Beyond the Reach of Mortal Man

By Duncan Wilson

Mankind has colonized hundreds of worlds and expanded beyond the wildest dreams of their ancient ancestors, but there are still wonders unseen and horizons unexplored. Howard and Xavier are proposing an ambitious scientific achievement, one considered impossible until now, piercing the event horizon of a black hole and discovering what transpires beyond. There are many barriers yet to surmount, not the least of which are incredulity and ignorance, but they are determined to push the boundaries of human knowledge and achievement, no matter the cost, no matter how much their dream seems to be beyond the reach of mortal man.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Duncan Wilson
• Release date: Nov 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9780463487488

Duncan Wilson

Duncan Wilson has been writing since childhood, having fallen in love with the written word at a very early age. Having spent his formative years in various libraries, he can bore his friends on a variety of subjects. Inspired by the natural world and the splendors of the heavens, he writes primarily science fiction and paranormal stories. Other than writing, he enjoys cooking, playing games with friends, and listening to music.

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Beyond the Reach of Mortal Man

By Duncan Wilson

Copyright © 2021 by Duncan Wilson

Cover Art By

André Simões

This book is copyrighted 2021 by Duncan Wilson. All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

So how close are we to the black hole?

Closer than I want to be. Xavier flicked another watermelon seed out into the darkness beyond his shack, a darkness made all the less luminescent for the large round patch of utter blackness that crossed above their heads in the sky. There were three stars nearby, as such things are measured, that stood prominent in the sky during the nights on Terminus Two, but there was no central source of light or heat in this system. What little light the local stellar bodies provided to the lonesome planets that orbited the black hole was insufficient to provide either heat or energy sufficient for any native life to have arisen. At least, that had been the prevailing theories prior to the coming of mankind. The trans-quantum chamber sent to this remote system by Intra-Galactic Colonial Company had been a gamble of the kind usually shunned by the old-fashioned colossus of space colonization corporations.

And there's a planet that orbits even closer?

Oh yeah. Terminus One. In about an hour, you'll be able to see it whip right around the hole at unbelievable speeds.

Because it's so close?

Exactly.

Xavier continued flicking watermelon seeds out into the darkness, uncaring where they landed. Earth species of flora had no chance surviving here, none of them had anything close to the proper mechanisms in their DNA to harness the types of radiation emitted by the black hole, the types of radiation the local plants thrived on. All the watermelon seed could do on this alien world was serve as food for one of the small variety of fauna that normally fed on the native plants. Howard stared up at the black hole, the yawning gap of sky amongst so many stars, in awe and wonder. Unlike his host, he had not yet gotten used to the extraordinary nature of this world and the celestial object it orbited. He had only arrived yesterday.

Is there anyone on Terminus One?

Xavier laughed, as if he had been asked a question by a small child. Hell no! Oh, there are a dozen or so satellites and landers we put there in the first few decades, but no one was mad enough to actually go there in person!

Why? It's not like the planet is going to de-orbit any time soon.

No, not for another thousand years, they reckon. It's not fear of being sucked into the hole. Think about it. That sucker is orbiting the hole once every five hours, right? And it's tidally locked. Do you have any idea how extreme the forces are battling to tear that planet apart? Ever hear of the volcanoes of Io? The spouts of Terminus One put those to shame. There aren't many places I'd rather not be than on Terminus One. The satellites we put in orbit around it did not last very long either.

Howard Goodhand nodded, not understanding beyond the surface layman comprehension, what the scientist who had invited him to this strangest of colony worlds was describing. It was enough, though. Terminus One was not a place where man would walk. The actor sat in silence and let his wonder and imagination run wild among the stars above, delighting every time the brighter ones slid behind the black hole, momentarily growing far larger to his vision as the gravity lens surrounding the fantastically dense central body of this system magnified the ancient light before blocking Howard's view entirely. This was a spectacle unlike any he had ever seen before, and Howard considered himself very well traveled, highly urbane in an age with ever greater wonders to behold and an infinite variety of manners to be entertained.

Somehow, I expected it to be brighter. I know, silly idea, a black hole being brighter. But all the images....

All of the images the public sees are either of far larger black holes, the super-massive ones that are constantly consuming matter, or are taken in different spectrums than the human eye can see.

Still... This is so close, so easy to access, so... there. Why does no one know of this? Where are the tourists?

Xavier tossed a rind after the seeds and wiped his hands off on a hand-cloth as he replied, "Oh, there are tourists. Mostly government types looking to put down roots and