Karat

The hull creaked, and groaned as the gravity of the nearby planet pulled on Black North. The Commander’s journey was coming to an end soon, as he approached his destination among the stars at last.

Long ago, humans had achieved space flight using rockets. They sent satellites out into the void, and set foot on the moon, but humanity was limited by the costs of manufacturing their rockets. Until finally, they learned how to bring their rockets back, and reuse them. Humanity placed its fingers on everything within its grasp. They explored the rocky asteroid belt, the red sands of Mars, and the icy moon Titan. They enjoyed a time of great triumph, and exploration, until one day, a discovery was made. The satellite sent out when they first built a base on Mars detected a massive gravitational presence on the edge of the Solar System. On the threshold of the void sat a planet. It was black, as if light itself could not escape it, yet it was not a black hole.

The planet, named Karat, was studied for some time. No human dared volunteer for a manned mission there, despite all the tests showing it should be relatively safe. The risk was too great, and the journey was not taken until an old Commander decided to make the leap. The FSAA had been looking for any Officer to volunteer for a manned mission to Karat ever since it had been discovered. The search had been so dry, they were overjoyed to hear a Commander decided to go on the mission. His reasons could be forgotten for now. All he had now was flying, and Earth soon became an after thought to him.

Preparation for the mission began immediately. The Commander was put through an extensive course covering all that humanities scientist’s currently knew about the mysterious planet Karat. He learned that it reflected almost no light, absorbing 99.9% of all photons that came within its gravitational pull. He also learned that it did not have an orbit, or move at all for that matter. It stayed perfectly still. In the seven years that had passed since its discovery, Karat had not moved an inch. This was the only piece of information the Commander seemed to be interested in, and only because it reminded him of a cartoon from when he was young. While he was being briefed on all things related to Karat, and his mission, a ship was being built for the Commander. It would be called Black North, and it would carry him through space and time.