Black Hole Oblivion Read online

  Anara settled into a chair while Dr Khan, ran a few tests on her eyes. In hindsight, it had been irresponsible to open her eyes to witness the transit through singularity. But that act had allowed her to experience something profound. She could not share that with anyone, though. Not right now.

  “There is nothing physiologically wrong with your eyes. Can you see nothing? Not even this?” He flashed a powerful flashlight directly into her eyes.

  “No. It’s completely dark.”

  He switched off the light. At least her mind remains strong. That is what really matters. “You are remarkably composed about the whole incident, aren’t you?”

  Anara gave a small laugh. “I might still be in shock or maybe I have seen too much destruction, no? Anyway, do you have any ideas?”

  “Like I said, there is nothing wrong with your eyes, just like with the other six people. The intense light may have overcome the retina during the crossing, or maybe there is some electrical disruption in your nerves which is not allowing the signals to travel to your brain. I will need to study this more.”

  “You think this is temporary?”

  “I cannot say for sure, but I believe so. Flash blindness is a well-known visual impairment. It is caused when intense light over-saturates the retina. It generally fades over time and I’m hoping that is the case. Some of the crew affected earlier seem to be recovering. Maybe you just need more time. I’m sorry I can’t help you more. I’ll start the tests. If I can learn more from your results, maybe I can work out a course of treatment, okay?”

  “No. No tests on me. I’ve got too much to do. Get one of the other crew members.”

  The ear-piercing scream from the bed behind them made them jump. A second later a second person screamed.

  The doctor ran over. “Nurse, sedative, fifteen milligrams, quickly!” It took them some time to get the two patients under control and settled down.

  “What was that?”

  “PTSD—Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, most likely. Quite a few of the crew are dealing with mental trauma right now, as am I quite frankly. It’s not every day that one passes through a black hole. I’ve given them some sedative. They’ll sleep for some time.”

  “Yeah, about that? Will you be able to find what really happened during our wormhole transit and if there are any residual effects on the human body?”

  “I’ll get to it, but I have a feeling it can be explained more by physics than by medicine.”

  18

  Zero Space

  "I’ve checked all sensors, instruments and connections,” Madhavan reported. “Everything’s in order. I’ve managed to restore limited power so we’ll have a few more working stations and stable atmosphere. However, we are severely depleted on fuel. Even with extreme rationing we just don’t have enough for more than a few days.”

  “We’ll just have to tighten our belts then till we find a way out,” Anara said, grimly. “You’re sure there is no chance of getting the engines working?”

  Madhavan shook his head. For the first time in many years, he was unable to explain an engineering problem. “The engines are in working order. We got them working. I just don’t have enough fuel. We barely have any antimatter left. And, judging by what’s outside or the lack of it, I don’t think we’ll find any matter here, let alone antimatter.”

  Anara turned to where she believed Ryan was standing in the engineering area. “Just what is outside, Ryan?”

  Ryan was puzzled too. Madhavan and he had spent quite some time working over the conundrum. “I don’t know how to describe this, except by calling it barren space or zero space if you like. I have no other information. Nothing we try seems to work. There is complete darkness. No reading of any kind on the limited sensors we have available. The cameras show absolute darkness, and I mean absolute. Even at the highest resolution and farthest focus, we have been unable to locate even one pinpoint of light.”

  “Zero space, huh?”

  “Yeah. The absence of everything. No stars, no planets, no distant nebula, no light, nothing. Even gravity seems to be missing or very weak. The good part is that the lack of matter and gravity leads me to conclude that we are not inside the singularity. We seem to have passed through it completely.”

  “Meaning it was a wormhole. Well, well, looks like you were right, Manisha.” Anara spread her arms and felt around her till she hit what felt like the back of a chair. She swung it around and sat down not realising that she was facing away from her team. Ryan, Madhavan and Manisha dutifully and quietly walked around her so that they faced her again.

  “But a portal to where?” continued Anara. “Don’t get me wrong. I am happy we are in one piece, but I’d be happier if we were in one piece back on Earth.” I wish I could see this phenomenon. Maybe I’d get a better idea. What a wondrous name—zero space. Damn these eyes.

  The door opened and Fraser walked in. “Sorry, I’m late but the doctor needed help keeping tabs on people who seem to be going out of their minds. The screaming is enough to wake the dead and the tranquilisers are not effective anymore.”

  “How many are affected, Colonel?”

  “I counted fifteen so far including six of my troops. The Doc has not been able to isolate the cause of the illness.”

  “That is not good. That is not good. We need to get them to a proper hospital,” said Anara, agitated. “That’s what they need. A group of specialists who can figure out what’s wrong with them.”

  “Dr Khan is one of the best there is in space medicine,” said Ryan, “That’s why he’s here with us.”

  “Ryan, Dr Khan is top of his profession, but he’s just one person. How can he help fifteen patients at the same time? Even with the help of the autobots? We need to find a way out so we can get our people the care they need, and fast.”

  “Could it be that our current region of space is affecting them?”

