The journey to the anomaly had been going very smoothly. It helped that the small crew knew each other and got on well. They never ignored Braddon, and made an effort to include him in conversations if he had been quiet for a while. After a few days Braddon had got up the courage to discuss his sleep requirements with Paddy, as he would need to know during the observation stage of the mission. After their little chat Pol had really come out of her shell, she was still much more withdrawn than her overly boisterous brother, but she seemed at ease. There were no more questions about his sleep, or avatars, or deliberate laying on of hands that he could notice. She sometimes called him to her room for a private chat in the evenings. They swapped childhood stories, and he told her of the sights he had seen so far in his journeys. It was nice. The more he thought about it, the less like Pacifica she seemed. If Pacifica was fire, Pol was water. Utter opposites.

Black holes were very dangerous objects. Their extreme mass and density sucked in entire solar systems. If you got too close, you would never be able to escape. They had managed to form a somewhat stable orbit around the trinary system at what Paddy had deemed a 'safe' distance. Braddon was constantly tracking their movements and making minor adjustments with the manoeuvring thrusters. He had been reviewing a significant amount of literature on black holes and singularity physics, and while Paddy seemed to have an expert knowledge on the subject, his eagerness for this data made Braddon suspect that he might have been a little liberal with his definition of 'safe distance'.

The interferometer in his hold was massive, even more so now that it was set up and fully functional. Two large telescoping arms made of engineered nano-carbons now extended for 100 metres to either side of his open cargo bay doors. The sensors needed to be separated by a large distance in order to function. The first sensors used to detect gravitational waves were kilometres apart, but then again they were observing something 1.3 billion light years away, whereas Braddon was now circling at less than a light month. Pol and Tris were both suited up and performing EVA in order to confirm that everything was set up accurately and ready to take measurements. The frustrating thing about the setup was Braddon's telescope was mounted on the wrong side of his hull to photograph this close encounter, and because of the measuring equipment, it was not like he could just roll over… By the time he had realised this it had been too late to relocate it. He had been using his regular external sensors to take images but was getting exceedingly frustrated by the graininess and lack of clarity. If only my drone was still working! Oh well, I really should be staying focused on flying this thing. Every time he made adjustments with his thruster it threw off all the data from the sensitive instruments which were designed to measure the slightest changes in gravity. Like a jewellery scale that he kept dropping a moon on. Pushing them past their limits thankfully did not cause damage, however it did prevent them from being able to record at those times.

Two of the black holes (A and B) were roughly the same size and were slowly circling around each other. Black hole C, was about 1/10th of the size of the others, and was in the early stages of inspiral which meant the orbit between A and C was decaying, growing faster and closer together. As the orbits decayed, energy was released in the form of gravitational waves. When they finally collide, a huge amount of energy would be released that would be more than the combined power of all light radiated by all the stars in the observable universe put together. "Isn't that dangerous?" Braddon had asked Paddy earlier.

"Well, yes and no. It would be if it were given off as heat, or light, or electromagnetic radiation, however gravitational waves react very weakly with the physical world, so I doubt it will cause any harm. Also it is extremely unlikely that a merger will happen while we are here, they can take years!"

Braddon had wanted to ask some follow up questions, like "Has anyone ever been this close to a black hole during a merger?" But from his research he knew the answer was no, and he didn't want to unnecessarily frighten Pol and Tristan with needless speculation.

Braddon and Paddy had been taking shifts in order to give the other time to rest. It was Braddon's turn to keep an eye on things while Paddy was resting in his room. Tristan was also asleep, but Pol was keeping him company. After watching the black holes for almost a week, Braddon was getting used to all the needed adjustments and was performing them with very little thought. Pol was trying to teach him a card game and he was using his holographic projector to display the cards.

"Hang on, why didn't you play your 2s?" He asked.

"What? How do you know I have… Braddon, this isn't going to work if you cheat like that."

"How can I display something, if I don't know what it is?" He teased.

