The Pinch

ELCv 28 (Earth's Last Chance vessel 28) Was slowing down after 5 months at ‘Elevated Distance Speed’. The 3 person crew were starting to feel the ‘pinch’. The ‘pinch’, as it had become known, was the phenomenon whereby the greater the distance from Earth the more the human heart and brain would become... panicked. Fatigued, strained and 'lost', as though there was an invisible bungee attaching everyone’s core to the planet. There wasn’t yet an acceptable scientific explanation for this effect. But the crew of the ELC 28 were really feeling it, they had just crossed the 960 million km from the earth, heading perpendicular to the gravitational rotation of the solar system.

“It’s always worse going south” Carl said with a smirk, looking across the table at 2 distraught faces.

“What do you mean south!?” Casper said angrily “There is no South, North, East, West. Just black, black everywhere!”

“Listen I’ve been through this, 7 times!” Carl said trying to keep his cool and maintain a sense of leadership.

“And that’s another thing,” Pearl said, getting drawn in by Casper’s outrage “How can this be the ‘Last Chance’ if there were already 27 previous ‘Last Chances’ that have failed? “

The ‘Earths Last Chance’ missions had been funded globally and quickly established as the best chance of survival for the human race, every nation had poured all of their resources and remaining workforce into it, since it had been scientifically established 50 years prior that humanity would not survive much beyond 3397, on its current trajectory, without finding another safe inhabitable planet, or a source of infinitely extractable energy.

It was a question that had floated between Casper and Pearl for some time now, what had happened to the previous 27, and how had Carl come back every time? The first 15 ELC missions had been manned by larger and more experienced crews. By the 20th there was no time to train anyone to the standard that was required. By this point, people were mandatorily encouraged to join a crew in a variety of ways, shorter prison sentences, the promise of financial security for their extended family, and the knowledge they may be helping the survival of the human race as a whole. But it was becoming ever harder to recruit new people.

Pearl was a space cadet in her 20s before the sudden, unexpected and overwhelming societal dread. Now she wanted to volunteer in the hopes her kids might survive.

Casper had some experience as an astronaut, before being forcibly ejected after jeopardising a mission due to drug use aboard the ship, 5 years prior, he had been court marshalled but promised a complete pardon if he volunteered for the ELC missions.

 “Think yourselves lucky” Carl said “The first 3 missions I was on had 10-person crews, then 6, now we’re down to 3. It’s much easier this way. More food, more room. All we have to do now is locate the ‘BLHIP’ and choose who’s going in first”.

The ‘BLHIP’ (Black Hole with Inversion Potential, was a discovery made in the year 2868) A micro Black Hole less than 300 microns in diameter could, with the right equipment be ‘Inverted’ to create a temporary ‘door’ in space which could theoretically lead anywhere, The hardest part was locating the BLHIPs. The ELCv 28 was the furthest any ELC had had to travel so far, and it was understood that the effect of the ‘pinch could be life-threatening beyond 1000 million km.

The first attempt to send anything through a BLHIP in 2950 was an automated sensor-packed bot, but the bots would only be able to communicate data back to the vessel for a maximum of 20 minutes, before losing all connection. It was later deemed more cost-effective to attempt to send humans through, with the hope of reopening the door for them to return with any data collected. This was soon stopped after 5 failed missions as it was believed inhumane, as the participants were never heard from again, after entering the BLHIP until the recent determination of the definitive extinction of the human race.

“Do you ever go first?” Casper said cynically.

“Well no, not so far” Carl defensively shot back “Listen like it or not I am the Captain on this ship, I have the most experience and I’ll have to be here to guide us home”

“Guide one of us home,” Pearl said “Only you and one of us have any hope of making it home right?” When she said ‘home’ her voice cracked sorrowfully.

“Look you have to fight the effects of the ‘Pinch’, I know it’s getting to us all, but if we let it we’ll end up like ELCv 9, and no one wants that.”

“What happened on ELCv 9?” asked Casper.

“Let’s just say they never made it to the BLHIP” said Carl “The only reason I’m able to deal with the ‘pinch’ is because I’ve done this so many times, I’m used to it now, and I know how to keep myself together. But rest assured I’m feeling it too, this is the furthest I’ve been and it’s starting to put a strain on me.”

“So you’ve never been in a BLHIP? But you’re happy to send us in knowing we won’t come back out!” Pearl said with a sense of righteous outrage.

“Oh I’ve been in, Pearl,” Said Carl “Do you think they’d let me lead these missions if I’d never been in? And people come out all the time when there’s nothing on the other side worth exploring, and if they’re quick enough to realise that fact and get back through the BLHIP before it closes”

“What was it like on the other side?” Pearl asked sceptically.

