Thursday, August 28-Space, 2199

The Interstellar Human Alliance was flourishing by the turn of the 23rd century. It was spread from the Horse Head Nebula to Simonic Cluster and everywhere in between. And in the center of this galactic community was Earth, the crown and jewel to the human empire. At it's head was President Sevester Hank, a very vain man who believed that he was the one who had lead the IHA to greatness, even though it was his predecessors who are to thank for such prosperity. 

Besides the incompetent leader, it seemed that the IHA was heading into the middle of a golden age. Not since the first contact war and victory over the Alusion Hierarchy back in 2143 had there been such wide-spread joy. But a certain discover by Nora, the head of the Alliance's Science Association, was about to change that forever.  

A very flustered and frightened looking Nora finally, after weeks of calling old friends and pulling strings, was given an audience with President Hank. She was ushered into his private office in the ever-growing metropolis of Washington DC. It was easily the size of a space cruiser, with paintings of Hank covering the walls, with some of them even placed over previous leaders of the IHA. There was a great, towering statue in the very middle that showed Hank leading the space navy to battle against the Alusion Hierarchy, even though he was barely alive at the time.

President Hank sat behind his desk with his feet up, looking just as smug as he always did on TV. He stood up as Nora approached and held out his hand, saying, “Good to meet you. I’m sure that his must be a great pleasure for you.”

Nora returned the handshake, but reluctantly. “Yes, sir, I’m sure it is. But today I don’t have the time for niceties. We have an enormous problem breaching on the horizon.”

“And what problem is that, my dear?” Hank said.

“We have to prepare for an empire-wide evacuation,” Nora replied, getting straight to the point.

“And why is that, my dear?” Hank said, sounding as if he couldn’t care less. Nora had the sudden urge to smack the smug grin off of the president’s face.

Nora placed a holo-projector down on the desk and pressed a button. A 3-D model of the galaxy appeared, floating in front of her eyes. “The black hole in the center of our galaxy is expanding at an unprecedented and unforeseen rate. The causes are still to be determined, but it shows no sign of stopping. We estimate that in a matter of years, it will consume the entire galaxy.”

“And what of it? It wouldn’t dare reach Earth and harm the planet where I live,” Hank snorted. He seemed entirely unconcerned at the fact that his empire was doomed.

“Sir, you do understand what a black hole is, correct? It is not a sentient being that fear your name. It is a space anomaly that will destroy the entire Milky Way Galaxy whether you like it or not.” Nora was fast losing patience with Hank. Did he not understand the danger?

“Well, when the stupid thing gets to close, I’ll send in the space navy. We have over a thousand ships now; they can take care of it.”

Nora slammed her fist down on the desk, making Hank jump. “No, they won’t! You’d be sending them all to their deaths! And if they’re that stupid to follow your orders, than they probably deserve it,” she added under her breath.

“Well, then I’ll be sure to have my shuttle ready. We’ll just fly away when it gets to close.” Hank seemed disappointed that he couldn’t just throw his fleet at the problem to make it go away.

“And what about the three and a half trillion citizens under your rule?”

“What about them?” Hank said, pulling out a holo-projector of his own and started to play a game on it.

Nora picked it up and threw it across the room before shouting in the president’s face. “Those people are your responsibility! You have to organize a galaxy-wide evacuation before it is too late! And why you’re at it, add more funding into my inter-galactic space travel project! We’re going to need to know how to cross the dark space before this all happens!”

“No one is leaving anywhere! There is an election coming up, and if no one is in their designated voting areas, then I won’t be re-elected!” Hank roared, becoming very purple in the face. Nora simply turned around and left the office. She decided that it was wasting her now insanely valuable time by speaking to that idiot. If he wouldn’t listen to her, maybe the vice-president would. If Hank wasn’t going to save the galaxy, then it would be up to her.