Richard J. Ronayne

Novella

Phenix Publishing Ltd

Nation-X Project

Dozens of my stories are currently being illustrated for release by Phenix Publishing Ltd for their Nation-X project, a multi-year project for 4-8000 word educational novellas.

This series was designed for young adults and high schoolers across Chinese and American schools, harnessing anthropomorphism to help digest mature, dark or joyful topics, whilst reflecting life, and exploring real social issues in an exciting and educational way.

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Black Hole Bomb
By Richard Joseph Ronayne

CHAPTER 1: Hello Darkness, My Old Friend
No matter how shining a beacon of utopia a civilization ever dreams to be, the distant future promises inevitable darkness across the cosmos. Nation-X has become a prospering space faring civilization, now known as Galactic-X. Spilling out amongst the stars, eternal peace held for Galactic-X’s seven-billion-year history. 
Technological advancement passed beyond unimaginable limits, as Galactic-X colonised thousands of solar systems, spanning more than half of the Milky Way galaxy. Populations reached unfathomable numbers as people lived happy and fulfilling utopian lives. Spaceships travelled faster than the speed of light by bending reality around themselves to travel through hyperspace.
There was no more illness, no more hunger, no more currency, as people worked for the good of doing so, evolving beyond greed and selfish desire, to unite for the prosperity of all. People lived on massive space stations, paradise planets, terraformed moons and once inhospitable planets, and other giant mega structures in space.
Some of the mega structures were huge star bases, some were Dyson Spheres that encircled entire suns to tap into their massive energy supplies. This way of life worked for billions of years, through which no sign of alien life had ever been discovered.
However, in the last billion years, as was well known to happen, even in ancient times when Galactic-X was still just Nation-X, the stars in the universe were dying. As one by one, the night skies got dimmer and dimmer.
The populations of the Dyson Spheres had to be evacuated to other planets, as the Dyson Sphere constructs themselves were decommissioned before the star went super nova. Not only this, but the colonized planets had to be evacuated from their own dying stars as well. Galactic-X’s planets did not have enough room to aid these Nova refugees, so more and more giant space stations were created to house the overwhelming numbers.
It was inevitable though, as almost all the stars in the Milky Way reached the end of their life, all going supernova and leaving nothing behind in most cases, destroying what had not been consumed for resources by Galactic-X. There were only a few colonized planets left, which all sat around the small handful of suns that still twinkled in the encroaching darkness.
President White, who had served as President for billions of years, firstly as successive clones, then later as a digital consciousness that was downloaded into the final clone when the illness of aging had been cured, as now everybody did, was holding an emergency meeting with the greatest minds of Galactic-X.
Each of these individuals had also performed their roles for billions of years in much the same way, as cloned versions of the original sentience of Nation-X’s best and brightest.
Each sat calmly, using their incredulous wealth of experience to efficiently work towards a solution. It was however the suggestions of Miles Keys, the Minister of Science and Technology that brought forwards the incredible project that promised to save Galactic-X.
“Permission granted, Miles, to explain what the Ministry of Science and Technology is proposing exactly?” President White ordered from his floating podium within the Presidential Palace on the ecumenopolis home world: Planet-XYZ. The planet, like most planets that were left within galactic-X, was consumed entirely by one mega city that covered the entire surface of the planet. 
“Thank you, sir. Firstly, I can confirm that the mega structure to house the population of Planet-XYZ will be completed within the next century, decades before the sun goes supernova. Secondly, we have successfully completed the first Black Hole Refuge, and proved the technology is viable for the continuation of life in the universe,” Miles responded.
“Wonderful. I can now announce to you all, that the Ministry of Science and Technology has been working on a project in secret so as to not give false hope to the people. I can now announce that the project is a success, and the Ministry of Science and Technology has found the way for life to go on even after the last star in the universe has died, and there is nothing but the eternal darkness. Now that darkness will be full of life,” the President announced to the whole of Galactic-X, relieving the galaxy’s population from their existential dread. “Please elaborate upon the project, Miles.”
“Thank you, Sir,” Miles chimed in elatedly. “There are roughly one billion black holes within the Milky Way galaxy. They are the largest collections of pure violent energy in the universe, but they are now also our saviours. Until now, black holes have only been seen as a sinkhole for energy and matter, bending time and space as their immense gravity wells pull everything towards them, consuming anything that gets too close. We have however discovered how to use them as an infinite source of energy. Because stars are spinning, when a large enough star explodes at the end of its life, turning into a black hole, the black hole continues spinning, millions of times a second due to the laws of angular momentum. With this motion, energy can be created, and supplied to an orbiting ringworld construct, which we have called a Black Hole Refuge. With enough of these Black Hole Refuges, or simply with one around the supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy called Sagittarius A*, we can easily habitat an infinitely growing population of any number.”
Every member in attendance gave a standing ovation, and every citizen across Galactic-X cheered in jubilation to the scientific ingenuity that would allow life to continue beyond the death of the universe.
 
