The God of Zion

Looking over my notes of March in the year 2263 I find a little adventure that went unreported to the ship's log. It seldom happens that an incident misses the log but the events I refer to are so peculiar in nature and the circumstances surrounding it so out of the ordinary that neither me nor first officer Spock will have forgotten it.

It happened when we were crossing a particularly large planet on the verge of a black hole. Its chief source of energy was a white dwarf star. Naturally first officers Spock couldn't suppress his curiosity to record the gravitational data of the system and resulted in the Starship Enterprises' one of the closest encounters with a black hole. I remember the entire crew slapped itself against the view gallery-like lizards to ogle at the swirl of colors emanating from the system. No wild drug-induced imagination can ever come close to describe the lights' dance.

The spectrum of light was ripped apart by the phenomenon. At one end, it looks like a normal planetary system around a white dwarf. On the other, it was a swirling mess of the cosmos. From asteroids to colourful gases, nothing escaped the giant ball of obscurity.

It looked like God was trying to forge entire galaxies behind a veil.

Just as we were hovering around the safe gravitational limits, a radio signal intercepted by lieutenant Uhura was sent across to me. It was a small burst of radio with a call of distress. Owing to the sensitive nature of the surroundings I consulted with the team. It was Officer Spok who suggested we send back a reply. A signal was sent and within minutes, in came a reply that lieutenant Uhura translated for the team. It read, " Our planet is on the verge of destruction. We want to save our life form but the gravitational pull changes with every passing second. Help us!" 

" There is no way to escape an event horizon" I cried with my arms thrown out, "is there, Spock?"

"There is..." said Spock, "they will have to wait till they reach the edge of the event horizon. The timing is critical. If they can time it perfectly, then they will have a chance to escape when the gravitational pull dies to zero and time becomes infinite. My calculations show they have twenty years before that moment arrives. Lt. Uhura, translate these calculations and send them across. If they can build enough ships and get the timing right, they might still escape." Lt. Uhura stalked-off in those red high heels of hers, clanking on the polished floor of the ship.

"But once they escape the event horizon, won't the gravity pull them right back?" I asked with skepticism that men of science share when the conditions are too dire.

"It will. And I'm counting on it. When gravity dies, they escape the event horizon and then twenty more years to the time it perfectly."

"So, you propose a time loop as an escape? For an entire planet?" I asked. 

"What choice do we have Captain? We cannot enter the gravitational field as that endangers everyone on this ship. They cannot escape as no amount of propellent will ever be enough to escape such massive gravitational pulls. Don't you see the white dwarf? What do you reckon happened to it?"

"How do you propose they propel the planet?"

"With a gravitational lever. What I've calculated a critical propulsion system intricately placed all over the planet that generates enough force to sling away from the pull. An enterprise size propulsion unit will be enough to lift the entire planet using the gravitational leaver mechanism. It seems Aristotle was not wrong after all, Captain !."

"Aristotle?"

"Give me a lever and I'll lift the earth." sighed Officer Spock.

In-spite of Spock's spectacular breakthrough my eyes welled up as reality dawned on me. 

"Send these, Lt. Uhura. This is the best we can do." I said in a dejected voice.

"I'll not enter it in the ship's log, Captain."

"Thank you" was all I could muster.