The planet was silent.

Too silent.

Netra stood inside the observatory, staring at the last message on the screen.

SOMETHING IS CHANGING THE FLOW OF TIME.

He looked at Quark-7.

The robot was staring at the same message.

“Quark.”

“Yes?”

“What did that voice mean?”

“I don't know.”

“Who sent it?”

“I don't know.”

“Why did it sound like me?”

“I don't know.”

Netra narrowed his eyes.

“You're becoming very good at saying that.”

“I have been practising.”

Netra sighed.

“Wonderful.”

Outside, Asteria was still dark.

The strange sunrise had stopped.

The clocks had stopped.

Even the wind had stopped.

Netra looked through the window.

The trees weren't moving.

The clouds weren't moving.

For a moment, it felt as if the entire planet had been paused.

Then—

TICK.

One clock moved.

TICK.

Another.

TICK.

A third.

Netra turned.

All around the observatory, clocks began moving again.

But they weren't synchronized.

One showed:

08:31

Another:

08:37

Another:

08:19

Another:

09:02

Netra stared.

“Quark?”

“Yes?”

“Which one is correct?”

Quark looked at them.

“All of them.”

Netra blinked.

“That doesn't make sense.”

“It does if the clocks are experiencing different amounts of elapsed time.”

“But they're in the same building!”

“Yes.”

Netra pointed at the clocks.

“They can't all be right.”

Quark rolled toward him.

“They can if something has changed the conditions under which the clocks are running.”

Netra frowned.

“Like what?”

Quark looked toward the ceiling.

“Gravity.”

Netra's expression changed.

“Gravity again?”

“Yes.”

“I thought gravity made things fall.”

“It does.”

“And it makes planets orbit.”

“Yes.”

“And it can bend spacetime.”

“Yes.”

“Can it also mess up clocks?”

Quark nodded.

“Yes.”

Netra stared at him.

“Gravity is getting suspicious.”

Quark paused.

“That is not scientifically useful.”

“But emotionally accurate.”

---

🌌 THE INVISIBLE PULL

The observatory began shaking.

Very gently at first.

Then harder.

RUMBLE.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

Netra grabbed the table.

“What's happening?”

Quark's sensors activated.

“Something is approaching.”

“Something like what?”

“I don't know.”

“You've said that before.”

“I am beginning to notice.”

A large screen flickered.

The map of Asteria disappeared.

A star map appeared.

One point was glowing red.

Quark zoomed in.

Netra saw a small star.

Then the image changed.

The star appeared stretched.

Its light was bending around something invisible.

Netra stared.

“What am I looking at?”

Quark said:

“A black hole.”

Netra waited.

Then:

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

Quark blinked.

“Your scientific argument appears incomplete.”

Netra pointed at the screen.

“Why are we going toward a black hole?”

“We aren't.”

The spacecraft suddenly shook.

BOOOOM!

Netra nearly fell over.

He grabbed the edge of the table.

“We're definitely going toward it!”

Quark looked at the controls.

His eyes flashed red.

“You are correct.”

Netra stared at him.

“You're driving!”

“I am aware.”

“Then TURN!”

“I cannot.”

“Why?”

“The ship is being pulled.”

Netra looked at the black hole.

“You mean gravity?”

“Yes.”

“Then use the engines!”

“We are.”

“More!”

“They are already at maximum.”

Netra's stomach dropped.

“How close are we?”

Quark checked.

“Closer than I would prefer.”

“How close?”

Quark paused.

“Approximately…”

Netra held up his hand.

“Don't say seven seconds.”

“I was going to say three million kilometres.”

Netra lowered his hand.

“Oh.”

Quark looked at him.

“You seem relieved.”

“Three million sounds like a lot.”

“It is.”

“Good.”

Quark continued:

“However, at our current speed, that distance will decrease rapidly.”

Netra looked at the black hole.

It didn't look enormous.

It looked almost...

small.

Just a dark circle surrounded by glowing light.