At that moment Paddy walked into the lounge and gave a big yawn stretching his arms upwards, palms resting flat against the ceiling. That giant has a knack for making this space look small…

"Morning Paddy." Pol and Braddon chimed in unison.

"Is it really? I could swear it is still dark out!" Pol rolled her eyes, this was not the first time Paddy had made that particular joke. He wandered over to the pilot's chair to have a quick look at the readings before going off to get some breakfast, as per his usual routine. He scrolled through the last couple of hours of data, then dramatically turned to face Braddon's column, eyes wide with fear.

"Braddon, get us out of here now!"

"What why? We have experienced waves twice this big already without issue." Braddon quickly double checked the data coming in from the sensor, and saw that the waves had been increasing in frequency over the last few hours…

Paddy strapped himself into the pilot's chair and was now starting to bring up the manual engine controls. "I said NOW Braddon! We're about to experience a merg….

Braddon was pulled back into consciousness with a jolt of pain. "Ow! My head, what…" His vitals were erratic, heart rate elevated, stimulants had been applied by the AI subroutine of his personal life support system. That's not a good sign... Non-critical warnings were flashing on a number of systems. That could wait, if I am in bad shape, that doesn't bode well for my crew... He brought up sensors and saw Paddy slouched in the pilot's chair, Pol collapsed on the crash couch, and Tristan passed out in his bunk. He called out to them but got no response. What is going on, what just happened? They were still breathing, he could see the slight rise and fall of their chests. His sensors could pick up their heart beats as well. Good, well that is something. He noticed a small trail of blood coming from Pol's nose, no wait, it was dried blood, already caking. Shit! How long have I been out! He checked the logs, a few hours. I have to get out of here! He looked back towards the black holes, two, only two, crap. Paddy was right, they had been about to merge, and Braddon was right, being this close when it happened was indeed dangerous. Hooray, I was right! He thought sarcastically, not that it is going to do me any good. There was something else troubling about the black holes, they seemed larger, no, closer. Shit, shit, shit. The last command he had given the navigational computer was to stop all automatic course corrections in order to allow for an extended reading. Not good. Even without course corrections, our orbit should not have decayed this much! Braddon fired the manoeuvring thrusters, but that barely had any effect. "Paddy, requesting permission to ditch the sensor array?" There was no reply. "I'll take that as a yes." Braddon shut the cargo bay door as best he could, irreparably damaging the expensive measurement device. The long arms snapped off and started drifting alongside him, falling closer towards the black holes as the thrusters were no longer slowing their descent. Well, they could yell at him later if they were even able! He blasted his main sublight engine, and for a moment he relaxed as they were indeed inching further away from the singularity. Panic quickly returned as he calculated that their fuel reserves were not nearly enough to extract them completely. FTL? No, the waves of gravity continuing to bombard them were interfering with the drive. If the FTL drive tried to pull them in one direction, while a gravitational wave pulled in another, well, it could be very risky. What if he turned around, built up some momentum before making an FTL jump? Would that reduce the risk of interference? No, that would place the flight path too close to the black holes, which could rip them apart, or trap them for millennia in a time distortion, in fact they were probably losing a decent amount of time as is… Not good. Not Good. NOT GOOD. He did NOT want to be swallowed by a black hole! Stay calm, there must be a way out of this… He adjusted his feeds, a bit of calming serotonin, some extra nutrients. Focus. What had even gotten them into this mess? He checked the data from the moment in which he lost consciousness. A massive gravitational wave had caused a near instantaneous displacement of 2cm. Basically they had all been stretched out very quickly, and brought 2cm closer to the black hole. That massive acceleration on the soft tissues in their brains, must have caused them to pass out. His titanium column would do nothing to protect him from those forces… He heard a groan from Tristan's cabin and quickly looked in. "Tristan?! Thank goodness! Are you alright?"

"Ooohh, Braddon? My head… what happened?"

"We just witnessed a merger, the resulting gravitational waves stretched us out like a poorly executed jump into FTL. Can you stand? The others could use your help."

