The Long Horizon by Jean-Paul Garnier

Greetings, Mr. Astronaut. Thank you for coming in. You’ve come a long way, and you have plenty of time now. I don’t see many pilgrims here at the farthest point from Sol.

You say you are conflicted about your career choice, that it arose from your obsession. Your journal entry is meticulously recorded, however, you are looking into a mirror. Have you discussed your doubts with your colleagues? Their words can show you another side of your being.

You fear that there is no return from your mission. This is only the beginning. Look around you, feel, taste, hear this strange world. Words will come to you that spark your universe back to life.

You wonder if you are stuck, here at the edge of reality, your thoughts clattering between then and now. I assure you, your future waits for you, beyond the stars.

QW

Thanks for the kind words QW! I still have the utmost enthusiasm for the mission, but have a feeling it might take longer than others that I have encountered.

http://jplgarnier.blogspot.com/

Some short remarks on the science of the story:

Looking up 'Spaghettification' on wikipedia confirms that indeed no spaghettification is quite what one would expect at the event horizon of a galactic black hole.

A look at 'Event horizon' on the other hand seems to indicate that that chronometer is broken.

v.

Hi Vates,
My thought was that is you were to enter a black hole that you would be accelerated to the speed of light, and therefore time would stop. Lately I have been thinking a lot about time travel and it has dawned on me that perhaps slowing down the speed of light, or stopping it by creating a standing wave is much more plausible than trying to attain the speed of light. Definitely fun to think about...
JP