Exodus: Crash: Exodus, #1

By A.T.Murphy

What should have been a lovely Christmas morning turned into hell on Earth when a black hole suddenly appeared and swallowed the world. Only Richard Davis survived onboard an abandoned military craft, this was the start of a series of fantastical events for the soft hearted young man.

Cryogenically frozen for four hundred years and the last of his kind, he awakens and meets the charming Frelda, a girl he instantly likes. He discovers that his ship has crashed on the wonderous and mysterious planet known as Alterion which is filled with many beings and arcane wonders that defy logic

 

Caught in the middle of a genocidal plot, Richard and Frelda, along with fiesty Yelfae and the simple but loyal Ruskel, face-off against invisible creatures that stalk the night and nefarious elves that seek to control forces beyond their abilities.

 

Why did Richard end up here? What secrets does this world of magic hold? And just what was that dark presence in the mirror?

 

Action, adventure, and even a hint of romance await in this thrilling adventure that started as a simple shower thought and became my first ever novel. This is the first book of three, approximately 320 pages in length.

• Language: English
• Publisher: A.T.Murphy
• Release date: Jul 29, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223562191

Book preview

Prologue: The End

"All ends are beginnings as the saying goes. However, the same can be true in reverse."

Earth, the third planet of the Sol system and the birthplace of Homo Sapiens. Current population, thirteen billion (plus its wide variety of plants and animals). The Moon and Mars had been colonised with thousands of people living on both celestial bodies. The human race had been around for over two hundred thousand years and showed no signs of declining. From building pyramids and monuments, to massive starships and great cities that were on every continent, ocean and even in the sky, the human race had been advancing rapidly. Only one hundred and fifty years ago this world would have been unimaginable. Now civilisation was at a turning point where humans could use their great technological prowess to colonise the stars.

FTL (Faster than Light) technology had been developed only in the last few decades. This allowed for Earth's second space age to kick into high gear with a new generation of ships being built for exploration and combat, should the need arise. Plans had even been made to go to Alpha Centauri within the year to set up a deep space outpost. Today was a special day for the people of Earth, it was December 25th 2176 AD. Christmas day. A time of celebration and giving.

The sun's morning light illuminated the mega city of Detroit, Capital of the North American Commonwealth. Snow gently draped over the city. Cars could be seen flying in multi layered sky lanes and massive skyscrapers made out of steel and glass that pierced the heavens were abundant. Apartment complex 85, room 278, was like any other room in the 5 kilometre tall building. There lived a completely normal person, enjoying a peaceful sleep, on a peaceful morning, until the silence was shattered by a man yelling at the top of his lungs at 7:00 AM.

Shut the hell up Richard! It's way too early for this! yelled the nameless individual. He got no response.

Wow I’ve finally done it! A man’s voice could be heard reverberating throughout the apartment complex.

At a study desk sat a relatively plain looking man with messy unkempt black hair and pale blue eyes. He was wearing an unbuttoned lab coat under which he had a black T-shirt with the phrase, I’d love to have a battle of wits with you but you appear unarmed, scrawled across it and a pair of jeans. As far as humans go, he was very uninteresting to look at, his only noticeable feature was the chrome metallic plate that replaced the back of his skull and the nape of his neck. To anyone not familiar with the modern era it would appear a grotesque cybernetic implant seen in old science fiction movies, but to the average citizen of 22nd century Earth it was a simple MMI (Man Machine Interface) that allowed him to directly control any PC or game console he was using.

This was Richard, a 22 year-old graduate of The Detroit Astronautical Academy, an educational centre with a specialisation in Astrophysics. Most students that came out of the academy were basically geniuses and were to be assigned to the great colony ships scheduled to be built in the coming months. Richard was not ‘most students.’ He wasn't quite a genius, but there wasn't a word for ‘almost a genius’. Richard did graduate with an A- in his subjects but he had a general policy of not trying his best in the exams, the main reason for this was that he didn’t want to be offered a position on the fancy new colonisation ships supposedly bound for Titan or Europa, he wanted a spot on the exploration warships commissioned by the military to explore nearby star systems. The other part of the reason was that he really liked video games and they got in the way of his studying (video games never got old or obsolete).