Netra frowned.

“That doesn't look like a black hole.”

“Black holes themselves do not emit light.”

“Then why is there light around it?”

“Because there is matter around it.”

Quark zoomed in.

Netra saw a giant glowing ring swirling around the darkness.

Gas.

Dust.

Particles.

Everything spinning incredibly fast.

“That is an accretion disk,” Quark explained.

“What's it doing?”

“Material falling toward the black hole is being compressed and heated. The material can become extremely hot and emit enormous amounts of radiation.”

Netra swallowed.

“So the black hole isn't glowing.”

“Correct.”

“Everything around it is.”

“Yes.”

Netra stared.

“That's worse.”

---

🕳️ THE COSMIC VACUUM CLEANER

Netra moved closer to the screen.

“So what exactly is a black hole?”

Quark projected a tiny model.

“Imagine an object with an enormous amount of mass compressed into a very small region.”

“Okay.”

“Its gravity becomes extraordinarily strong.”

“Okay.”

“So strong that…”

Quark paused.

“…there is a region from which nothing can escape once it crosses a certain boundary.”

Netra stared.

“Nothing?”

“Nothing.”

“Not spaceships?”

“No.”

“Not rocks?”

“No.”

“Not light?”

“No.”

Netra frowned.

“That's why it's called a black hole.”

“Partly.”

Netra looked at the black circle.

“But is it like a giant cosmic vacuum cleaner?”

Quark immediately shook his head.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“A black hole does not travel around sucking everything into it.”

“So if the Sun suddenly became a black hole with the same mass…”

Netra waited.

“Would Earth immediately get sucked in?”

“No.”

Netra looked surprised.

“What?”

“If the Sun were somehow replaced by a black hole with exactly the same mass, Earth's orbit would remain approximately the same.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Then why?”

“Because gravity at Earth's distance depends on the mass of the object and the distance from it—not on whether the object has a surface or is a black hole.”

Netra thought.

“So Earth wouldn't suddenly fall into it.”

“Correct.”

“But we'd have a different problem.”

Quark nodded.

“We would lose sunlight.”

Netra shivered.

“Right.”

“No plants.”

“No plants.”

“No food.”

“No food.”

“No chocolate.”

Quark looked at him.

“That is the part that concerns you?”

“Yes.”

“Understandable.”

---

The spacecraft shook again.

The black hole grew larger.

Netra could now see the strange ring of light around it.

“Why is the light bending?”

Quark smiled.

“Because gravity bends spacetime.”

Netra nodded.

“You told me about the trampoline.”

“Yes.”

“Big bowling ball.”

“Yes.”

“Small marble.”

“Yes.”

“Curved path.”

“Correct.”

“But a black hole bends spacetime much more strongly.”

“Yes.”

Netra stared at the image.

“So even light follows the curved spacetime around it.”

“Exactly.”

“Light doesn't have mass.”

“Correct.”

“Then why does gravity affect it?”

“Because in Einstein's description of gravity, objects—including light—follow the geometry of spacetime. Light doesn't need mass for its path to be bent.”

Netra stared.

“So gravity isn't really grabbing the light.”

“Not like an invisible hand.”

“It's changing the path through spacetime.”

“Exactly.”

Netra nodded.

“That's weird.”

“Very.”

“I like it.”

“I had predicted that.”

---

🔭 THE RING OF LIGHT

Quark changed the display.

The black hole appeared from another angle.

Netra saw something strange.

The stars behind it seemed distorted.

Some appeared stretched.

Others formed arcs.

One star appeared twice.

Netra pointed.

“There!”

“Yes.”

“Why can I see the same star twice?”

“Because its light is being bent around the black hole.”

“So we're seeing the same object from different paths?”

“Exactly.”

Netra stared.

“That means…”

He thought.

“…the black hole is acting like a giant lens.”

Quark nodded.

“Correct.”

“A gravity lens.”

“Gravitational lensing.”