“Black, Just black!.” Carl said

======Scanner Deployment======

The standard procedure is to send through a scanner bot to establish the chances of anything worth exploring before sending in a human, the data received back from the bots is usually minimal, and often scrambled to the point that it’s not 100% reliable, then humans go through anyway.

“OK Casper you can pilot the Scanner, just remember the beam can only hold the BHLIP open for 5 minutes so get yourself perfectly lined up,” Carl commanded.

Casper sat facing the controls for the scanner and began maneuvering it into place.

“If I’m doing this part that means I’m not the first one going in, right?” Casper insisted.

“Afraid that’s not how it works, Casp.” Carl said firmly.

The scanner was guided through the 5-metre hole in space. The hole that had opened wasn’t black, as Casper and Pearl were expecting, but an iridescent glow of pink and purple. Beautiful and mesmerizing, yet somehow off-putting, like oil in a puddle.

Pearl and Casper had returned to sitting in the recreational/dining area of the ship while Carl poured over the scanner results. After 45 minutes Carl walked in.

“Ok, do you want the good news or the bad news?” Carl said smiling.

“What the hell does that mean!?” Casper reacted angrily

“Keep a handle on the ‘pinch” Carl said calmly “No need to start losing it over every little thing. Ok, the good news is there is a strong reading of biological and atmospheric conditions within an area reachable in a Solo Flight Suit”

The 'Solo Flight Suits' were designed for independent space travel, with built-in directable propulsion and terrestrial landing capability. They had a range of up to 190,000 km in open space. But don’t have the power or propulsion to lift off once within the gravitational influence of a planet.

“And the bad news?” asked Pearl

“The bad news Is that one of you two is going to have to go in and try to reach it, and report back anything you find” Carl said glumly

“But not you!?” Casper said red in the face.

“Casper we’ve been through this” Carl said tiredly “The important thing is that, as SOON as you touch down, you report back with as MUCH information as you can gather! On your communicator, keep in mind you may only have minutes before the BLHIP closes.”

“So who decides who goes in?” Pearl asks.

“Well I’ll give you both 30 minutes and if neither of you have decided, I’ll decide,” Carl said matter-of-factly.

Carl left them both sitting across from each other at the dining table and retreated to the cockpit, keeping an ear out for any over-reactive arguments. Carl knew that this was the time that anger had spilt over into violence in the past, his mind recollected the stories he’d heard about ELCv 9 and shuddered. ‘Not on my watch’ Carl thought to himself.

“So do you want to go in first?” Pearl said trying to maintain a tone of civil diplomacy. “I mean, let’s face it we’re probably both going in eventually”

“I take it from you’re tone that you’re not going to volunteer yourself, and that you want me to want to go in to alleviate your conscience,” Casper responded calmly but with an air of arrogance. “And next, I expect you’ll bring up your children and talk about how much you would love to see them again, to try to guilt me into doing the right thing, only the ‘right thing’ in this context just happens to be the thing that you want!” Casper's tone was becoming increasingly aggravated

“Fine, I’ll go first,” Pearl said

Carl, who’d been listening the whole time through the ships wall, walked into the dining area with authority.

“Ok I’ve decided, Pearl as Casper said we both understand that you're probably desperate to see your kids again, but for that to happen you will have to go in. And Casper IF Pearl goes in first you WILL be right behind her, no matter what.” Carl said remembering his training.

“Ok fine I’ll go first,” Casper said

“Good choice,” Carl said, looking proudly at Casper.

======First Entry======

Casper suited up and stepped out of the ship's airlock. Carl and Pearl watched from the cockpit window as he powered towards the glowing hole in space. They watched as Casper fearlessly approached and slipped through.

“Are you hearing me, Casper?” Carl spoke into the ship's communicator “What do you see?”

“I can hear you alright,” Casper said with an excitable inflection, all sounds of the ‘pinch’ had gone from his voice “Wooow, it's beautiful”

“What sort of planet is it?” Carl asked

Nothing came back from the communicator for what felt like hours but was only minutes.

“It’s just like I re……...” Carl heard eventually, followed by a long drawn-out beep.

“What did he say?” Pearl asked in an excitable tone.

“It’s just like I…” And then it cut off, Carl answered.

“Just like what?” Pearls said frustrated.

I don’t know” Carl responded “Let's listen to it back again” Carl replayed the message “It’s just like I re……...” Came out of the machine.

“Re?” Pearl said puzzled “Re what? Recognize? Remember?”

“You’re going to have to go in after him, Pearl,” Carl said looking back at her.