Richard was shouting with joy at a, The End! screen he had just gotten in a videogame that he had been trying to complete for ages. He took out his audio link (a simple device that linked his ears to his computer, with it he was deaf to the outside world).

Richard glanced at the window and saw the sun's rays penetrate the thin layer of ice and snow that had built up on his balcony. He had been staring at it for a while, his tired, groggy brain attempting to process what this meant.

Oh, geez, is it morning already? Shit it's Christmas! I’m meant to leave for my parents’ house in three hours, Richard moaned to himself. Now that he had surfaced he felt his exhaustion. His eyes stung.

He closed his game and quickly checked his emails; it may be Christmas morning but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be job offers coming through. Richard was bathed in the blue glow of the holographic interface that was his monitor as he swiped through his emails and saw absolutely nothing to do with a job. He was disappointed but he had expected as much. He had checked his emails every day for the last two weeks to no avail. He was about to close his browser when a particular email caught his interest. The sender was someone named ‘HANNAH’.

TO: RICHARD DAVIS

SUBJECT: GRAVIMETRIC ENERGY

IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT I SPEAK WITH YOU IMMEDIATELY, WE ARE BOTH CURRENTLY IN DETROIT AND YOU HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENON THAT I SIMPLY MUST HAVE ACCESS TO. WE WILL SPEAK SOON.

FROM: HANNAH

Did this person have to write the whole message with the caps lock on? The email was jarring to look at for someone who was operating on no sleep.

He tried to absorb what the content was saying. Gravimetric energy was the kind of energy that was emitted from very large or very dense stellar bodies. Sol emitted them. But gravimetric energy never increased. It was a constant wave.

He tried to align what the email said with the strange thing he had recently experienced. He did remember caring about the satellites disappearing when he was watching a show on TV and the feed cut out right as they got to the punchline of a joke. This frustrated him greatly. A general report on the issue made the news later that day. The report stated that telescopic satellites in the outer system were going offline one by one. The widely accepted reason was that a large number of meteors were passing through and that the satellites would be replaced as soon as possible. No one had heard anything more.

He replied to the message, stating that it was Christmas so he would not be available, and quickly mused that the most likely cause was machine error since there was no other logical explanation.

Then he went on with his morning routine. He had his kitchen AI (Artificial Intelligence) make his breakfast for him (bacon and eggs with a side of buttered toast). This was how daily life began for most people in this day and age, with a machine fixing them some breakfast or preparing their clothing. Commercial AI became commonplace a little over forty years ago when the famous Doctor Immanuel Vogel made a major breakthrough in the field. His discovery took the world by storm and allowed machines with human levels of intelligence and beyond to be created for many different purposes.

Richard poured himself some double strength coffee (The AI always got it wrong). This wasn’t his first sleepless night and it wouldn’t be the last. His reflection in the stainless steel mug confirmed he looked as tired as he felt.

Sir, my subroutines are being overwritten!- His kitchen AI was cut off as it panicked. Richard however was distracted by the way his phone began to slide off the breakfast table all by itself.

I should care more about this... but coffee first. He thought as he began gulping it down.

Within a minute he had finished his drink and was already feeling a bit more alive. As he went to set down his coffee, it suddenly jumped on the table. As in, it literally propelled itself into the air and came back down. In fact, Richard felt his whole apartment shake.

What the hell was that?

Richard got up to turn on the TV as the shaking intensified. It couldn’t be an earthquake since those didn’t happen in that part of the country. Suddenly a voice emanated from his computer.

Hello Richard Davis, good morning. I would say, ‘I hope you slept well,’ but as I can see from your appearance sleep did not occur. I just got your email, that last part was humorous. Machines don’t make errors in this day and age. It was a female voice definitely, but it was also too mechanical to be human. This was the voice of an AI.

