Phoenixan

Some insight.

Transcript:

Panel 1: Heather leans out of a doorway.

Heather: How’s the signal?

Panel 2: Triss is observing a feed from Heather’s angle on her laptop.

Triss: A bit choppy, but I think it’s as good as we’re going to get.

Panel 3: She steps out onto a walkway into an octagonal room with pipes and other equipment along the edges.

Heather: It’s a wonder this even works at all. What’s all this stuff for?

Panel 4: Back on the ship, Phoenix talks over Triss’ shoulder.

Phoenix: Well, I’m a chemist, not a physicist, so I couldn’t tell you!

Panel 5:

Heather: Helpful. Thanks. I’m glad you were brought on board.

Panel 6:

Phoenix: I can tell you this much: somewhere on this station, there’s a small black hole. without help, it’d just evaporate out of existence, so I imagine there’s a lot of equipment keeping it alive!

Heather: O.K., What?! Really? W-why?

Phoenix: it’s a vital part of the Interstellar Network Array. I don’t know the particulars: Something about Primordial black holes, ringing them like bells, exploiting links created at the dawn of time… it also involves a lot of complex maths.