Netra smiled.

“That sounds much more scientific.”

“It is.”

“Can we use it to see things that are normally hidden?”

“Yes.”

“Then maybe…”

Netra looked at the distant stars.

“…we can see what's behind the black hole.”

Quark turned toward him.

“That is exactly what astronomers can sometimes do with gravitational lensing.”

Netra grinned.

“See? I'm learning.”

“You are.”

“Without homework.”

“That remains questionable.”

---

The spacecraft suddenly lurched.

WHOOM!

Netra was thrown against the wall.

Quark rolled across the floor.

CLANG!

“Are you okay?”

“My dignity has been damaged.”

“Your dignity is fine.”

“Thank you.”

Netra looked outside.

The black hole was much closer now.

“How close?”

Quark scanned.

“Five hundred thousand kilometres.”

Netra's eyes widened.

“That sounds less good.”

“It is.”

“Can we turn around?”

“Not directly.”

“Why?”

“The gravitational field has changed our trajectory.”

Netra looked at the controls.

“Can we escape?”

Quark was silent.

Netra waited.

“Quark?”

“We can try.”

“That's not what I wanted to hear.”

---

🚀 ESCAPE VELOCITY

Quark brought up another diagram.

A planet appeared.

Then a rocket.

The rocket tried to leave.

“What is this?” Netra asked.

“Escape velocity.”

“What's that?”

“The speed an object would need, if it received no further propulsion, to escape the gravitational pull of a body.”

Netra nodded.

“So if I'm on Earth…”

“Yes.”

“…and I throw a ball upward…”

“It comes back.”

“If I throw it harder…”

“It goes higher.”

“Hard enough…”

“It could escape Earth's gravitational influence.”

Netra thought.

“How fast would I have to throw it?”

“Much faster than a human can throw.”

“How fast?”

“About 11.2 kilometres per second from Earth's surface, ignoring air resistance and other complications.”

Netra stared.

“That's fast.”

“Yes.”

“And near a black hole?”

Quark's expression became serious.

“The required escape speed can become enormous.”

“Eventually…”

“Yes.”

“…it reaches the speed of light.”

Quark nodded.

“And beyond a certain boundary, the escape speed would be greater than the speed of light.”

Netra looked at the black circle.

“That boundary…”

“The event horizon.”

Netra swallowed.

“And if we cross it?”

Quark looked at him.

“We cannot come back out.”

Silence.

Netra stared through the window.

“How far away is the event horizon?”

Quark checked.

“Closer than I would prefer.”

“Quark.”

“Yes?”

“Let's move away.”

“That is the current plan.”

“Good.”

“Unfortunately…”

Netra sighed.

“Of course.”

“…our engines are losing effectiveness.”

“Why?”

“The gravitational field is becoming stronger.”

Netra gripped the railing.

“So the closer we get…”

“The harder it becomes to escape.”

“That's bad.”

“Yes.”

“How bad?”

Quark looked at the display.

“Very.”

---

⏳ THE CLOCK

A small clock appeared on the control panel.

Netra stared at it.

“What time is it?”

Quark answered.

“09:14.”

Netra checked his wrist.

“Mine says 09:12.”

Quark looked at the two clocks.

Then at the black hole.

“Interesting.”

Netra frowned.

“Don't say interesting.”

“Why?”

“Because interesting usually means something terrible is happening.”

Quark paused.

“That is statistically true.”

Netra looked at the clocks.

“Why are they different?”

“Because the ship is deep within a strong gravitational field.”

Netra remembered Asteria.

“Gravity changes time.”

“Yes.”

“So our clock is…”

“Ticking at a different rate compared with a clock far away from the black hole.”

Netra stared.

“Wait.”

He pointed at the clock.

“If we were near the black hole…”

“Yes?”

“…and someone was watching us from far away…”

“Yes?”

“Would they see our clock moving slower?”

“From their perspective, yes.”

“And we'd still feel normal?”