W-who is this? Richard asked in a panicked tone.

Oh, it’s me. HANNAH. Primary computer and Artificial Intelligence of the Starship Dauntless. Hannah’s mechanical voice echoed through his apartment room. She spoke in a polite manner.

An AI? What's a starship AI doing in my Kitchen? And more importantly do you know what time it is? Richard's panic turned to annoyance, it was too early for this.

Of course, the time is 07:24:39. You should know that. Your phone displays the correct time, does it not? Hannah sounded so innocent, Richard however knew sarcasm when he heard it, and this machine was no exception.

You know damn well what I mean. Some people are still trying to sleep around here! Richard, still not thinking clearly, began to raise his voice.

Keep it down in there Richard, that's the second time this morning! Once again his next door neighbour berated him.

Richard felt embarrassed after his neighbours outburst (he didn't know his name) and began to calm down. Hannah clearly came here with a purpose, best to get it over with. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, then addressed his guest.

...Alright, sorry about that Hannah... I'm not a morning person.

Clearly.

Well, what did you come here for?

I have come to you because members of the Dauntless’s science team are ignoring my warnings that the gravimetric energy in our star system is building to critical levels. I have come here to direct you to my ship. We have the necessary tools to aid you in your investigation- She was cut off by the irritated man.

Do you even listen to people? Even if I wasn't tired, there's like thousands of more qualified astrophysicists out to help you! Why me?

I do listen to people Richard... I know you've expressed the desire to go off-world and explore the stars, why not start here? She was remaining calm, much to the benefit of her, like all AI not being truly sapient. She couldn't experience true annoyance. Although he was starting to try her patience.

Ugh... listen, can we do this tomorrow? It’s Christmas day. Try talking to your ship's scientists again, remind them you are ten times smarter than all of them combined.

As nice as your comment was, I still must insist that you come to the Dauntless immediately. I'm not sure we’ll have the chance tomorrow

Give me one good reason.

Boom

Rumble

His apartment shook again more violently this time, the fire alarm could be heard resonating throughout the building. Worse still he felt the building begin to tip sideways as all his dishes and furniture began moving away from the door to his apartment.

Good enough for me! I gotta get out of here! Richard panicked as he went to grab his phone, he noticed his kitchen lights intensify and suddenly switch off. His phone began to flicker on and off, vibrating with high intensity.

Device uplink complete, done arguing?

Yes Hannah.

The building shook again this time the other way, Richard had to dodge his chair and a couple of plates that flew towards him with surprising speed.

Gravimetric anomalies are increasing in intensity worldwide, running calculations... Hannah informed him, now speaking through Richard's phone.

What's actually happening? Richard dodged another plate.

Hannah answered him with a panic in her voice. What she had to say sent Richard into a fit of hysteria, Oh... Oh no. That’s not good. That’s quite bad. Richard, the gravimetric energy has stopped building up and instead has combined at one singular point. This makes no sense; gravity shouldn’t behave like this unless.... Richard, we have to go! NOW!

Richard didn’t need any more instructions. Fear gripped him and made him move faster than he would have thought possible. He looked outside and saw the very fabric of the universe tear apart the once pale blue sky. It was quite literally like a tear in his visual field. Even the edges looked ragged. And between them, was a darkness so complete it didn’t make sense on such a sunny winter’s morning.

A large spacescraper Richard saw in the distance was churning and creaking as its metal superstructure was being ripped from the ground by the intense pull of the singularity. In fact it wasn’t just one building. He could see large chunks of debris from all over Detroit being tossed around in an erratic web of steel and concrete.

Richard wasn’t alone in finding his Christmas plans had given way to terror.

Alarms were going off in every major city from New York to Sydney. News reports on every TV network were showing the same cataclysmic event. The end of the world on Christmas Day, how ironic. The military had scrambled in an effort to help evacuate the planet, but many feared it was too late. Governments around the world were trying to formulate a plan to stop the event, but no one could come up with a plan in the time they had left. Human technology, having advanced exponentially in the last century, just wasn’t advanced enough to do anything about it. There wasn’t even enough time to debate what caused it; be it some freak natural occurrence or an act of God to smite humanity.

