He watched out the shuttle's window as they approached the InterD facility. He was nervous and quite a bit excited. He was supposed to meet his parents who were working too far for them to wait for him on a shuttle. So they decided that they would fund the next best thing and that would be black hole travelling. InterD was a huge corporation which had established a means of finally getting across the galaxy in a flash. It had cut down on traveling time by years and cold sleep would be no problem. Of course with every form of travel there were the risks, and black holes were no exception. The form of traveling was still not 100% safe at the moment it was 80% success of it working with no problems. While the company had grown drastically people still insisted not to take it since it was dangerous. "We shall be docking in about 10 minutes please grab all belongings and prepare for docking." Distracted from his thoughts he got up from the seat and made his way to the bathroom. He splashed some water on his face to wake him up a bit and checked his appearance. His black hair was neatly tucked above his green eyes. He tucked down his t-shirt, and sat back down in his seat. He felt the jarring of the ship as it gently docked into the bay, and he waited for the door to open.
As the door opened with a whoosh he looked at the blue and white lobby with pillars ringing the dome it was in. There was a desk at the other side of the dome with a corridor on each side. He approached the reception desk that had the company logo above it. The logo was a black hole with the letter D in the middle of it. Before he could make it to the desk a person in a blue suit was walking to him with a big smile on his face. "You must be Blake. Welcome to InterD station 50. If you'll make your way this way we'll get you all prepared for you journey."
"Okay then. Just lead the way." Blake responded.
"This way then." The person gestured to the hallway on the left of the reception desk.
They walked at a very brisk pace marching down the hallway until suddenly they stopped at a door marked "Locker Room" The man turned around "This is where you'll suit into your nanosuit. In case of any problems with the trip and you do suddenly land in an unfamiliar environment the suit shall scan the surrounding area and find the most suitable clothing for you to wear."
Blake entered the room and looked at the only locker door that was actually open. Hanging there was a gray suit, and when he started to put it on he could feel it shaping to his body. After he was done changing into the suit he grabbed his stuff and stepped outside. "We shall make our way down the hallway if your done. The man turned on his heel and started down the corridor.
The walked until they finally approached a door that had no markings. "Due to security reasons and the technology that makes black hole travel possible this door has been left unmarked."
Blake was led into the room where pod like devices were hanging from the ceiling. "Wait one moment while I lower down one of the ships." The man walked over to a console and pushed some buttons.
Blake could hear the whine of a machine starting up and one of the pods started to move and come down to floor level. As the pod finally touched ground Blake noticed it was not just one pod but two stuck together that made it look like a gourd. The man walked up to the door, and again fiddled with a console and a side of the bigger pod opened up. "If you'll please enter we'll get you all strapped up and ready for travel."
Blake entered the pod and noticed only a seat near a control console. The man ushered him over to the chair where he sat down, and the man preceded to strap him in. "The computer will inform you about anything else you would like to know." The man gave another big smile and walked out of the pod.
Blake heard the door hiss shut and seal. Just before he could get used to what was going to happen a voice started up. "Welcome to InterD travel. The pod you are in right now is the travel pod and is the main pod used for travel. In an event should the trip go wrong you are to head straight to the pod in the back which functions as an escape pod. Since we would like to keep the integrity of alternate universes after you have entered the escape pod the pod will be detached and this pod will self destruct. The escape pod has been equipped with a beacon to locate after you have landed in the universe. Do you have any questions?"
"No I have no questions I can think of." Blake said still a little shocked at the safety measures.
"Then please wait while the pod is put onto the launch pad and then we will launch."
Outside the pod the man walked to a phone and dialed a short number. "We're all ready down here in the pod room."
"Affirmative we shall begin the launch procedure."
The control room was a big place with 8 big screens on the wall and 9 rows of consoles for the varisous functions that it had to control. In the control room all the technicians were scurrying about getting ready for the launch. They all looked up when the door to the room opened, and a man entered. The technicians gawked with your mouths open at the person who had entered. The man strode into the room and looked at the people looking at him. Finally one of the people approached him and got the courage to speak. "What are you doing here Mr. Chris?"
"I'm here to insure that Blake launches safely. His parents are very big people and it'll be my head on a platter if anything should go wrong." Chris gave the man a friendly smile.
One of the junior technicians looked confused, and a more senior employee leaned over to her. "Chris is the company president. He never comes to any launches he just sticks around in the main office. Looks like he's nervous about the launch getting messed up."
"Well then we better not mess up then." The other technician could hear the stress and nervousness in her voice.
"Don't worry he's not known to bite too much." He chuckled at his joke and leaned back to his console.
"Transporting pod to launch room." They looked at the monitors which showed the pod moving to the launch room. "Pod has arrived at launch room now checking all systems."
Chris looked at the people as they finally got over their nervousness at him being there and started acting like they should. "Systems check complete. No problems in site. Starting up launch sequence now.'
Blake sat nervously at the chair as he waited for launch. He had felt the pod move and then abruptly stop. Blake wondered if he would get any warning, but as this thought just left his mind the voice started again. "Launch sequence activated. Launch will begin in 30 seconds."
Blake started wringing his hands as his worries and doubts surfaced. "Lauch in 10…..9…." He looked up and saw that one of the walls was splitting apart. "8…7….6"
Chris looked intently at the screen. Why was he so worried? His mind had been nagging him for so long. "5….4….3"
Blake braced himself for the launch. "3…..2…..1…..Launch!" Blake felt the extreme force of gravity as he blasted out of the room.
"Launch is clear. No problems so far. We are now heading for the black hole." Chris let out a breath of air. He had just been way to paranoid at having such a big client travelling.
"Approaching black hole. Starting main engines, and the center targeting system." He looked back up again at the now grainy video as it was coming from cameras outside the facility.
"Main engine activated. Center has been locked." Everyone now tensed up, but not Chris he had not been to a single launch and wondered why everyone was so tense.
"Passing event horizon. Pod has entered the black hole it looks like we're all…" A shrill alarm started up and red lights started appearing on all the consoles.
"The black hole has destabilized! We can't get back the shuttle! We're going to lose it!" Everyone looked up a the screen as the camera's all turned off.
"Exterior camera's are nonfunctional. Starting stabilization procedures." One of the technicians looked up with a stricken face.
"Th-the stabilization equipment is not working. It's completely offline." As these words were said the room went down to a stiff silence.
Blake entered the black hole and felt the gravity on all sides. As he entered he released his breath, and he had been so worried. A gentle shaking started and the voice spoke up "Warning. Black hole destabilization detected. All occupants must evacuate to the escape pod section. This pod shall self destruct in 5 minutes." Blake fumbled with the seatbelt as the gentle shaking turned into a big earthquake. He got the seatbelt undone and he stood up uneasily as the shaking was making him dizzy. "This pod shall self-destruct in 3 minutes. All occupants need to evacuate." He slowly made his way to the door when he realized about his stuff, but he did not have the time and turned around. He shoved open the door and stumbled in. The door immediately shut and sealed. "Escape pod enabled. The escape pod has been detached. Are you ready for your destiny?" Blake felt the engines start and wondered if he had heard the last thing the voice said correctly. Whatever was going to happen he had to be ready.
Chris stared at the silent room. 200 launches and no problems, and then this happens. The equipment had never been used since it had never been needed, and it proved to be useless. "Stop just standing there! We need to get him back! It's my head on a platter if they find out about this." Then the electricity in the room went out. The lobby, halls, and control room went completely dark.