“When you emerged from the black hole, was it God who pulled you out, or was there another great force that was pushing you out, from the great contraction of mass?” the teenager asked me with wide eyes in his excitement, as I spoke at my old Alma Mater on my latest adventure. I had returned after a harrowing mission and we had brought back elements that fitted into the missing pieces of our atomic table, which had not been found before our mission.
“Well it really started when I used dark energy to propel my spaceship many years ago, while still working on my research at this very school, but that is all an old story and I don’t want to bore you all with that,” I responded to the class of eager new space cadets, who had much greater heroes than me; to look up to. Our mission had lasted many years and I had returned a much wiser man after the journey there and back.
“Well nobody has ever returned from a black hole in our milky way, so what was it that made you enter it in the first place? Why everybody says it is a miracle that you are still alive to be here with us today?” the boy continued adjusting his mind prompter, to focus more clearly, on my thoughts. I could feel him probing into my deepest consciousness and opened the neurons to my memories of that day, when I was hurtling almost at the speed of light, and time was almost standing still; and great distances of space, rushed by. He was with me, as I guided my spacecraft to find that elusive gateway, out of the black hole, that my professor had theorized about in our research together. I let him peek in to finally see the portal, which led out of the densest of dark matter out into space again.
“Oh the pressure and the weight is so incredible, that you and your spaceship are almost crushed. What a horrible and strange way to die.” The boy’s broken and fearful thoughts communicated, breaking out in fear, from the memory of that moment. All the others turned to look at him, and the teacher turned his mind to him, and chided him for being so inquisitive, and to probe my mind in such a blatant manner. I turned my mind to happier thoughts, and spoke to the larger crowd, “Never give up on your dreams, as each day brave new horizons, open up to us. We are only what we dream and think and you are our hope now, and with you a new more equipped generation will enter space. I was lucky to have lived my years realizing my dreams, and I wish you to remember that everything you imagine will be possible, in the future. Just believe in yourself and have courage in your beliefs and nothing will ever hold you back from your goals.” I ended looking fondly at the young student whose wide smile and bright eyes, were our best hope for our future.
“We are all proud of this great traveler, who has so kindly graced us, with his presence today,” the teacher said, obviously embarrassed by the probing incident, that one of his students had carried out; against the norms, of our civilized society. “We should thank him for taking time out of his busy routine, to come and talk to us today.” He continued to keep the students from dwelling on the incident that had happened, and clicked through the images from my journey..

Ever since we had started inbuilding these capabilities into the new generations, we had also developed codes of conduct, on how to curtail the obvious abuses of privacy and mind control; that were possible, using these new capabilities. It had taken many generations to curb the enthusiasm, which the young boy had demonstrated. I remembered similar incidents from my youth when I had misbehaved in similar fashion, and smiled at his indiscretion, as he reminded me of a younger me; with his awe, and thirst for knowledge.
“We have all to explore new frontiers and develop new materials and for this we have to enter the crucible of a black hole or a super nova or pulsar, where new elements may be created for everyone’s benefit. It is a treacherous journey in our history, and many brave thousands have died attempting it, in our recent past. I and my crew was just one of the lucky ones to have survived, and for that I am eternally grateful” I said remembering the great alumni who had come from this school and gone on bravely, to carve out new fields of science, for modern humanity to survive and prosper.
Just then the commander who was the principal of the academy came in, and I knew at once that something was not right. He quickly addressed the class and thanked me for coming and told the students to work hard, and try to achieve what I had achieved in my short life. The students stood and cheered as I waved bye to them, as they had made posters and studied my exploits before my visit, and made a kind of hero out of me. As the commander took my elbow and guided me out of the hall, I could see that he had closed his thoughts, and I knew that there was more here than I could see. I followed him quietly to the secured room used for the secret communication channels, with external resources.
When we entered the room, all the secure walls were put up, the main communicator of the universe was opened and I noticed that some of the highest security codes, were collaborating in this project. The commander opened his mind and I saw my greatest fear in his mind. We were under attack and the forces of darkness that had been expanding the universe, were taking a pause it appeared and turning inwards, and the world as we knew it would be forever changed. After a thousand years of peace it appears that war is upon us at a scale, that the forces of the universe can scarce control, and the survival of our humanity is at stake. The opposing forces of darkness and light, are poised to turn on each other, and we are entering an area, that we have no idea about, in our long and storied existence.

“The great council has been assembled from across our universe, and the deliberations are about to begin,” the commander said, enabling some more communication devices for us, as we entered this new virtual reality meeting. We saw the assembly of leaders from across the lands gathering together and scientists showing the results of their investigations. I saw the troubled looks and heard the troubles thoughts of our friends and companions, as they reviewed the dark evidence being presented to them.

“We have been summoned at short notice to address a threat, which can wipe out all our civilizations, as we know them today,” continued the commander and I collapsed into an armchair suddenly very tired from my recent trips. “We cannot possibly head back to war again, after a thousand years of peace?” I though worriedly to myself, as I immersed myself into this new virtual reality..
‘The most important discoveries will provide answers to questions that we do not yet know how to ask and will concern objects we have not yet imagined.’ -John N. Bahcall, astrophysicist (30 Dec 1935-2005)