A massive black hole had miraculously appeared just past the orbit of the moon and its gravitational pull was already in reach of Earth, which meant humanity was out of time. It had only formed several minutes ago and already swallowed up Luna. The black hole was strange as it didn’t just suck all light and matter into its ravenous maw, it was releasing pulses of intense gravimetric energy, the same energy that was detected over several weeks, destroying satellites. This was what was killing the Earth and its populace. It was being ripped apart by extreme tidal forces and had maybe an hour left. In Detroit millions of people were attempting to get off world by any means necessary, unfortunately millions also perished in doing so.

It was utter chaos down in the snow covered streets of the great city. Men brawling over which items they were stealing from stores covered in ‘Xmas Sale’ posters. Women were screaming, trying to find their children who had gotten lost or distracted, not understanding the ramifications of their situation. Presumably the rest of the world would be in a similar, hopeless state.

Richard! Run! My shipboard sensors are detecting your building has only a few minutes left before it collapses. Get to the Dauntless now! Hannah shouted as Richard dropped his food and ran for it. Carrying only his smartphone and the clothes on his back he charged downstairs (he lived on the third floor) and out the front door where he was greeted by pandemonium.

Richard practically jumped off the small set of stairs outside his building and landed in ankle deep snow from last night's fall. Despite the chaos of the people, the street itself seemed absurdly at peace. A large Christmas tree could be seen, covered in lights and tinsel accompanied with fake presents underneath. Some classic holiday songs were still broadcasting, timeless classics from the early 21st century. It was a lovely sight. A very lovely sight had it not been for thousands clawing at each other as they tried to find a way to escape. Richard stopped for a fraction of a second to register a kid in PJs crying for his mother who had just been taken out by a speeding truck. It was surreal. The Christmas tree he had seen earlier slowly rose off the ground and was pulled into the sky as if a giant hand had picked it up and tossed it. The sky was the worst part, explosions from all the sky cars combined with all the snow, building debris and Christmas decorations, created a terrifyingly beautiful web of destruction.

Distracted by all this Richard was startled when a large burly man in his forties grabbed him forcefully with his robotic arms. He stank of alcohol, had a Santa hat on and had a scraggly beard. He looked homeless, but poverty of that kind had been eradicated many decades ago. This man was just a slob. He shouted at Richard, still holding him.

HAHAHAHA! END OF THE BLOODY WORLD BUDDY WOOOH *hic* GOOD THING I'M HAMMERED HEH! ‘Santa’s’ horrible breath made Richard nauseous as he pried himself free of his black steel hands.

Come with me, I can get us out of here! Richard yelled. He glanced over the man’s shoulder to see a red sky car collide with his building and fall rapidly towards the ground. Specifically, towards them.

Look out! Richard yelled once again at the drunk who had barely registered Richard’s presence had been shouting. It was too late for him. Moments before he was crushed beneath the car he looked up to notice its descent. Red liquid mixed with the white snow. Richard felt sick. He hadn't seen death up close before. Of course death was all around him at the moment and had always been a part of his video games, but never had it been so real and so close that he could reach out a hand and touch what had once been alive.

He ran. He ran away from the tragedy and chaos, away from his building where he spent most of the last few years. He ran towards his only hope of salvation: the spaceport where the Dauntless was waiting.

Chapter 1: Paradise Lost

Whilst running to the spaceport (he didn't own a skycar and generally took public transport), a massive skyscraper to his left began to collapse from gravitational stress. Naturally people fled and panicked but Richard surprisingly only flinched slightly. He wasn't acting cool in a dangerous situation, nor was he used to it, but now he was in complete shock. Everyone's screams blurred together and the explosions sounded distant despite being all around him. It was a kind of chaotic blur his brain refused to absorb. Only one thought pressed itself to the forefront of his mind: he had to leave, and quickly!