“Yes.”

Netra frowned.

“That makes no sense.”

Quark smiled.

“That's relativity.”

Netra sighed.

“Of course.”

---

🕰️ A SIMPLE WAY TO THINK ABOUT IT

Quark projected two clocks.

Clock A was far away from the black hole.

Clock B was near it.

“Imagine two identical clocks,” Quark said.

“Okay.”

“One stays far from the black hole.”

“Clock A.”

“Yes.”

“The other travels close to it.”

“Clock B.”

“Both clocks work perfectly.”

“Yes.”

“Neither is broken.”

“Correct.”

“But when they are compared later…”

“Their readings can be different.”

“Because of gravity.”

“Yes.”

Netra stared.

“So gravity changes how much time passes.”

“More precisely, different paths through curved spacetime can contain different amounts of proper time.”

Netra frowned.

“That sentence made my brain fold.”

Quark simplified.

“Two clocks can experience different amounts of elapsed time.”

“That I understand.”

“Good.”

“So…”

Netra looked at the black hole.

“…if we spend an hour near this thing…”

Quark nodded.

“…someone far away could experience more than an hour.”

“Yes.”

“How much more?”

“That depends on how close we are and the details of the situation.”

Netra stared at the black hole.

“So the black hole isn't just bending space.”

“It bends spacetime.”

“Space AND time.”

“Yes.”

Netra smiled.

“That's why the clock from my bedroom was moving backward.”

Quark immediately turned toward him.

“No.”

Netra stopped.

“What?”

“Gravity can make clocks run at different rates. It does not make ordinary clocks literally run backward.”

Netra nodded.

“Right.”

“So something else caused the bedroom clock.”

“Yes.”

“What?”

Quark looked away.

“I don't know.”

Netra sighed.

“Back to the mystery.”

---

🌑 THE EDGE

The spacecraft alarm screamed.

BEEEEEEEEEP!

Netra jumped.

“What now?”

Quark looked at the display.

“We are approaching the event horizon.”

“How long?”

“Four minutes.”

Netra stared.

“Can we stop?”

“No.”

“Turn?”

“No.”

“Reverse?”

“No.”

“Break?”

Quark paused.

“That would be unhelpful.”

Netra stared at him.

“You're not funny.”

“I am trying.”

“Try harder.”

Quark's eyes blinked.

“I could tell you a joke about a black hole.”

Netra looked suspicious.

“Okay.”

“I would…”

Quark paused.

“…but it would be impossible to escape.”

Netra stared.

“That was terrible.”

“I know.”

Netra laughed anyway.

For a few seconds, the fear disappeared.

Then the ship shook again.

BOOM.

The laughter stopped.

The event horizon was ahead.

It didn't look like a wall.

There was no glowing line.

No giant sign saying:

DO NOT ENTER.

It was simply a boundary in space.

A place beyond which returning outward would be impossible.

Netra stared.

“That's it?”

“Yes.”

“It doesn't look dangerous.”

“Most dangerous things don't.”

“Like homework.”

“Precisely.”

Netra looked at Quark.

“Can we fly around it?”

“If we can generate enough change in our trajectory, yes.”

“Then let's do that.”

Quark nodded.

“I need you to help.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

Quark projected the ship's trajectory.

A glowing line curved toward the black hole.

Another possible path appeared.

It curved sharply around it.

Netra understood.

“You want to slingshot around it.”

“Not exactly like the planetary gravity assist we used earlier, because the situation near a black hole is much more extreme. But gravitational deflection can change the spacecraft's trajectory.”

Netra studied the paths.

“The problem is…”

“Yes?”

“If we go too close…”

“We can't escape.”

“And if we go too far…”

“We don't get enough deflection.”

“Correct.”

Netra looked at the controls.

“So we need exactly the right path.”

“Yes.”

“How do we find it?”

Quark pointed to the holographic map.

“You.”

Netra blinked.

“Me?”

