Supervoid (2183), 11

In 2183 a starship capable of traveling 10 million light years a day travels out to explore the Supervoid, targeting a mission site 3.36 billion light years away from home. First conjectured in 2007 to explain a cold spot within data from the Cosmic Microwave Background, confirmed in 2015 as a very, very large void lying in the direction of the constellation Eridanus. The Supervoid has prompted speculations among physicists running a gamut: Is it an observational error? Is it merely empty, but huge - one of the two or three largest voids within this universe? Is it from a collision with another Universe? Or is it from a rip in space, a rip which will destroy this universe? Each transit is in the hand of our hero, Hoperose, selected to be the captain of the huge foldship built from designs provided by the mysterious Assembly of Sentients. He faces two weeks alone during each transit. At the last minute, two cats join the multi-species crew of twelve (when all are awake and not in Qet deepSleep). A crew of Sol humans, Niv humans, Trader, and Qet personnel are on board as the ship crew, mission specialists, and senior scientists, ready to work on any observations made so far and two cats with caretaker Hoperose, who sleeps in his quarters and never goes into Qet deepSleep. This space spanning odyssey is set within the 2173-2199 CE framework of B. B. Irvine's e-novel Spacer Series but goes far, far beyond it...