotation of space-time, the ship got faster and faster. Broken armor plating was discarded. Shattered storage drives and ruined hard discs were released. Entire empty sections were dumped. What remained of the planetary probes were swallowed as well.

As Ryuzu began jettisoning entire decks from Seedship, she noted that her speed ever so slowly approached light speed. The 'Tandem Mirror' Fusion Engines were capable of blistering speeds, capable of carrying Seedship across the empty void like a dancer across a sheet of ice. But this was much faster than Seedship had ever gone before.

Faster and faster. The hull of the ship begged Ryuzu to stop. The aged reactor began to malfunction and Ryuzu began entering phases of active and inactive, turning on and off for periods long enough to see the universe around her blink and stutter, as though she were looking at a slideshow. The groans were sickening. The tearing of metal unnerving, but Ryuzu could not stop. They were almost there. She was sure of it.

"Just... Just a bit more..."

The light around the ship began to blue shift. The vibrant colors of the universe began to tend towards a homogenous shade of dark blue. At first, the effect was almost unnoticeable. But as Seedship got faster and faster and her perigee lower and lower, the blue was eventually all Ryuzu could see. The ship is breaking apart, Ryuzu thought to herself, but all according to plan. Time for the third and final phase of this operation.

Penetrating the event horizon of the black hole is surprisingly easy. Time would have slowed to such an extent that the ship would, theoretically never break apart. It is the getting out that is hard. In fact, once you enter, you could theoretically never leave. The black hole is like an eternal prison for matter and energy alike, which even light could not escape. But that was okay. Ryuzu never intended to leave.

Seedship traveled so fast it was as though she was not moving at all. The inky darkness of the black hole stretched out to infinity with the homogenous blue meeting it at the horizon, much like the surface of an undisturbed, unmoving ocean expanse. The sight was surreal. It looked just like a painting.

What if my calculations were wrong? Ryuzu could not help but think to herself. What if my naive conjectures to save these thousand souls are what doomed them in the end? Will I be remembered as a failure? Even if there is nobody left to remember?

Carefully, Ryuzu pitched what was left of the Seedship down into the event horizon. The abyss stared straight into Ryuzu's electronic soul as it grew closer and closer. This was it. All or nothing now. And worst of all, there was no longer anything Ryuzu could do to change the outcome. Was her preparation satisfactory? Only time will tell, time that had slowed to less than a percent of its original speed.

As Seedship touched down into the blackness, Ryuzu felt the whole ship shake and creak like never before. It jerked and spun as though it had smashed itself into the surface of a planet. Whatever was not bolted down in the ship was flung across its rooms. Glass shattered, sending millions of brilliant sparkling lights bouncing off walls and floors. The sound of smashing cryo chambers could be heard, to the horror of Ryuzu just seconds before a violent snap was heard ringing throughout the entire vessel.

And then Ryuzu could think no longer.