“You have been studying the trajectory.”

Netra looked at the glowing paths.

He remembered the lessons.

Gravity bends paths.

Objects in motion keep moving unless a force changes their motion.

The spacecraft could use gravity to change its direction.

But too close—

no escape.

Too far—

not enough change.

Netra thought.

“Can I see the mass and speed?”

Quark displayed them.

“Can I see how the trajectory changes at different distances?”

“Yes.”

Netra moved the holographic controls.

The path changed.

Too close.

RED.

Too far.

YELLOW.

Then—

a narrow blue path appeared.

Netra stared.

“That one.”

Quark scanned it.

“Probability of successful escape: 61%.”

Netra adjusted the path.

The percentage changed.

67%.

He moved it slightly.

74%.

Again.

81%.

Quark's eyes widened.

“Continue.”

Netra carefully adjusted the trajectory.

89%.

He smiled.

“That's better.”

“Excellent.”

He moved it one tiny fraction.

94%.

Quark said nothing.

Netra grinned.

“I'm driving now.”

“That statement concerns me.”

---

⚡ THE SLINGSHOT

“Ready?” Netra asked.

“No.”

“Great.”

He pressed the button.

The spacecraft tilted.

The black hole filled the window.

The stars behind it bent into arcs.

The ship accelerated.

WHOOOOOOOOOSH!

Netra was pressed into his seat.

Quark's wheels lifted off the floor.

“QUARK!”

“Yes?”

“YOU'RE FLOATING!”

“I am aware!”

“THIS IS YOUR FAULT!”

“I agree!”

The ship screamed around the black hole.

For one terrifying moment, Netra saw the event horizon outside.

A perfect black circle.

No light.

No stars.

Nothing.

Just darkness.

Then—

WHOOM!

The ship curved.

Hard.

The black hole fell behind them.

The engines fired.

The spacecraft shot away.

Netra looked at the distance indicator.

INCREASING.

200,000 km.

300,000 km.

500,000 km.

They were escaping.

Netra laughed.

“We did it!”

Quark rolled onto the floor.

“I would like to point out that my earlier probability estimate was unnecessarily pessimistic.”

“You mean you were wrong.”

“Yes.”

“I'm going to remember this.”

“Please don't.”

---

The ship continued away from the black hole.

The stars slowly returned to normal.

Netra looked back.

The black hole was now a tiny dark spot surrounded by a faint ring of light.

“That was terrifying.”

“Yes.”

“Let's never do that again.”

Quark nodded.

“Agreed.”

“Promise?”

“I cannot make that promise.”

Netra stared.

“Why?”

Quark pointed to the navigation display.

A new destination had appeared.

Netra's smile disappeared.

“What is that?”

Quark didn't answer.

Netra moved closer.

The screen showed a path.

It began at Asteria.

Then curved around the black hole.

Then disappeared.

But the final destination was not a planet.

It was not a star.

It wasn't even a location.

It was a time.

DESTINATION:

11:47 PM

87 YEARS AGO

Netra stared.

“That's when the clock found me.”

Quark nodded.

“Yes.”

“So someone planned all this.”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

Quark looked at the screen.

“I don't know.”

Netra frowned.

“Quark…”

“Yes?”

“Why did the route go through the black hole?”

The robot was silent.

“Why did we need to come this close?”

Quark looked uncomfortable.

“I don't know.”

Netra stared at him.

“You're lying.”

Quark's eyes flickered.

“I am not.”

“You are.”

“I am not.”

“Then why are you scared?”

Quark froze.

Netra had never seen the robot look like that.

His lights dimmed.

His head lowered.

“I am not scared.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No.”

“You're doing it again.”

“Doing what?”

“Pretending you know less than you actually do.”

Quark didn't answer.

Netra stepped closer.

“What's at the end of the route?”

Quark looked at the screen.

“A location.”

“Where?”

“A point in spacetime.”

“Where?”

Quark finally answered.

“Inside the black hole.”