"Pol!" Tris stood shakily, leaning on the walls for support. He started to head down the hall towards the main cabin.

"Tristan, no, the infirmary, I am prepping some stim pads, take them to Pol and Paddy."

Tristan grunted and did a 180, heading to the small medical room.

"The first one if for you, anti-inflammatory and pain relief. You will help them better if you can think clearly."

He slapped the pad on the inside of his forearm. Braddon saw the muscles tense as the medications made their way into the bloodstream. He then grabbed the other two pads and almost ran to the main cabin bumping into walls as he went. Paddy was closer, so he slapped on the patch before diving/falling onto the couch next to Pol. "Pol! Pol! Can you hear me?" He applied her patch much more gently.

Paddy awoke with a start, head up, hands out, like he was ready to fight off an intruder. "Whoa, who, what?" He looked around the room then down at the blinking warning lights then brought both hands to his head and started rubbing his temples. "Braddon? Are you alright?"

"I too was rendered unconscious by the gravitational tsunami, but I recover quickly."

Tristan looked up in surprise, but his attention was quickly drawn back to Pol who had started to shift. He helped bring her to a sitting position as he wiped the dried blood from her face.

"Paddy, I need your help. When I was knocked out the thruster commands were locked for an extended reading. The burst of gravity accelerated us greatly towards the centre, and we have been drifting since then. Full thrust is allowing us to slowly move away, but we do not have nearly enough fuel reserves to escape. Waves of gravity are still washing over us, although with MUCH less intensity, which are interfering with the FTL drive."

Paddy's hands were a blur across the controls as he confirmed what Braddon was saying. "FTL?"

"As I just mentioned, the gravitation waves are interfering, we could try, but there would be great risk…"

Paddy brought up a holographic representation of their current mess. "You have been trying to pull away directly, which is usually the most efficient way to break orbit, but you don't get out of a riptide by swimming directly towards the shore." He gestured at the display. "Here, change your heading to move with the flow of the spiral. Maintain enough thrust to minimise our descent, once we have enough momentum the jump to FTL will be easier, with less chance for interference."

"Like a slingshot manoeuvre?"

"Exactly."

He altered course, then reinstated a full burn. Everyone was strapped into crash couches, even with his artificial gravity cushioning them, the strain was obvious. "Executing jump to FTL in 3, 2, 1, Mark." He could feel the warmth of the drive, as they started to transition, when another gravitational wave knocked them back into normal space. His passengers jerked unceremoniously in their harnesses while alarms sounded. At least they all seemed to have maintained consciousness.

"Can we please not do that again!" Tristan wailed.

"Would you rather be eaten by a black hole?" Paddy snapped. He had lost his usual calm.

"Actually, Tristan is right." Braddon added. "The drive overheated, we can't try that again…"

Paddy closed his eyes, and lowered his head into his hands. "The data. Can we at least send out the data we have collected."

Braddon couldn't believe it, He was giving up! If the great master of astro-physics couldn't see a way out of this, they really must be screwed!

"What about the singularity drive?" Pol asked quietly.

Triston's face whipped around to look at her in confusion. "You must have a concussion sis! If there was a singularity point here, do you really think we would have wasted 3 weeks flying from that jump we took?"

Braddon double checked his sensor readings, grasping at straws was better than writing eulogies.

"Oh my stars!" Three faces turned to look at his column. "I think we may have just discovered how singularity points are formed! It is weak, we will have to get a little closer to the centre in order to reach it, and it will probably be a long transition, but I can do this, we can get out!"

Braddon cut his engines and allowed them to drift in closer. Pol and Tristan exchanged relieved glances.

"Now hold on Braddon!" Paddy said with a frown. "There is no guarantee that this will work, we need to get as far away from this thing as possible with the last of our fuel reserves. Then we will have the best chance of being able to send the data. Only after that should we try diving into this untested singularity."

"You can't be serious... " Tristan said glumly. Pol glanced worriedly between the two men.