  “Don’t know enough yet to make a connection,” said Ryan. “It could be the residual effects of the journey through the black hole and a fallout of the intense gravity fields. Our brains do work on electrical impulses, you know, and all that surging energy could’ve just fried the circuits. Sorry. I didn’t mean to be impolite.”

  “Will you guys stop apologising to me every few minutes please? Please? I’m tired of you treating me like some sort of diseased person who is about to die. For the last time, I’m blind not incapacitated. Whatever has happened to me, I can deal with it, okay?” It came out harsher than intended, but she meant every word of it.

  “Understood, Captain,” Ryan said, about to apologise again and holding back in the nick of time.

  She felt a little calmer. “Thank you. Now, let’s get back to the problem at hand. “We may not have data to make an inference, but we can make some reasonable assumptions from whatever theories are available, right? First, let’s look at the possibilities. Ryan?”

  “Um. Of course,” he started pacing slowly, putting his thoughts into words. “Picking up from our conversation just before we entered the black hole, we had advanced on the notion that the black hole serves as a gateway and we have found that to be true. I looked up some information. What I found are three probabilities.” He moved to bring up a screen, then realising it would not work with the low levels of power; he pulled out a data tab. Stretching it open he laid it out on a table.

  “I’ll read as I write. Three possibilities—a different dimension, a baby universe, or a different location within our own universe.”

  “Wait. Wait. Wherever we are, isn’t the easiest way out through our entrance? Why can’t we just travel back the way through which we came in? Just reverse our course?”

  “Uh. That would have been worth trying if we knew the location of the black hole from this side. Unfortunately, we have been drifting for some time. At least that is what I can deduce in the absence of any outside references. In any case, there is no indication or manifestation of the black hole anywhere near us. We’re lost in zero space.”

 
“If we could find it, would we be able go back through it?” asked Manisha.

  “I’ve thought about it and it may not be feasible. Sure, we could reverse our graviton field again and manage to fly back, but once we do reach the other side, we would still be within the gravity well of the black hole and be sucked right back in. Then we would reverse fields again and be right back here, where we are right now. Ad infinitum.”

  “An endless loop,” said Anara.

  “Exactly. Besides, our current fuel reserves wouldn’t allow us to make even one attempt let alone an infinite loop. But, let’s come back to this a little later. Let’s discuss another possibility—a wormhole.”

  “What’s a wormhole?” asked the Colonel.

  “Einstein-Rosen bridges,” Anara responded, absently.

  Fraser frowned in confusion. “How about plain English?”

  “A wormhole’s a hypothetical bridge between two widely separated regions of space-time, Colonel,” Ryan said. “Kind of like a shortcut in space which can allow someone to travel vast distances in a very short time. Thought to be unstable, full of dangerous radiation or exotic matter.”

  This should become part of training in the JITF camp, thought Fraser with an inward sigh. To the others, he said, “That sounds rather like the black hole we came through, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes, it does. The only problem with this theory is that such wormholes are supposed to be bridges in space which can take us light years away, maybe even thousands of light years away but within normal space. We would still be able to observe stars and galaxies from wherever we were. Out here we clearly have nothing outside.”

  The door opened and an autobot nurse entered. Its mechanical voice was emotionless. “Captain Anara, you must come quickly. There is a crisis in Medical. Dr Khan has asked for you right away.”

  19

  No Way Out

  Medical was in uproar. Every single bed was occupied with strapped-down patients attempting to break free of their beds, all the while wailing in agony. A similar number of the crew were writhing on the floor, held down by whomever Dr Khan could spare.

  “Oh my God!” cried Manisha, pulling Anara to one side so she wouldn’t get hurt in the pandemonium.

  “What is happening, Ryan? Find the doctor!” said Anara urgently.

  Ryan nodded and disappeared into the bedlam. He was back within a very short time. “Manisha, you and the Colonel are needed here. Go help in any way you can. I’ll brief the Captain and join you. Colonel, we need more of your troops. Summon them to Medical, please.”

  He guided Anara outside.

  “This is bad. Whatever is afflicting the crew is getting worse. We have two dead crew persons, three are listed critical, and fifteen more are seriously affected. The doctor has still not been able to find the cause, leave alone a cure.”

  “It’s this space or our journey through the black hole that’s causing it, isn’t it? What can I do to help?”

  “There is nothing we can do here. Dr Khan is doing the best he can. JITF medics are already involved. I’ve asked for all available people to come down and be on standby, except for Madhavan, a couple of his engineers and you. You need to get to work to get us out of here. If this gets any worse, we may not have a crew left to save.”

  “But we have not even completed the theoretical discussions yet. How the hell am I supposed to save them if we do not have answers?”

  “Murphy’s Law will always be with us, won’t it; whatever can go wrong will. I don’t know the way out yet. I am needed here for some more time. You know everything there is to know. Keep working on a solution, Captain. Maybe you can find us a nugget to work on. I will see what the doctor needs and then join you, okay? I’ll send someone to guide you back.”

