Space Blackout

Jerry Kos is a seasoned navigator for the Commonwealth’s Cosmic Survey, a young officer who spends his downtime trekking through government preserves and fishing on Earth’s wild edges. After a series of routine voyages, he’s called to join a small crew led by the thoughtful skipper Jim Drake for a leave on Mars, where they meet Shadrak, a powerful Martian adviser who oversees the planet’s great waterway. The Martians, long observers of humanity, have shared their technology and a vision of a cooperative future, and they now ask Jerry and Jim to help a new venture.

Shadrak reveals a distant, Earth‑like world called Spor, hidden behind a dark nebula known as the Noir. With a brand‑new ship that can ride energy beams at near‑light speed, the mission promises to transport ten thousand refugees from a lost civilization to this promising refuge. As the crew grapples with the physics of acceleration and deceleration, the story explores the tension between daring exploration and the weight of responsibility, setting the stage for an ambitious interplanetary odyssey.