Braddon cut in. "The safety of my crew overrides the mission objectives, I may need some of those fuel reserves to navigate to the singularity point, and also to prevent us being stranded on the other end. Not to mention the fact that every second we spend here could be weeks or even years for our friends and families back home." He used the positioning thrusters to continue their descent.

Paddy clenched his fists, and Braddon noticed a vein in his neck twitch. "Fine, we try it your way." Paddy knew when he was outvoted.

Braddon dived into the singularity, he had no map for this particular transition, he leaped in and out of the warping colours looking for anything that resembled normal space, he had no idea where they would finally end up. His computers were redlining their processors solving the complex equations as he guided them. Twisting, turning, stretching, warping, then finally, blissfully, they were still once more. The transition was the longest one he had completed by a long shot.

Braddon brought up the sensors in the main cabin expecting a round of applause, but instead he saw green faces, and vomit. "Thank you Braddon." Paddy said weakly. "Let's go home."

"Where are we?" Asked Tristan.

"When are we?" Asked Paddy.

Pol sat quietly looking quite ill, she must still be feeling the effects of the long transition in singularity.

"I should be able to determine the first at least." Braddon was tired. He so desperately wanted to let his brain rest after that challenging leap, and his head was still ringing a bit from the damage done by the gravitational tsunami, but there was still work to be done. No rest for the wicked. He looked at the view outside and started comparing it with his star charts. He compared it to the view from all known singularity points starting from the ones closest to the black hole. After a dozen he found a match. "We are in G sector." He brought up the holographic display showing their whereabouts.

"Nearest station?"

"Saffron, 2 days out. Um, well at least if the FTL drive were functional." It was still blaring errors from their failed attempt. The energy needed for the jump had been interrupted, converted to heat rather than momentum. The controls were fried, the system itself was not much better.

"I'll go see if I can do anything about repairs." Paddy at least sounded optimistic. "Tristan get your sister to the infirmary. I am concerned, it was a rough transition, but she should be bouncing back by now. Braddon, get on the comm and alert Saffron to our predicament and find out if there is anyone nearby who can render assistance. Also, ask them what year it is." And with that he was down the hall heading towards the engine room.

Braddon was glad at least that someone else was taking charge. He opened a link to Saffron. "Saffron station, this is the PB-1070 requesting assistance. We do not have FTL capacity, and I have passengers requiring medical attention." He patiently waited the 2 seconds of lag before he received a response.

"BRADDON, IS THAT YOU? I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD?!" He quickly turned down the gain. "Ow, loud! Is this a brain controlled station?" He knew that voice… Saffron wasn't listed as a brain controlled station. It was definitely a brain speaking to him.

"Sorry! Sorry! SSC-1072 Saffron receiving. I must have blown a circuit. Is that really you? What are you doing here?"

1072, 1072, why was his brain moving so slowly? That number was very close to his own. C-1072… "Cinders? Is that you? I thought you were planetside in Vadaili?" He had received a recording from her less than a week prior. A lot of time must have passed if she had already moved on to a new posting. "Um, what year is it?"

"Oh my stars! It really is you!" The information flowed in. From his perspective they had spent two weeks in the vicinity of the black hole, however almost 2 years had passed everywhere else. Well, that could have been worse. He thought. At least people who they knew were not likely to have died of old age.

"How on Terra did you wind up here?" Cindy continued.

"We witnessed the birth of a new singularity point, and I somehow managed to ride it here. Was the first exit I could find."

"From Y sector? I don't know anyone who has attempted such a huge leap! That must have been an awfully long transition. Surely there would have been a closer exit?"

"Yeah, well, I might have a concussion. Still a little, um," what was the word? "Relieved! that we managed to make it out at all." He felt a bit woozy. "We all lost consciousness for a few hours." The adrenaline was wearing off, and his brain was begging for some shut eye.

"Oh shit. Are you experiencing any other symptoms? How can we assist? I can get a shuttle to you with medics and technicians? You are right near a singularity point, so someone from Spica should be able to reach you in a number of hours."