As he saw the building fall he thought to himself, Hannah did have a point. He considered the last few weeks as his feet crunched through the snow, how the satellites in the outer system were failing one by one. Whatever was collapsing them got closer and closer by the day. Maybe this black hole did appear physically out of nowhere, but its effects were felt some time beforehand. Interesting. After some dust from the once majestic apartment building that just collapsed blew into his face, Hannah weighed in on the current situation.

Merry Christmas Richard. Please keep running. You must make it to the Dauntless within five minutes or your existence will end, said Hannah very calmly. Despite her harsh way of wording things, her calm voice and demeanor actually gave Richard something to focus on. Even though she forced herself into his life, even though she came across as a tad rude she still was Richard's only hope, guiding him to his goal. For reasons that eluded him at the moment, she had become his saviour. As far as friendships go, this was not a bad way to form one.

As this exchange was taking place, a police vehicle flew over and began to hover in the air as it was attempting to assess the damage. It was shouting instructions to fleeing civilians who weren’t listening to the man inside. As he was pleading for people to listen another building began to crumble, but instead of the debris falling to the ground it got picked up in a small gravimetric wave and was funnelled into the hovering car. The impact was a lot like watching an army open fire on a single point. There was no chance that the officer could survive that. 

Seeing this horrific event gave Richard pause and finally broke the mental barriers his brain had put up to protect him from this catastrophe. He was now genuinely panicking like everyone else and almost lost sight of his objective, the spaceport that had just come into view as he turned a street corner. He went back to speaking to the sassy AI as he was nearing his destination, good thing he only lived two blocks away.

Almost there right?

You are doing extraordinarily well, I was worried your athletic ability would fail you but I am glad you have proven me wrong. You should be able to see my vessel any second, it is the only ship left at the space dock.

Richard took note of the Dauntless's impressive size, if it were any larger it would have to have been built in space. He recalled what he read about in a recently published article as he saw the ship's blue hue of its shields repel various falling debris effortlessly.

The Dauntless was a Ulysses class cruiser of around seven hundred meters in length, a new class of ship only designed roughly five years ago. It was fully equipped with humanity’s most advanced military ordinances of both kinetic and energy weapons. It had the firepower to take on ships of a similar weight class but would be overpowered by a larger vessel. Effectively the Dauntless had the capacity to reduce a city to superheated slag. While normally a vessel of war, it would now be used to save people instead of killing them.

It was an impressive sight. The Dauntless had a standard design for a cruiser but it looked more advanced than the military vessels Richard had seen in recruiting advertisements. It was rectangular in shape with various spires and circular rooms slightly protruding out of its dark grey metallic surface. It had a single tower roughly twenty metres tall sticking out from around the centre of its superstructure. That was the command centre. There were small windows that were evenly spaced out between the weapon emplacements. Its five ion engines glowed bright blue. The front of the ship flattened out to a point gradually which was where most of the sensor arrays were located along with the heavy forward canons. Truly one of the fleet's finest vessels.

Well Hannah, as you can see the world is kind of falling apart here, so quickly let me in on the Dauntless, it’s the only ship left! shouted Richard as he ran to the Dauntless’s boarding ramp.

He expected hordes of people crowding the way to the magnificent ship, clambering over each other for the small chance at salvation. He noticed no one however, just the bodies of the dead crushed by debris of collapsing superstructures. As he got onto the boarding ramp he heard a noise, a dreadful noise. A woman, screaming and crying. He turned to see her, she was around the same age as him. She wore glasses and had long brown hair, she was stumbling towards the ship. Her leg appeared to be broken, the fact she was moving spoke volumes about her desperation.

Wait! Help me! I don't want to die! Thankfully Richard had noticed her cry for help. He reached out his arm, ready to assist her. Fate was not being kind however, the Dauntless began to rise slowly.

Hannah stop! There's a woman coming, she's injured.