CHAPTER 2: Echoes of Silence
Captain Pip, an old Yorkshire terrier dog, commanding the exploration vessel GXS Paws for Applause, was awoken from his hyper sleep stasis by the ship’s A.I., which the crew called Paws, for short.
“Good morning, Captain. We have travelled for one thousand years and are imminently approaching our destination. I have woken you, as per your request, to oversee the exit from hyperspace,” Paws said robotically.
“Thank you, Paws. Anything to report on the ship and crews’ status?” Captain Pip asked.
“All systems, mechanical and biological, are operating at peak efficiency,” a holographic projection of a smiley face said, floating in the air near the doorway. “Please proceed to the bridge to commence the hyperspace exit in five minutes.”
“Good, I’ll be there in a moment,” the captain said, dressing himself and drinking the stasis breakfast which helped him overcome any hyper sleep poisoning he might be suffering.
Arriving on the empty bridge, he took his command chair, and looked over the data to confirm the A.I.’s analysis. “Alright then, Paws, let’s do this. Open the hyperspace exit. Bring us out slowly.”
“Affirmative,” Paws replied, as a giant paper-thin portal opened in front of the ship, which slowly entered within.
“Full stop,” the Captain ordered as soon as the portal closed behind them. “Bring up the main viewscreen,” he said, as it flashed to life at the front of the bridge. “It’s even darker now, Paws. How many stars have died since we entered hyperspace?”
“At the beginning of our journey, there were three hundred stars left within the Milky Way Galaxy. Analysis perceives only thirty remain, of which sixteen exist within the Orion Arm.”
The captain took a moment to process the debilitating news, before composing himself. “Connect to the Galactic-X Navy channels, let them know we’ve arrived. And if they have figured out another solution for our survival, please let me know first.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“And Paws, let’s wake the crew up and get to work,” the captain ordered.
The GXS Paws for Applause had travelled for over one thousand years to reach the as yet unexplored Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy, which had several of the last stars in the dim galaxy remaining. 
Captain Pip spoke to the crew awakening from their hyper sleep stasis. “All crewmembers attend to your stations, and welcome to the Orion Arm, the last light in the galaxy,” he said over the intercom.
As the crew arrived to man their stations, the captain received news of the idea of the Black Hole Refuges and shared it with the crew to relieve them of some of the pressure that their hopeful venture put on them. Their mission was to investigate the remaining stars and get accurate data on the progress of their life cycles to see if any could be used to expand Galactic-X, in their desperate search for habitable worlds and energy supplies in the face of extinction.
Probes had been sent out from the Paws for Applause to each of the stars, except the most promising, which the captain set a course for now. “Long range telemetry states that the targeted star is a population one star, captain,” Paws said, announcing the results from a long-range scan.
“How is that possible? All the stars in the galaxy have aged to population two categories, on the brink of death. How can this one be so young still?” the captain confounded.
“Unknown. Your analysis is correct as far as all known scientific models can determine.”
“Theories?”
“Only one.”
“Let’s hear it, Paws,” the captain ordered, sensing hesitance from the A.I.
A moment passed before Paws replied. “Sentient interference is the only plausible explanation, sir. A civilization that has technology to create stars, or slow their aging is the only possible theory.”
“In the billions of years that Galactic-X has existed, no signs of life have ever been discovered.”
“That is correct, captain. However, Galactic-X has only colonized two of the four arms of the Milky Way galaxy, and it would be logical to pertain that another undiscovered space faring civilization would also seek the last remaining suns in the galaxy to support their own life.”
Everyone on the bridge looked at the captain fearfully. “Alright everybody, let’s not jump to conclusions. If that is the only tactical assessment we have, then we will proceed with caution, and if there is life, then perhaps we can peacefully make first contact.”
When the ship was only one hundred light years away from the target star, Paws was able to get a more detailed scan of the star system. “Scans confirmed. The star is a G-type main-sequence star.”
“A yellow dwarf? How is this possible,” the captain said, jaw dropping in disbelief.
“The star appears to be only halfway through its aging cycle and has another five billion years of life remaining before it expands to become a red giant and consumes the rest of the star system.”
“Quickly, Paws, scan the rest of the star system!” Captain Pip ordered, jumping out of his seat.
“Scanning. Eight planets orbit the star. In order of proximity, the smallest planet has no moons and a slow day night cycle. It has a solid silicate crust and mantle overlying a solid iron sulphide outer core layer, a deeper liquid core layer, and a solid inner core. The second planet has a thick silicate mantle around an iron core, a substantial atmosphere, and evidence of internal geological activity. The third is the largest and densest of the inner four planets. The only planet with a liquid hydrosphere and an atmosphere that may have been altered by the presence of life. It has one natural satellite,” Paws counted off unemotionally, as the rest of the crew were overcome with fear and excitement.
“Do your scans show any unnatural structures or signs of a space faring civilization?”
“We will have to get closer to determine that, captain, would you like me to continue?” 
“Yes,” the captain said, staring at the blue and green garden world on the screen. 
“The fourth planet has an atmosphere of mostly carbon dioxide. Its surface is peppered with vast volcanoes and rift valleys. Its red colour comes from iron oxide in its soil and has two tiny natural satellites. The first of the outer planets, separated by an inner asteroid belt, is two point five times the mass of all the other planets combined. It is composed largely of hydrogen and helium. It has eighty natural satellites. The four largest show similarities to the terrestrial planets, such as volcanism and internal heating. The sixth planet, distinguished by its extensive ring system, also has an atmospheric composition and magnetosphere. It has eighty-three natural satellites composed largely of ice. Two of these show signs of geological activity, the largest of which has a substantial atmosphere. The seventh is the lightest of the outer planets. It has a much colder core than the other giant planets and radiates very little heat into space. There are twenty-seven natural satellites. The final planet has fourteen natural satellites. The largest is geologically active, with geysers of liquid nitrogen. It is accompanied in its orbit by several minor planets.”
“Fascinating, thank you Paws, shall we,” the captain began, before an alarm started blaring. “Paws, report?”
“My scans have detected tens of thousands of unknown objects have altered their positions to intercept us, sir. I believe life has discovered us.”


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