A Chunk of SciFi – 2.09 – Singularity Rider

“We still don’t understand why this particular one works and the others don’t. If we can crack that mystery, it’ could be one of the biggest breakthroughs in the history of the universe”
– Excerpt from the report regarding the Singularity Rider.

Black Holes – a region of space having a gravitational field so intense that no matter or radiation can escape. Despite the dangers, a few cultures hold competitions to see how close to a black hole or another singularity they can get, without being dragged across the event horizon. One such ship named the Singularity Rider by its makers was made by what amounts to a group of students from various cultures and races, including Terrans, working at a university.

Their challenge was simple. See how close they could get the ship to the event horizon before it was destroyed. They had scanners, probes and some type of goop that simulated organic matter. Fully expecting the ship to be destroyed, they remotely edged it closer and closer to the point of no return, taking measurements and readings as they went. When the ship was eventually destroyed they would have collected a tremendous amount of data, more than enough to help them pass their courses with flying colours. Watching the ship get closer and closer to the event horizon, they noticed something odd coming out of the telemetry. The data they were racing was not matching the known effects of gravitational pull.

Before they could react further to this the SR slipped over the event horizon and effectively vanished from the universe. Congratuationing themselves on a job well done, they started to look over the odd data when something even weirder and unexpected occurred. The SR was witnessed flying out the other side of the black hole, damaged, bits falling off, but mostly intact. Thier crude ship had done the impossible – Crossed the event horizon and passed through.

Quickly recovering the ship, the downloaded the data that had been recorded. Most of it was damaged and corrupted. What was recovered has had scientists around the universe excited beyond measure. Not only did the ship do the impossible, but the data it did record seems to hint at the fact that black holes are gateways to other universes and regions, some of which operate on laws of physics not present in this one. This data has yet to be validated, but even if proven to be false, the fact a ship passed through a black hole is exciting enough for some people.

The current theory is that was something unique about the configuration of the prototype that allowed it to somehow do the impossible, yet due to the damage received on transit, they can’t say for sure what it might have been. The University has received what amounts to a blank check for the students to try and duplicate the results. Many more ships have been made to the same specification of the original SR. As yet, none have returned. When this mystery is finally cracked open, many believe that it will be as historic an event as the first successful FTL drive activation.