by Kumar L
“And yet,” Anara spoke up, “we cannot just sit by and do nothing.”
“Then, we’ll have to think about our action pretty fast since the other Antariksh should be entering the event horizon any minute now,” Ryan pointed out.
“Can you move us in closer?” inquired Anara.
“Not without being detected by them, no.”
Anara sat back, lost in thought. The universe was playing with her again, but this time she knew of its plans and would thwart them.
“Maybe it is our karma to be here today at this place and time,” she said calmly. Her path was clear. “Maybe we were meant to be here. You were partially right, Ryan. Maybe the universe was not trying to punish an individual. This was the path we were always meant to follow. This is one more time we have been given a choice. Can we follow through with what I believe is right?”
“And what is the choice you are thinking of making?”
“Destroy the other Antariksh as it enters the black hole and halt the singularity right here. Right now…”
“But… but... are you saying we should kill ourselves?” Manisha cried out.
30
The Final Choice
"If we can send a signal and shut down the magnetic fields which hold the matter-antimatter apart, we can cause an uncontrolled explosion, right at the moment Antariksh enters the singularity,” Ryan said, thinking aloud. “The shockwaves should be enough to disrupt the gravity field, just like a terrestrial explosion throws up objects in the air against the force of gravity. It could create a discontinuity in the forces holding the black hole’s mass together and end this.” He looked at them with sudden conviction. “It can be done. We can determine the exact time from our ships chronometer. The size of the explosion will be the largest ever seen in this region of space though.”
“You’re with me then?” Anara wanted his explicit confirmation.
Ryan did not answer for a few moments. “You’re not looking at this objectively. You’re letting your emotions control your actions.”
“You are planning to kill a hundred people! That’s murder! How could you even think that?” demanded Manisha.
This was going to be a bit more difficult than Anara had thought. She had made her decision. For her it was technically suicide as well as murder, but then they would still be alive. The very same people on Antariksh would live even when the other Antariksh and its crew were destroyed in the gigantic explosion. Such were the vagaries of time travel. You die, and yet you live.
“If we had the time I would have argued about religion and philosophy and morality with you. But I’m gonna park that for the minute and talk about plain and simple science, okay?”
She got up and stood behind her chair, holding its backrest with both hands. Her sightless eyes could see neither the starlight outside, nor the blue glow from the few lamps lighting Ops. She could not see the pallor on the faces of the people standing around her, appalled at the decision she had made. But she could sense their panic and indecision. If she could have looked them in the eye, she would have shown them her utter conviction in the path she had chosen. Without her sight, however, she only had her words to persuade them. She had to set them on a path that would ask them to choose their destiny and that of almost two hundred other individuals. There was no time for democracy. The rest of the crew would never know what their officers had done.
“I don’t know the exact equations, Ryan, but you know about CTC—closed time curves? The same events will take place again and again and again! If we do nothing right now, then Antariksh will enter the black hole once again, we might make the same choices as earlier, and a second Antariksh will end up right where we are. If this goes on and on, this space will be filled with an infinite number of ships, doing nothing. Am I right?”
“Yeah. CTC will mean we will relive the same events over and over. There is no end. We will be in a loop.”
“Or in a paradox. On the other hand, if we destroy Antariksh and that black hole, we will not enter the baby universe, so we will not come back here at this instant and destroy the ship. Once more, we are in a loop. Don’t you get it? There are only two constants here in this place and in this time—us and the black hole! One or both of us have to die for us to break the loop.”
“But what if you do destroy the other ship and break the causal loop? I mean, once they are destroyed, they will not have entered the other universe, and we will not be here. So, how will we destroy them a second time? The loop would have been broken.” Manisha was trying her best to make sense of the whole thing.
“Not necessarily. I think when we moved into imaginary time, the act generated an… an interrupted loop,” explained Ryan. “One in which we are part of the chain of events and yet we can influence the future without effect on ourselves. The two realities – one before our entry into the black hole and second of our exit from the white hole – are disconnected. That is, the two realities are no longer entangled as cause and effect. The actions we take from this time onwards should theoretically have no effect on our specifically you, me and this Antariksh’s past.” He knew temporal mechanics took a huge leap of faith to understand. One needed to throw common logic out of the window and think non-linearly. There was no absolute in the flow of time. It flowed differently for different observers of the same event. In fact, observers affect reality. Ironically, he needed a lot more time to explain all of this to other. Manisha would grasp it faster because of her engineering and space flight background, but the Colonel, though as smart as any other person, would soon be hopelessly lost.
“Still,” he continued, “I don’t think we can prove any of this until we take some dramatic action in this time. Both Antariksh and we need to interact directly with the other ship. Just being present here will not be enough. So, yes, destroying the other ship will count as a dramatic step.”
“It would still not make the Captain any less of a murderer!” Manisha refused to give in.
