Second Mission: The Delivery (Part 1.7) – Escape Velocity #Amalgaverse With an assist from the tractor beam, the jumper and its passengers make it safely back into the Enterprise’s shuttlebay.  But the rescue has come at a cost.  The Enterprise has been drawn dangerously close to the black hole. “Captain, the hull is under tremendous stress,”reports Pilot.  “The ship cannot hold this position for much longer.” Kirk orders full impulse.  The ship shudders, but the gravitational pull is too strong. Warp is out of the question.  This deep in the gravity well, space is curved too steeply for a normal warp field to form, and the attempt would tear the field apart, and the ship with it. Data, back at his station on the bridge, delivers the verdict: “Captain, at our current rate of drift, we have eleven minutes and forty seconds before escape becomes impossible by any means.” “Then let’s not waste any of them,”says Kirk.  “Ideas.” The resident nerds brainstorm and come up with three. Carter pitches the first: “Sir, a low-level warp field around the ship would reduce our effective mass.  The black hole’s grip on us would weaken, and impulse could finally pull us clear.  Then, once we’re far enough out, we go to warp.  But the calibration has to be perfect.  If the field destabilizes this close, we lose it, and the ship along with it.” McKay has a bolder and, in his opinion, better suggestion: “Or we stop running from it.  We dive towards the ergosphere, catch the black hole’s spin, and get flung out faster than we went in.  Absolutely brilliant in its elegance, but potentially catastrophic if my math is even slightly off.  Which it isn’t.” Thor offers a third option: “Your deflector array can be modified to project a counter-field ahead of the ship.  Within it, space will be flat enough for your warp drive to function.  It will, however, place considerable strain on your systems.” Time is running out and the event horizon looms ever closer.  Which plan do you go with? A) The warp bubble.  Carter’s slow steady climb out on impulse, if the calibration holds. B) The slingshot.  McKay’s dive towards the ergosphere for a faster way out, if his math is right. C) The counter-field.  Thor’s corridor lets you jump straight to warp, if the ship’s systems can take the strain. Choose! [END OF ACT ONE] TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS so that you don't miss a step on this mission! See below for our Previously On recap - or check out the glorious Amalagaverse website: amalgaverse.link/index.html by @ugorur