"Symptoms, well, I haven't exactly been able to check my pupils. Yes, some assistance…" His mind wandered as he noticed Pol lying in the medic station. She looked dazed. Tristan was entering information in the medic terminal, seeing what would be recommended. "My passengers need help, and I just can't make another jump right now." He felt weak to admit it, but he had only barely managed to pull them out of their last battle with the void.

Within a couple of hours a small shuttle containing a doctor and a FTL technician was docked at Braddon's airlock. The Medic was examining Tristan and Pol. Paddy had waved them away saying "I'm fine!" as he led the tech to show him exactly what had blown in the FTL pipeline. Cindy was concerned about Braddon's health, but the Medic from Spica knew very little of shell-people physiology so he found himself on the tightbeam talking to Amik asking if Finneus was available for a consult. Normally Braddon would love an excuse to call up the headmaster, but people's reactions to him being not dead were a little overwhelming. He had only thought he might not see them again for a couple of minutes, but they had been living with it for years. Finneus had suggested that he play a round of Meteoroids so they could judge his reaction times by comparing it to his old data. After a couple of rounds it was very obvious he was not firing on all cylinders. "I seem to recall another time where I was failing your tests because you failed to consider exhaustion!" He reminded the messy haired neurologist. After that they had decided to let him rest, but they wanted Paddy to rouse him every hour to make sure he was not declining. "I can set my own alarm!" Came his gruff reply, although he did inform Paddy, and asked him to tell the others he was still busy with the testing. Rest was bliss. He awoke to the sound of Paddy's voice. "Braddon, I thought you would want to see this."

Another ship much larger than himself and the shuttle put together appeared out of the singularity point.

"Braddon! I heard you could use a tow!" came the deep tennor.

Braddon couldn't believe it, Sam was back to pick up the pieces again! "Sam! My knight in shining armour! Yeah, the FTL needs a complete overhaul, and apparently my hull is covered in microfractures which makes another jump through singularity inadvisable."

"Well let's get that shuttle undocked so we can lock together, then I will hit you with my mining strength magnetic grapples, just to make sure you don't budge."

"Should I be worried?" Going faster than light, under someone else's power seemed like a really bad idea. Sam chuckled warmly, "Nah mate, worked beautifully last time, no need to panic!"

Right, Sam had been the one to haul him to the Pride of Albion after his run in with Pacifica, although he hadn't been conscious for that particular journey. Hopefully this was not how all his future missions were doomed to end. Braddon could tell Sam was giving him some space, not asking the plethora of "Why are you alive?!" Questions. He was thankful. He was feeling a bit more cohesive after the nap, so played a couple of rounds of Meteoroids, which proved that he was indeed improving. He sent a brief tightbeam with the scores back to Finneus and Amik along with a note saying; "I'm going back to sleep now."

"Sam, I'm going to shut down for some maintenance, um, could you keep an eye on things for me?" He sent the controls for a few key camera feeds.

"Sure Braddon, rest up." came the gentle feminine tone. He drifted into blissful sleep once more.

Pol was recovering well, she was resting in her cabin when she called for Braddon over the comm. Braddon had also been resting, but didn't mind being woken by her.

"Yes, Pol, everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. A bit woozy, but that might be the drugs they gave me." She stayed lying down on her side, fiddling with the sheets. "I tried calling you earlier, but you didn't answer. Are you ok?"

It must have been during his nap, he was surprised the wake up bot hadn't alerted him, but then he remembered disabling it for a couple of hours at Finneus' request. It wouldn't help his recovery if people kept accidentally waking him every 10 min. "Sorry about that, I had to do some tests for CenCom medical. They took a lot of concentration."

The look on her face made him suspect that she didn't believe him, but then she sighed, muscles relaxing. "But you're ok right? The test went well?"

"Yeah, my recovery has been swift, I will be back to my old self in no time!" He spoke cheerfully, trying to convince her. She smiled slightly, eyes half closed. She looked tired.

"Do you want me to let you get some rest?"

"No, please, talk with me for a bit. We aren't going to have that much more time together."

