“Star Command, this is Starship X-1. Do you copy?”
“Go ahead X-1.”
“Star Command, I’ve been fighting this damn thing for the past hour and it looks like I’m going have to set X-1 down on one of these small planets to get a look at her thrusters. She’s been responding like a drunken sailor and I don’t want to take any chances once I’m back out in deep space. Copy?”
There was a long pause as static filled the transmission, then...
“Ah… Starship X-1, you have permission to land, just send back you’re coordinates once you’re firmly on the ground.”
“Ten four Command.”
The pilot turned his attention to the observation window. He was entering a very unusual sector of space, one filled with the most bizarre and unexplainable sights imaginable. Fortunately, he spotted a small planetoid directly below that looked decent enough to risk a landing. “This will have to do.” he said to himself, and proceeded with the twisting of dials and the throwing of levers. Reverse thrusters shot out long jets of gas as the lumbering spacecraft started to make its descent. The controls felt extremely sluggish in his hands as though trying to steer an elephant through a tight maze but the spacecraft dutifully inched its way toward the planet’s surface, making what he would consider one of the all-time ugliest landings. The pilot immediately shut down the engine and a cruel shudder reverberated throughout the ship, finally settling into quietness. He took a deep draught of air into his lungs and sighed
with relief.
“Star Command, Starship X-1 has landed successfully.”
“Roger, X-1.”
The pilot glanced down at one of the glowing green screens on his control panel. “I’m now punching in my coordinates. I’ll be suiting up and exiting the ship momentarily to survey any damage.”
“Copy that, X-1. Just keep us updated.”
Within a short time, the pilot was fully suited and stepped through the ship’s air lock. The outer door opened, accompanied by a swish of air and he cautiously stepped onto the planet’s surface. Once outside, he was temporarily blinded by an ultra-white brilliance being reflected back at him. He reached up and pulled down his visor.
“Star Command, I’ve just stepped outside the spacecraft.” He tapped his foot against the planet’s surface. “This planet appears to be completely frozen.” He bent to the ground and raked one of his heavy gloves across it’s hard milkyness.
“From the observation window on the ship, I could have swore that the planet was covered in snow but now that I have a closer look, it sort of reminds me of something akin to frozen custard.”
He stepped a few yards out from the spacecraft and slowly turned a full three hundred and sixty degrees to survey the rest of his surroundings.
“Command, this is very strange! It almost looks as though I’ve landed in a huge crater. There appears to be an enormous rim around the planet made up of some kind of dark material rising a hundred feet or so into the air and the frozen white surface seems to go on for miles. I can also see an enormous, brown slab of what I assume to be rock, not more than a quarter mile away.”
At that moment, Star command broke in. “Be advised X-1. You still have to rendezvous with the X-5 in a few hours at sector SG-4.”
“Roger, Star Command, I remember.”
The pilot walked over to the spacecraft and closely examined the ship. “Star command, it only looks like one of the Starboard thrusters slipped from its mooring. I should have it repaired in no time.”
The pilot then pulled from one of his pockets, a pouch of wrenches, and with a few twists he quickly corrected the malfunction. He turned his attention once again to the intriguing frozen planet. He removed from another pocket a small pointed hammer and a clear polyester bag used for transporting specimen samples.
“Star Command, while I’m here, I might as well get a few samples for study.”
“Good idea, X-1. Just be aware of your time. You have less than an hour before you must lift off again.”
“Ten-four, Star Command. Not to worry, I’ve never been late for a rendezvous yet.”
He knelt down and chipped off a piece of the frozen white material and placed it in the bag. He then looked out toward the brown edifice that conspicuously loomed in the distance. “I’d surely like to know what the hell that is,” he said to himself. He glanced at the time signature inside his helmet then looked back again at the tantalizing brown structure. “Heck,” he mumbled under his breath, “I’ll be back in plenty of time.” He set off for the structure at a brisk pace.
Not more than five minutes into his walk, he noticed a wisp of what might have been smoke or steam lifting from the frozen surface at various intervals along his path, and for the first time, he could feel his boots sinking, ever so slightly, into the ground. Concern washed over him as he finally realized that the planet, for some reason, was rapidly heating. He took a few more steps and as he did, his boots found their way deeper and deeper into the melting tundra.
“Captain Cheever, is everything alright? We’ve been monitoring your vital signs and it’s registering a large spike in your heart rate. Is there a problem?”
The captain tried his best to remain calm. “Everything is alright, Star Command. I’m headed back to the ship.”
He started running but the surface underneath him was softening at an alarming rate. Fissures of steam leapt up all around in great geysers and he could feel the heat under his feet increasing with every passing moment. He looked toward his spacecraft. Only a few hundred yards were between him and safety but to his horror he could see the X-1 starting to tilt to one side and within moments, the X-1 fell, full force, into the soft white mush with a heart wrenching plop!
“Oh my God!” the panic stricken pilot screamed out, but he was immediately confronted with another emergency- trying to keep his body above the surface of the deadly white planet!
His arms and legs flailed wildly as Star Command signaled once again. “Captain Cheever…. tell us what the devil is going on out there!”
Back at Command, they could hear the pilot’s heavy and congested breathing. His vital signs were registering off the charts.
“All is lost!” came a choking voice over the intercom. “The ship… she’s gone!”
Not more than a second went by before they heard the Captain scream once again.
“Captain Cheever, try to calm yourself. We need to know exactly what’s going on.”
The captain struggled to compose himself and attempted to convey what he was witnessing to Star Command. “It… it’s a giant! A giant being… looking down at me from outside the planet! My God! It now appears to be picking up the entire planet! I feel the distinct sensation of being lifted up!”
There suddenly, in the background, could be heard an enormous grinding sound. Star Command was about to ask the captain what it was when his terror filled voice filled the intercom once again.
“The planet… it’s tilting sideways. Its entire mass is sliding off… off into a…. Oh Lord, no, it can’t be…”
“Captain, what is it?”
The words “black hole” were discerned before one last blood curdling scream ended the transmission for good.
“Starship X-1, do you read?”
“Starship X-1, this is Star Command, do you read?”
Only silence.
“Hang in there, Captain Cheever, we’re sending X-5 to your location just as fast as we can.”