Dr. Hans Reinhardt manned the starship U.S.S. Cygnus, whose mission was to discover life in outer space in a momentous, commercially popular voyage launched from earth with the backing of the government (and, surprisingly, most of the tax payers . . . for a while anyway). With a very large crew, headed by Frank McCrae, Reinhardt was determined to push the boundaries of scientific achievement at all costs. Having been a former military scientist, he was considered a genius, a former child prodigy with an almost obsessive interest in the stars and finding a method to exist apart from the human body. His research on earth was limited, but he felt in space that his theories could (and most assuredly would) finally be proven. In spite of Reinhardt's lofty (and expensive) goals, it appeared after several years to be a fruitless, wasted mission. The United States had grown weary of the expense of keeping Cygnus in orbit and, determined to salvage the cost and possible embarrassment involved in the press and scientific community on earth, ultimately recalled the mission. Public sentiment had also grown weary, and tax-payers (now in a full blown recession) were no longer as generous as they had once been. Reinhardt, however, would have none of this. He ignored the orders and commanded the entire crew to continue with the mission, insisting that the ends justified the means . While it is unknown how many men (and possibly women) aboard Cygnus might have went along with him on this take over, apparently the majority of the crew wished to return home. Leading the charge against Reinhardt was Frank McCrae, who called what he saw as clearly a rogue and treasonous act. It was also rumored that the ship's psychologist had found the Captain increasingly paranoid and unbalanced, bordering on insane and completely unfit to carry on as commander. McCrae thus made plans to take control over the ship and place the Captain under arrest. Unfortunately, as Reinhardt's paranoia grew, so did his use of surveillance. Overhearing all of the plans made by McCrae and other members of Cygnus' resistance , he was always several steps ahead of them. Having already planned for an uprising, Reinhardt had reprogrammed the ship's army of robots (called Sentries) to follow only his own orders and to disregard those of the rest of the crew or any that might come from earth. He also had worked for many years in private on another monstrous creation- that of the giant red robot he called 'Maximillian'. With the lead Sentry robot S.T.A.R. (Special Troops Armed Regiment) under his control, Reinhardt had the sentries kill most of the crew (who were sadly unarmed). After disposing of McCrae, most of the remaining crew were held captive and basically changed to nothing more than automatons through an unholy process equivalent to labotomy. This operation, however, retained one element of consciousness that allowed the crew to function and run the ship, obeying all of Reinhardt's orders. Other than these most basic functions, the crew was now completely brain dead- unable to speak, to react, and most favorable to Reinhardt- could never revolt against him. The only thing they could do on their own (the one thing he still could not control) was that they would eventually and mercifully die. Several years later, having developed an anti-gravity forcefield around Cygnus, Reinhardt charted a course for one of the largest black holes he'd ever encountered- one that he hoped would prove all of his theories and bring the proper respect back to his mission . Managing to perch the Cygnus on the edge of the black hole with some level of success, Reinhardt began sending the probe ship to the event horizon of the hole and back again using the remaining members of his crew, now called humanoids to pilot the craft. Year after year he would collect more data, after all- now time was relative. Earth had long ago given up looking for him and his ship. It was a fairly common occurence for space ships to go missing- particularly those that far out. He would be merely an expensive write-off, it was how things were done. However Reinhardt refused to be written off. One day they would know of his greatness, no matter how long it took. His mission was clear: he would eventually take the Cygnus in, through and beyond the black hole, to another place and time. It would be his vindication. All he really needed now was a way of showing those back on earth that he had finally succeeded. This is where the story of The Black Hole begins, as the starship U.S.S. Palomino passes nearby and uncovers the massive Cygnus alongside its devilish neighbor in space. Their fate is soon sealed, as Reinhardt begins to monitor them closely with all of his ship's running lights off. His spider net is set, should they choose to come closer. They could surely be used to further his own purposes on the quest for infinite knowledge . . . Show less «