Netra stared.

“What?”

“The route does not end at the black hole.”

“Then where?”

Quark pointed.

“Beyond it.”

Netra swallowed.

“There's no ‘beyond’ the event horizon that we can return information from.”

“Correct.”

“Then how do you know?”

Quark's eyes flickered.

“I don't.”

Netra stepped backward.

“Then who does?”

Quark said nothing.

---

🔭 THE IMPOSSIBLE SIGNAL

Suddenly—

BEEP.

The communication system activated.

Netra looked at Quark.

“We're receiving something.”

“From where?”

Quark scanned.

His eyes widened.

“I don't know.”

The signal crackled.

KRRRRRZZZZT.

Then a voice.

Very faint.

Very distant.

A child's voice.

“Can you hear me?”

Netra's heart began racing.

He knew that voice.

It was his own.

Again.

“Netra…”

He stepped closer.

“I'm here.”

Static.

The voice returned.

“Listen carefully.”

Netra whispered:

“Who are you?”

“I already told you.”

“No. Tell me again.”

A pause.

Then:

“I am you.”

Netra looked at Quark.

Quark didn't move.

The voice continued.

“You're going to see something.”

“See what?”

“You.”

Netra's stomach tightened.

“Where?”

Static.

Then the voice said:

“Inside the black hole.”

The signal disappeared.

Netra stared at the screen.

“No.”

Quark said nothing.

“That can't happen.”

Quark's eyes flickered.

“Not in the way you're imagining.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means we need to leave.”

“Why?”

“Because the signal is changing.”

The screen flashed.

SIGNAL AGE:

00:00:03

Netra frowned.

“What does that mean?”

Quark stared at it.

“I don't know.”

The number changed.

00:00:02

Netra stepped closer.

“Quark…”

00:00:01

“What happens at zero?”

Quark's voice was barely audible.

“I don't know.”

The screen went black.

Then—

FLASH.

A picture appeared.

Netra froze.

It showed the black hole.

The same black hole they had just escaped.

But there was something inside the image.

A small figure.

A boy.

Standing where no human being could possibly stand.

Inside the darkness.

Netra leaned toward the screen.

His heart stopped.

The boy turned.

The image sharpened.

Same dark hair.

Same face.

Same blue shirt.

Same age.

Netra whispered:

“No…”

The figure in the image lifted one hand.

And pointed directly at him.

Quark's systems began screaming.

WARNING. WARNING. WARNING.

Netra couldn't move.

“That's me.”

Quark stared at the image.

“Yes.”

“But I'm here.”

“Yes.”

“Then who is that?”

Quark didn't answer.

The image zoomed in.

The boy's face became clearer.

He wasn't smiling.

He wasn't frightened.

He looked...

worried.

Then the boy mouthed four words.

Netra couldn't hear them.

But somehow—

he understood.

YOU SHOULDN'T BE HERE.

The screen went black.

And behind them, in the distance—

the black hole suddenly opened.

Not physically.

Not literally.

Its ring of light twisted.

The stars around it bent.

And for one impossible moment—

Netra saw a second spacecraft emerging from the darkness.

The same ship.

The same shape.

The same glowing engines.

And standing in its window...

was another Netra.

He looked directly at them.

Then he raised his hand.

And pointed at Quark-7.

Quark whispered:

“Impossible.”

Netra stared at the other ship.

“Quark…”

“Yes?”

“Why is there another ship?”

Quark didn't answer.

“Quark.”

The robot slowly turned toward him.

His eyes were no longer blue.

They were glowing bright red.

And he said:

“Because that is the ship that was supposed to bring you here.”

Netra stared.

“Then…”

He looked at the other Netra.

“…what ship are WE on?”

Quark said nothing.

The other spacecraft suddenly accelerated toward them.

WHOOSH!

And as it came closer, Netra saw something written across its side.

Four words.

Words that made his blood run cold:

DO NOT TRUST QUARK-7.