They would arrive on Saffron soon, and due to Braddon's condition, alternative transport was being arranged to take his passengers back to Nigel.

"Sure, um, what are you going to do when you get back?"

"Go see my family I guess. Can't believe I have been gone a whole 2 years! They must have been so worried."

"It's so weird isn't it? We were only in trouble for a matter of minutes, but for everyone else… The reactions can be a bit overwhelming."

She chuckled. "Yeah, I see many tears in my future!"

"But after that, what will you do?"

"Go back to the university I guess, see if they still have a job for me, I mean, they have probably filled my old position by now… this is ruddy inconvenient."

"They closed all my accounts, going to be at least a week before they can be restored. Debts and all!"

"How generous of them!" She chuckled. Then they sat in silence for a moment once more.

There was something Braddon wanted to say to her, he didn't know if it was the right time, but like she said they didn't have much time left. "I don't think you should work with Paddy anymore."

She pulled herself up into a seating position. "Why would you say that? It's not his fault."

"I, I know. But I just can't help but feel like he used us. We are all so young and inexperienced. I think he played down the risks, but those with more wisdom knew to stay away."

She had furrowed her brow, deep in thought. "He has always been kind to me and my brother."

"I know, I am not trying to say he is an evil person, but, you saw the look in his eye! He was willing to die for that data, which means he was willing to let us die. I just, don't want him abusing your trust again."

"That data is important." She spoke softly. "Wouldn't you want to save it, if there was no way to save ourselves?"

"I know, I am keenly aware of what a breakthrough it is to discover a new singularity point, and witness the collapse of a black hole at such close proximity. Paddy is going to be churning out papers for years! Hell, he may even win a nobel prize!"

"You don't sound pleased."

"No, I'm angry. He used us, and he gets rewarded for it!" Pol was looking uncomfortable and strained. "Sorry, I'm sorry, it's not fair to let out my frustrations on you. But, who else would believe me?"

"I won't work with Paddy anymore."

"What?"

"That is what you wanted right? It will make you worry less? Like you said, he is going to be busy writing papers anyway. What is he going to need a technician for? I will look for work with a different research group."

"Or how about a different university? You don't have to stay on Nigel forever, I know you have enjoyed seeing new places."

"Oh I don't know Braddon, I couldn't leave Tris! And well, who would even have me?"

"I think you would be an excellent candidate for the brawn program."

Her jaw fell open. "What? Me?"

"Yeah you. You have such respect for others, you went to great lengths to make sure you were treating me courteously. You are incredibly diplomatic, as well as technically minded. A B&B partnership would allow you to see much more of this vast galaxy, I think, I think you would be really good at it."

"I couldn't leave Tris."

"He will be fine."

"I would never get in."

"I'll send a letter of recommendation. Coming from a shell-person, that gives your application a massive boost." She looked stunned. "You obviously don't need to decide right now, and really I won't be at all offended if you decide to stay on Nigel. I just wanted to give you the option."

She looked up at him warmly. "Thanks Braddon. I'll think about it." With that she lay back down. "I think I need to rest now."

"Sure, call out if you need me."

Paddy didn't seem to feel any remorse, and went about like usual, talking too loud, cracking unfunny jokes. The big brother nobody asked for. Braddon had been responding quite coldly, and the other two had picked up on the awkward vibe. Catching up with Cindy was a welcome distraction from his passengers.

Cindy had started off her career at a mid size manufacturing plant in Vadaili. She had made her role almost redundant with a very nuanced and advanced AI system, and improved manufacturing techniques. After going three weeks without issuing a single command she informed her client who agreed that there was not much point in continuing her employment. There had been a bit of a legal tussle over the IP rights of the AI. Cindy wanted to sell it to the company, they claimed that because she had created it on company time, that it already belonged to them. In the end she had received a decent payout. Even though she had only been in service for a short while, her efficiency had made her eligible for a station posting. She was thrilled, and was now enjoying the challenges and companionship that came with being a station brain.