“And you’ll follow, right?” Pearl said pleadingly.

“Of course, I’m not going to miss another opportunity,” Carl said

“What does that mean?” Pearl asked frowning “It wasn’t ‘Just black’ the one you went through was it Carl? You were just too afraid to make landfall because you knew that would be a one-way ticket”

Carl looked down ashamed “It wasn’t as simple as that,” Carl said “There are lots of planets that can come back with ‘breathable’ atmospheres on the scanners, but when people go through it’s a death trap. The one I saw when I went through was not right, the sky was orange and the land was black, I knew straight away, that if I touched down, I’d never be coming back.”

“So you were scared“ Pearl scoffed “And yet you’ve sent plenty of scared people to their deaths, how do you know this one will be any different, and yet you are more than happy to send me through.”

“Casper said ‘It’s beautiful’ Do you think he would have said that if it didn’t at least look safe,” Carl said encouragingly. “The BLHIP will stay open long enough for you to establish a connection with Casper, he should have made landfall by now if it’s safe, and you’ll know if you should turn back, and you can come straight back through.”

======Landfall======

With that Pearl suited up and reluctantly entered.

Carl sat waiting, watching, and trying to calculate how long it might take for Pearl to communicate with Casper, and how long he’d have before the BLHIP would close.

“Anything from Casper?” Carl asked nervously through the communicator. “Is he alive?”

A long pause.

“Wait he’s talking,” Pearl said “He’s ranting and raving, I can barely make it out”

Another long pause.

“He says it’s Eart……” Pearl said, with that the BLHIP closed suddenly.

Carl sunk his head into his hands in despair, ‘It's Earth?’ Carl thought, was that what Casper was saying? ‘It can’t be, there are no BLHIPs that close to Earth, I would know. Unless one has formed since we've been traveling. Or maybe a new BLHIP is created when we travel though? Nobody knows for sure.’ Carl thought.

He sat and dwelled on this new information for some time. He could wait for Pearl to make landfall, then travel through, but if Casper was wrong then he, Pearl and the ship would all be lost. And if he was right, and it was, in fact, Earth. All that’s been achieved is finding a shortcut back home. Still would have lost the ship, and the Earth would still be on a collision course with annihilation. But at least he would have proven himself courageous enough to follow the crew through a BLHIP.

Or he could open the BLHIP right now in the hopes he could at least save Pearl before she attempts to land. ‘But save her how, we’re all dead either way, if I bring her back on board we’ll just head back to Earth with no confirmed news of salvation’ Carl was distraught and angry with his inability to think clearly, he was supposed to be the one to keep a clear head and make firm decisions. ‘Damn pinch‘ Carl thought.

Carl opens the BLHIP and tries to establish a connection with Pearl on the communicator, ‘It’s taking too long’ Carl thinks. Suddenly he can hear Pearl's breathing coming through “Pearl! How far are you from landfall!? There’s not much time” Carl shouts through the mic quickly.

“I’m within the gravitational pull now,” Pearl says excitedly “Casper’s on the ground and he’s breathing! Without his suit! He says it’s safe, send a message home!”

Carl quickly uses the onboard computer to send a message back to Earth.

‘This is ELCv 28. We've found a new home, location details included. Begin the evacuation process.’ Carl hits send and prays that was the right decision. He climbs into his suit and heads towards the BLHIP.

‘This is it’ He thinks

Carl gets through just as Pearl is making landfall.

“How was the descent?” Carl asks.

“Fine, not much in the way of clear landing areas.” Pearls responds “A lot of flora and fauna where I am.”

“Flora and fauna?” Carl says, “That doesn’t sound like the Earth I remember, have you got a connection with Casper?”

“No his communicator cut off abruptly about a few seconds ago,” Pearl said concerned, ”I’m going to de-suit now”

Carl tried to establish a connection with Casper, but nothing but static came through.

“How’s the air?” Carl asked.

“Clean, weirdly clean,” Pearl said taking deep breaths.

Carl was getting close to the inescapable gravitational pull of the planet, he soaked up the beauty of this vantage point. It looked like Earth, green land and sun and oceans, Carl couldn’t contain his excitement, but something was different, Carl didn’t recognize any of the continents!?

A scream pierced Carl's ears through his communicator. Then Pearl's voice came though panicked.

“Carl…Carl, turn back now, get back to the ship, and send another message to Home!, THIS IS NOT EARTH. THIS IS NOT A SAFE PLANET”

All that followed was screaming, the sounds of bones crunching, and a strange, savage, terrifying deep roar.

Carl checked the altimeter on his suit, ‘Now entering inescapable gravity’.

The End