Anara felt tears welling in her eyes. “I am not a murderer, Manisha. I am a blind woman who has been trying to make sense of her life, her choices and the world around her. If we succeed, this ship and its crew would still be alive. Earth would be saved. Our solar system would be safe. One man started this—Jim. I don’t think he was even aware that the small device he carried around with him would do more than just destroy a city. He may yet be responsible for destroying an entire civilization!” She stood up straighter. “I ask you now - how should we weigh human lives? One against a thousand? How about a hundred of us against eight billion back on Earth? Do you want to be called murderers and yet save a world, or do you want to stand here waiting for circumstances to take the decision away from you? This is not a question of morals. It is a question whether we choose to save humanity or let it perish. We do not have the time to argue. Decide now.”
The three people looked at one another.
“She makes a good point,” said Fraser, finally breaking the silence. “I don’t claim to have understood all the references, but surely it doesn’t hurt to try? I mean, if we live then we can carry out our mission while Earth would remain safe. I’m with you, of course, Captain.”
“And what if we fail? What about the four people who died during our journey? Don’t they deserve a second chance?” Manisha was adamant.
“If we fail in this attempt, we will still be here, as will the black hole. We will just have another go at it. We have better knowledge about the singularity up to the point we entered it. We can put it to good use and enter the event horizon once more, possibly better prepared than earlier,” said Ryan. He was convinced about the physics, if not the philosophy or the morality of the plan.
“I don’t agree. Fighting against terrorists, enemy soldiers, and criminals is one thing. Cold-blooded murder is quite another. I will not support you. I cannot do this. I will not do this! We have a duty as officers to save the people serving under our command. We have a duty to act with honour. We cannot kill an entire crew of
unsuspecting humans on the other Antariksh. Who are we to play God?”
Anara stopped trying to convince her. Time was short and there was work to be done. “So be it, Manisha. I respect your decision. Ryan, your call?”
“Uh. I wish I had more time to think this through.” He bowed his head for a few moments, then lifted it again. His path was also clear. “We are not Gods, Manisha, nor are we trying to prove out superiority or moral right to commit murder. But this is a zero-one situation. I’m… I’m with you, Captain.”
Anara said a silent prayer. Without Ryan’s support she could not have done this. “Then let’s prepare the signal we need to send. You can bypass all the codes on the other ship, right?”
“Don’t do this, Captain. It’s not right!”
“Stand down, Lieutenant,” warned the Colonel.
“Your refusal has been noted, Manisha. I will not ask you to follow an order against your sense of morality, but this has to be done. Colonel Fraser, will you please move the Lieutenant away from her station while Ryan takes over?”
The Colonel gently held Manisha and moved her to a side.
Ryan sat down in Manisha’s chair and entered some commands. The main display sprang to life. A bright red dot was moving on the display.
“That’s Antariksh coming into range now. I am bringing Narada online. He can make the necessary calculations. Standby.”
“No, don’t. Narada’s ethical programming may not allow him to support this action,” commanded Anara. “Can’t you do this on your own?”
“Uh, sure. Give me a moment. The other ship is already here. I don’t know if I can do all this in the time available. I am setting up the sequence we need to transmit. We need to get a signal out as soon as possible.” His fingers moved rapidly, and numbers and equations flew across the screen.
“It’s a black hole event horizon, Ryan. It will absorb your signal and get it to the ship. Nothing comes out but everything will go in.”
“Nevertheless, I don’t want to take a chance. Ok. I think I’ve got it,” he said as he completed a rough simulation. “Transmitting now.” He hit the command key. “Signal transmitted to... Antariksh, Captain. It is done.”
“Time to move away. Mr Madhavan,” Ryan opened the intercom, “new coordinates have been entered. Maximum sub-light speed!”
“You can get Narada back online now. How far do we want to go?” asked Anara.
“As far as possible. If our plan works but the black hole does not absorb the force of the explosion, we will be in real danger. Fortunately, we are already a hundred million miles out. A few more million, for good measure. Sub-light velocity will be enough. There’s no way we can get everyone into the dome on time especially with all the injured and sick folks. Our standard time dilation protection systems will be enough.”
Their Antariksh moved away while the other Antariksh disappeared from the display. It was extremely gradual in the beginning and then it happened in the blink of an eye. One moment it was there, and the next it was gone.
“I think our signal reached in time. Now we wait.” He opened the intercom system and addressed the crew. “This is not a drill. All personnel to their stations, and put on your safety harnesses. We are going to experience some heavy turbulence from a large explosion. Dr Khan, please secure your patients in medical.”
Manisha watched the entire performance. The clinical manner in which the deed had been accomplished. It was done and, directly or not, she was a murderer. It had been necessary. She had been powerless to stop it.
“Am I relieved of duty, Captain?” asked Manisha.
Anara was surprised at the question. “No. Of course not. You did not agree with our decision. That is not reason enough to relieve you.”
“Then can I get back to my post?” Manisha said. “I can’t stop you anymore. At least let me help the crew get organised.”
Anara nodded and Fraser released Manisha. She walked to her station and started working on locating the crew.