  Anara cursed her helplessness as she waited in the corridor for an escort back to Ops. It was bad enough that she could not see but her inability to help her crew grated at her nerves the most. The deaths were on her head, of course. Her doubts threatened to overwhelm her again. Thankfully, the arrival of her escort broke her reverie and she allowed herself to be guided back to Ops.

  ◆◆◆

  I wonder how much time it will take before I get used to being blind. She felt her way around Ops, trying to remember the layout and familiarising herself with it. She wanted to be able to walk unaided around this one room at least. A soft ping alerted her that she was not alone.

  “Hello, Captain.”

  “Narada, is that you? You’re back! That’s a relief.”

  “Yes. The backup computer has been restored and I have limited abilities available. I take it things have not gone well in my brief absence.”

  “Narada, I'm glad you're here. Yes, things are not going well. Two people are dead and there will be more if we cannot find a way out. I'll brief you.”

  “No need, Captain. I've brought myself up to speed over the last hour. Three people dead do not augur well for Antariksh.”

  “Two, not three, Narada,” Anara corrected him.

  “Sorry Captain, but crewmember Jas died a few minutes ago.”

  So much death. Anara broke down, shedding silent tears for her comrades and for herself. How much longer can we hold on? I wish I could be stronger. I wish there was something more I could do. Some hope I could provide to those that remain.

  “Is everything all right, ma’am?”

  She pulled herself together, wiping her eyes. This was not the time to grieve.

  “I’m fine. We need to continue our research, you and I, till Ryan joins us. Put his notes up on the screen, will you.”

  “Here you go. All notes synchronized.”

  Which problem do I tackle first—the cause of the illness, or how to get out of our present predicament?

  “Let’s recap the three possibilities—wormhole, a different dimension and baby universe. What would be the manifestation of a different dimension, Narada? How would be perceive it?”

  “The three dimensions of space—length, breadth and height along with the fourth dimension of linear time, are perceived readily by all humans. They constitute what we call spacetime. A continuum. They exist together. Our instruments are calibrated for these four dimension. The fifth or higher dimensions are postulated to be unobservable by humans and their instruments. They are possibly sub-atomic, even smaller than the smallest particles of matter we have observed till date.”

  “If we cannot observe more dimensions, then how do we know they even exist?”

  “That is a matter of mathematics more than physics, though the two are invariably inter-related. Some of the solutions in physics, like string theory, or the Grand Theory can only be possible if we consider more than four dimensions. In fact, string theory needs ten dimensions to prove the theory itself. But again, we have no empirical evidence. As you know, we are still struggling to find the unification of gravity and quantum theory. Even the Grand Theory is not yet complete.”

  “Yeah, it is not possible to use gravity to describe what happens at the subatomic level any more than quantum theory can explain what happens at the cosmological scale.” She sighed and slumped a bit. “In all these years, we have managed to achieve breakthroughs in breaking the light barrier, quantum entanglement and even in proving that dark matter exists, and yet…”

  Anara pushed herself back in her chair. At least all this talk about scientific principles was allowing her to stow away the recent tragedies in a corner of her mind and look at them in an abstract manner. Reality would hit her soon but for the moment she could immerse herself in something other than death.

  She thought hard. Microscopic dimensions, smaller than the most fundamental particles.

  “Narada, what about the fundamental forces and gravity? Where do they fit into this multi-dimensional model?”

  “At the simplest level it is believed that the reason gravity, exerted by graviton particles, can act over such large distances and yet be so weak is because the bulk of gravitons move through the fifth dimension.”
>
  Gravitons! Of course. That can be a connection. She sat up.

  “Narada, in a black hole where matter is cramped into zero volume, theorise—can matter pass into the fifth dimension and gravitons escape into our four dimensions? What I’m saying is, is it possible matter is not really compressed to zero volume but exists in a different space altogether?”

  “I do not have sufficient information to confirm your hypothesis, but it is a possibility, yes.”

  “Hold that thought. Let’s get back to the third idea—baby universes. Describe their potential physical construct?”

  “There are some theories postulated in the twenty-first century and reaffirmed in recent time. Baby universes are self-contained universes, which branch off from our own with possible similar properties. To grasp the concept, we must first understand the concept of imaginary time. Our ‘real’ time flows linearly but imaginary time flows at right angles to our time. If someone falls into a black hole, they may go off into a smaller universe or a baby universe. Time will continue to flow for them for years together but if they ever come back to normal space, they will find that only an instant has passed in normal space-time. Our universe is connected to baby universes through black holes and white holes.”

  “Hold on, hold on!” The solution could not be as simple as white holes, could it? “Refresh on white holes. They are supposed to be the theoretical opposite of black holes, aren’t they? They cannot be entered from the outside, that is, from our normal universe.”

  “That is correct. Instead of attracting matter and energy from the outside, a white hole supposedly attracts antimatter and negative energy from the inside and expels normal particles and energy into normal space. A baby universe may have both black and white holes. With matter and energy going into a black hole and out of the white hole, the baby universe is able to maintain equilibrium and remain stable for any amount of time. Then, of course, there is Hawking radiation.” Narada had more concepts up his sleeve.