The ship is not moving, the spaceport is slowly falling. The gravitational waves have destabilised its supports.

Lower the ship!

That is not advisable given the amount of debris around. The spaceport will be destroyed in seconds.

Richard extended his arm more as the woman ambled as fast as she could. He couldn't just leave her. A few more steps and he would grab her. The spaceport creaked more and more as it continued falling apart.

Thank you. Oh thank you for waiting! Tears of sadness turned to joy as she extended her arm to grab Richard’s.

I’ll get you out of here, I promise. Don't worry, it's just a few more steps! You can do it!

I’m lucky that I managed to get here and- The spaceport quaking cut her off as it began crumbling behind her. She tried moving faster but her leg wouldn't allow it. Richard dived down to grab her in any way he could.

You have to jump! Use your good leg! I'll grab you!

The woman looked back and saw the crumbling ground reach her. She jumped with one leg, Richard was half hanging off the ramp, desperately trying to reach her.

It didn't work.

He didn't grab her in time.

He only managed to brush past her fingers.

Oh no! No no no no! Did I miss her? Did she not jump high enough? Why? Why didn't I catch her?

She landed back on the crumbling ground, now well out of reach of him.

Hannah! Lower the ship now!

No response.

Hannah? I'm ordering you to lower the ship! I can still save her!

No response.

The woman looked at him sadly, realising she wouldn't be rescued.

I’ll find a way to save you! Maybe there's a loose pipe or something in the ship or- Richard was cut off by her. She spoke her final words as the ground fully collapsed beneath her.

Thank you...for trying. She wasn't crying anymore, probably in shock. She fell with the spaceport. Richard saw her face, her horrified face. She screamed until Richard heard her no more as she disappeared into the dust and debris. Richard slammed his fist into the ramp and slowly got up, the door was open. He clambered inside and fell to his knees.

I promised her! I promised I would save her and I couldn't! Why?

I am sorry Richard, it was not your fault. You did everything humanly possible.

No I didn't! I could have gotten off the ramp a-and dragged her here faster. I could have used my shirt as a rope... I could have done more! I should have done more... he cried, despairing over his failure to save even one person.

Taking the ship lower was a bad idea, more debris could have fallen on you. The shields were not covering the entrance area. You aren't physically strong Richard, pulling her up could have resulted in you both dying.

...I guess we’ll never know

No, I guess we will not. If you want to be alone I will stop talking.

Hannah... the last thing I need is to be alone. I’ll head to the bridge or wherever the crew needs me.

Much to his surprise however, no one at all was on board the ship. No Captain, no Gunnery Chief, not even any engineers to repair the inevitable damage that would occur in this situation. In his journey to the bridge he hadn't encountered anyone. None in the corridors, none in the elevator and not even any on the bridge. Richard faced a horrifying dichotomy: wait for any military personal in the area or take off and attempt to rescue any surviving people? Both situations weren’t ideal, but time was running out as Hannah estimated the black hole would be too close to escape in a very short time. It was now looming over the sky as if death itself was going to swallow the Earth. The choice was obvious: save the people, any people - preservation of life takes precedence. These vulnerable people were sitting ducks.

Hannah, where is the crew? What happened to them? Richard cried out. He was desperate for someone else to be there. The crew should have been there.

Scanning crew roster...Done. Out of the one thousand and sixteen crew members, five hundred and forty of them were attempting to herd the civilians towards the spaceport on my suggestion. The remaining were not on active duty on this vessel as it was undergoing its first round of maintenance. My scans show they have been at this for ten minutes, in ten minutes Detroit has suffered extensive loss of life due to collapsing buildings and seismic events. None of the crew's life signs are registering. Unfortunately they are dead, she spoke, mimicking a melancholic tone.

How can you be sure? A damned black hole might disrupt a few sensors.

That is possible, but given the circumstances my analysis is still accurate. Detroit is all but destroyed. Agree with me or don’t but the facts remain clear. You are the only crew member left on this ship.