“All people accounted for. Medical signals that the patients are secure. You guys had better sit down as well.”
“Thank you, Manisha. Let’s talk later, all right?” said Anara calmly as she strapped herself in.
◆◆◆
The explosion was massive but not quite as spectacular as Ryan had feared. Antariksh rocked hard in the shock waves. The sensors and cameras focused on the location turned white for a brief instant, and then the central display came back to life with a full and even display of stars and galaxies.
Anara said a small prayer for the departed souls and hoped they would forgive her for ending their lives so dramatically.
“It’s gone!” Ryan shouted. “The gravitational lensing is gone! Stellar matter is dissipating. We did it! We saved Earth!”
31
Fight Or Flight
It was a few days since they had destroyed the black hole. The crew had been informed of their success, but only five people knew the whole story.
Anara was with Dr Khan again.
“I have studied your condition from every angle, Captain. I want to try out a few radical electrical techniques since the first few did not work. If that fails, then we will have to consider going in surgically.”
“You don’t know what is going on really, do you, Doc?” Anara was at peace. She had been living with blindness for a few days now and it was her new normal. “Let’s hold off the surgery for some time. I don’t want you messing inside my head. Just get me some sort of external prosthesis, will you?”
“I will need some time to design one which will work in your particular case. I need to bypass your optic nerve and transmit the signal directly to the occipital lobe. I’ll get it done, don’t worry. In the meantime, courtesy of the Colonel, S12 has been programmed to take care of you.”
“Thanks, Doc. Okay, S12, next stop, Ops.”
◆◆◆
No sooner had she stepped into Ops, than Ryan accosted her. “Hey, Cap’n. The ship’s ready to move. Have you decided which way you want to proceed?”
“Sort of. Call the Colonel and join me in conference, will you?”
◆◆◆
“When we started off on this mission, we had not accounted for the disruption caused by the black hole. Be that as it may, we have lost a few days but we are broadly on track. I want to continue to Alpha Centauri, to KifrWyss, to complete our original goal—the capture of the individual known as the ‘Chairman’.”
“You’ve got some guts, Captain! A half-cocked ship, a broken-down crew, your own blindness? And you still want to take on a whole planet?” said Fraser, astounded at her audacity.
“My blindness, sir, will not come in the way. Ryan here is more than capable of commanding this vessel. And you are more than capable of handling the military operations on the ground. So, unless, you’ve got cold feet, yes I am proposing to take on the TrueKif. You don’t think we can do it?”
The Colonel did not answer. It was getting more and more difficult to take on a woman who had single-handedly guided them through the deadliest of nature’s forces. He waited to hear Ryan’s point of view.
Ryan was looking down at the table, slowly drumming his fingers on its surface. He was not looking forward to this one promotion. “Colonel Fraser is right, you know. All this was not part of our mission plan. The black hole incident, I mean. We are low on fuel. Hell, we are fortunate we have any left. Fifteen percent! Just enough to get us back to Earth.”
“Or to Alpha Centauri.”
“Or to Alpha Centauri,” Ryan agreed. “Still a one-way ticket. We condemned a ship full of… us… a few days ago. Do we condemn the same people to their deaths again? Are we not done playing God?” There was sorrow in his voice. “I’m not sure,” he announced finally, not meeting her eyes.
Anara was sitting right across from him. She had started to learn to read expressions and emotions from the tone of voice even if she could not see the faces. Ryan was wavering, probably on account of the welfare
of the crew. But the stakes were much larger. As the black hole had reminded her, as she had become aware of the danger to Earth, she was realising that she held the key to saving an entire civilization.
“There have been no lasting effects on the crew, except myself, and I am not the core of the mission. You and the crew are. The Colonel and his men of the JITF are. The ship’s job is to get them to their destination. If I can find RyHiza, we can get all the fuel we need. Have you forgotten what is at stake? The Chairman was ready to destroy a whole city and kill innumerable people for its revenge. We stopped them once. But if we retreat now, how many times will they attack us again? If we return to Earth we will not be able to come back for at least another year. Do you think RyHiza and the Discat will survive till then? If the Chairman could send mercenaries across millions of miles, all on its own, just imagine what it will manage to do with the might of the whole planet behind it?” She slammed the table. “This is not the time to hesitate. This is the time for action! What have you decided, Colonel Fraser?”
Fraser selected his words carefully. He was still not ready to commit, but Anara’s argument had merits. “What you say is true. The actual operation on the ground at KifrWyss was to be executed by my troops and me. Antariksh was supposed to be our troop carrier, our transport. Of course, it was also meant to provide limited air engagement, if required. I have lost two of my people, but the rest can pick up the slack. The Captain’s role of leading us to RyHiza and the Discat and getting us some help will still work. Yes,” he said more confidently, “yes, I think we should go ahead. Logically there is no reason not to, if you can get us to the drop-off point. I’m in. Let’s get this over with. What say, Ryan?”
