The world's richest and most powerful billionaire discovered he has brain cancer.
Devolta is in his sixties already, so that is not so surprising. But the news came crumbling his every hope, and even his sanity.
He relentlessly searched for a cure, investing in several institutions focused on tumor research, even creating a few organizations to that purpose. However, years passed without a definite solution, for the brain is an extremely delicate tissue, and any interference can potentially cause irreversible damage. Devolta is not willing to bet his brain, at least not yet.
"If current technology cannot solve my problem, then I might as well wait until it can."
With that thought in mind, Devolta invested even more of his fortune into cryosleep, time-travel, and quantum research.
But by the time he was 75, with his body already battered and his previous fortune dwindling, there was still no proper solution.
In order to wait until the new era came, and without relying on unsafe, current era methods, the only option was to dilate time. And the only way to do that, is through an enourmous, spacetime bending, mass. Jupiter, or even the sun, for that matter, wouldn't be big enough. Only something like a *black hole* could help him. However, that option was quickly discarded since the closest was many light-years away. Devolta didn't have that much time.
And that was when it was discovered.
A Schwarzschild black hole, just a few (billion) kilometers away.
No one knew how it was never discovered, since it stood at just 130AU away from Earth. Nonetheless, soon, everything about it was discovered.
It had no momentum, it had no charge. A small black hole, with the mass of a single sun. Its name:
'Alpha-Cepheus Black Hole'...
...due to its proximity to the star Errai of the Cepheus constellation (from Earth's night sky).
And it held the key. The key to save his life.
Devolta, gathering his remaining retainers and calling for his last favors, created Mission Sky Radiation, in a joint venture with several space organizations world-wide.
Unknown to him, his mission averted a Second Cold War, since it managed to garner the efforts of every major nation, their scientists, and their equipment. Not only was it the amalgamation of humanity's brightest, it was the culmination of its history. No one was willing to not participate.
The ship was built in a matter of months. Soon after, it departed succesfully.
With an average speed of 500,000km/h, it maneuvered around the sun, slingshot on Jupiter, and reached their goal almost 5 years later.
The mission was fairly simple. Reach the black hole, high-orbit it 4 times, return home. That would be enough time to study it properly. Of course, that would go against Devolta's goal, as he had to dive into a lower orbit for a proper time dilation.
Coincidentally, there were ''problems'' with the ship's route. Some scientists weren't willing to go into lower orbit, as they would not live to see their loved ones grow up. Weird transmissions from Earth somewhere during their orbit also contributed to the tense situation.
Disputes were bound to happen.
When it left the Earth, there were 10 people on board. By the time it reached Earth, there were only 2.
Devolta was back, 200 years after he left.
But was that really the Earth he knew?
I am part of the 10 'lucky' bastards who were chosen to go. Of course, I spent the most on this mission, after all.
But honestly, it was hell.
"Argh, I'm tired."
That prick from F nation made this old man suffer from beginning to end.
The cryosleep was on its early stages, so it only worked a year at a time, with a few months then dedicated into maintainance. That meant I had to deal with the whole crew 5 times on the way there, and another 5 on the way back.
Just thinking about it made me tired.
"At least the way back was kinda fun."
I looked at my sleeping comrade. That specific comrade had been put forcefully into the semi-cryosleep by none other than me.
"Heh, I'm so kind..."
I looked outside one of the windows. The grayish blue mass grew bigger with every second. Soon, we would reach the atmosphere, so I had to prepare.
I looked at my comrade one last time. My last living friend, most certainly.
Not wasting another second, I pressed the timer on the cryo chamber, and went to grab a seat of my own. I was already wearing a proper suit, and the chamber made anyone inside impervious to anything. I wanted my comrade to have a peaceful death in case the landing failed.
"Alright, give me the best you got!! Ughhh!"
The G-force soon knocked me out.
The next time I opened my eyes, I could see a blue sky.