He wanted to argue with her but it didn't seem a very productive use of his time anymore. She was correct, by all rights he should be dead.

...Thanks, does this mean I'm captain by default? Richard sat in the captain's chair, trying to take his mind off things.

Of course not. In the event that any or all officers are away I am granted the temporary rank of captain. You aren't an officer.

Richard was disappointed but he wasn't giving up the chair. It was not like Hannah could use it anyway.

He felt the whole ship move. His vessel’s ion engines sparked to life as the warship began to move upwards and out of the shattered spaceport. A small computer screen was attached to the left arm of the captain's chair, it seemed to help facilitate communications with other parts of the ship.

The vessel was obviously designed by the military, but it still had various facilities to make space travel more accommodating. It boasted a greenhouse to produce air and food, and cryostasis chambers in the event a voyage would take a long time. The ship's top speed was only seventy times the speed of light (smaller ships could go much faster), meaning that to reach Alpha Centauri, which was 4.6 lightyears away, would take a whole month. Not that it mattered now.

Richard had only been into space a few times and he had always travelled on small passenger transports. He had never been on a military vessel and certainly not in the command centre of one. Dozens of control panels lined the walls of the bridge, all detailing critical information about the Dauntless and its surroundings. Despite being in the captain's chair, however, he had no control of the ship. Hannah was doing all the heavy lifting. Suddenly, a dark shadow loomed over the cruiser as a skyscraper at least a kilometer tall was being tossed towards them by the sheer gravitational effects of the singularity. It was coming towards them at tremendous speed.

Hannah! Building! Right in front of us! Panicking as he shouted for the AI to do something.

Well there is one way to fix this... Hannah nonchalantly replied.

Do it! Do it! Do it! A collision warning now flared up over the smart glass viewscreen of the bridge as the skyscraper hurdled towards them.

Firing main battery, rerouting power to the deflector shields, Hannah said as Richard held on tight to the chair. The Dauntless, being a heavy cruiser, was equipped with a main battery that far outclassed any other weapon in its arsenal. A massive prow cannon about half the length of the ship was attached to the Dauntless’s underbelly. Richard could feel the ship vibrate slightly as it fired a dark red beam of pure fusion energy that hit the falling skyscraper head on. The steel building literally melted upon contact with the beam and the rest of it tore apart. The smaller, fractured pieces impacted the shield as flares of blue energy stopped the fragments from damaging the ship. Another advantage the Ulysses Class had was its shields mirrored the contour of the hull, instead of creating a large bubble around the ship, and so it could withstand more punishment.

Gravimetric readings indicate a massive pulse from the black hole is approaching, this entire city is about to be flattened, said Hannah with a slight amount of worry in her voice.

Richard was managing the ship as he heard her when the massive pulse shook the entire craft. The gravitational wave that emitted from the black hole had indeed flattened the majority of the city. This event had already destroyed many other major cities on the planet. Richard was safe thanks to the Dauntless’s shields which absorbed most of the impact but at a cost of twenty percent of their power. The people on the surface weren’t so lucky.

I am sorry Richard, my sensors show absolutely no sign of life within a one hundred and twenty kilometre radius; it appears we are the only survivors of this area, explained Hannah. All those people had instantly been snuffed out. Richard felt helpless. How could he be the only one left?

We still have to try. We could maybe find someone hidden in the rubble or maybe in a bunker, Richard cried as he reached for the control panel. He found to his dismay he was locked out.

I am sorry Richard, but your course of action will endanger the ship and its crew. I am assuming direct control and taking us to a safe location away from the Earth's destruction. Anyone still alive down there won't be for much longer, said the AI. Her straightforward statement sounded harsh to Richard’s ears.

The vessel accelerated so rapidly he was thrown to the floor. It took a few moments, but he managed to stand and saw out the window the ship breaching the upper atmosphere. So it had reached the safety of the stellar void.

What?! No no, you can’t do that! We have to save our people or anyone left down there!