“Oh! Yet another one has disappeared!” Robert Makins thought to himself in exasperation. He made a sketch in his notebook: star number twelve had disappeared from the Cassiopeia constellation!

Robert had recently joined NASA as an astrophysicist. Assigned to the Space Research Unit, his days – or rather nights – were spent studying constellations. His interest in the cosmos had been ignited by his father who once pointed to the sky full of glittering stars and exclaimed, “Robert, do you know that looking back into space is looking back into time? That star you see is ten light years away, meaning that the light reaching you has been traveling for ten years before it made its way to your eyes!”

Robert snapped back into the present, returning to his research papers and calculations. His records showed that Cassiopeia stars had been periodically losing their illumination until they faded into oblivion. The sky was literally losing stars! How was he to explain such a phenomenon to his esteemed supervisor, Professor Dayton Miller?

“Professor, please believe me!”, pleaded Robert, waving his notes as proof of his observations. His supervisor looked serious, eyebrows furrowed, deep in thought.

“Robert, your findings may have disastrous consequences. In all my years, I have never experienced something like this. Hence, I have to reveal to you the deepest secret in NASA history”, sighed Professor Miller. Robert waited with bated breath.

“NASA has a secret time machine. I want you to travel back in time, calculated exactly to that light year, when the first star disappeared. Only then can we solve the mystery of the vanishing stars.”

Robert was shocked to his core. A time machine? A journey to the past? It sounded unbelievable.

“Robert, you must agree to this. The future of the stars lies in your hands!”

Robert remembered his father’s words which inspired his career. “Sir, I am ready”, came the confident response from the sincere astrophysicist.

After immense calculations, Robert determined that Cassiopeia was precisely three hundred years old. He conveyed this to his supervisor, who informed him that the time machine was ready for action!

Strapped tightly into the time machine, Robert’s excitement was mixed with fear and anxiousness. He felt a hypersonic rush, resembling a wave that pushed him into a different dimension. Adrenaline rushed through his body. Just then, the time machine stopped. He had completed his journey into the past.

The door of the time machine swung open. As his eyes adjusted, it looked like Robert had landed in a laboratory. A large placard read ‘Big Bang Simulation Lab’. Scientists in white coats and protective eyewear were so engrossed that they did not even notice Robert. They were focused on the most striking feature of the lab – a long tube emanating vigorous, sparks. “Subatomic particles in high density and high temperature will combust into red flames”, explained a scientist. Robert peered out curiously. But just as he considered stepping out, a giant explosion overtook the room!

“The simulator has malfunctioned! This explosion is totally unplanned!”, came a horrified voice, drowned out in a white cloud and electric sparks.

Robert then heard a statement that sent a chill down his spine. One of the scientists exclaimed, “We had set out to study the origin of the Big Bang but we have inadvertently recreated it.” 

The truth came crashing down on Robert. This recreated Big Bang must have set off a chain of events that would form a new universe, and it was only a matter of time before the earth itself would be sucked into the new Big Bang vacuum, just as the stars were.

The disappearing stars had finally revealed their secret to Robert, but it spelled impending doom.