In 500... (or less)

A Relatively Old Problem

The ship made an unhealthy shudder as it strained to break free of its captor.

"Shut it down!" ordered Weber. The engines sputtered as the propellant snuffed the life from them.

"That's it then," Elpida said, leaning back in her pilot's seat. "We can't escape."

Their captor knew nothing of their plight. It only meant to devour everything. Perhaps the ship and crew might find a second life as high energy particles ejected from the event horizon, but they would be torn apart in due time by the black hole.

"How many orbits?" Elpida looked at her captain, hoping for some reassurance as their last chance of escaping certain doom had passed.

Weber clicked on the keys on the panel, hoping the calculations would bear good news. They did not."

The burn gave us another half an orbit, maybe," he answered. "So possibly three. It's impossible to know since we will likely lose mass after each pass."

Elpida tapped on the instruments, the speed reading surely was wrong.

"What is it?" Weber asked.

"Approaching 250,000 meters per second. If this reading is correct."

They looked at each other warily, the ship would not stay together under the stresses of such speed. Each orbit would be a matter of hours now, not weeks or months.

"Let's get the transmission ready," Weber said. "No one has ever been this close. We ought to at least tell people what it was like and say our good..."

His voice trailed off as he realized the time dilation near the black hole would mean his goodbyes would arrive thousands of years too late.

Elpida did not correct him. She understood the sentiment. She wanted to be remembered too.

The time passed quickly as each busily prepared data and transmitted heartfelt messages to loved ones who were now long dead. Elpida felt silly at first but came to realize the messages were for her, not for her family. She needed closure.

The alarms were the first indication, the trailing edge of the ship was being pulled off.

"This is it!" Weber yelled. Even the sound waves could not overcome gravity. His voice was muffled.

Elpida's body began to tingle. Her feet seemed to vibrate, a strange purple glow surrounded her.

She looked at Weber. He seemed to be unraveling like a worn sweater.

He looked as if he was trying to say something, but she could not understand him. At least this death would be painless. The black hole seemed to be tugging each molecule in her body apart. It was an odd sensation.

The glow grew into a flash. She opened her eyes, seeing strange, vaguely human figures standing around her.

"We got your message," one of them said as she looked at them in disbelief. "We couldn't get the other one, but you're safe."

"Message?" It was all Elpida could say.

"It took us several millennia to solve the problem, but after about 30,000 years, we finally figured out how to rescue you."