Starfleet Headquarters was immediately placed on Red Alert and Admiral Hollister, Chief of Starfleet Operations, ran through the hall at breakneck speed. His Intelligence Chief, Commander Krill, waited nervously for his arrival. "It's not good sir. See for yourself," Krill said. "It's heading Toward..."

      "It's heading toward the moon," Hollister interjected. "What is it?"

      "When first detected leaving Romulan Space, it got the attention of Intelligence. Initially, we thought it might be a destructive device sent by the Romulans. All indications are now, however, that it's a stellar core. It's about half the diameter of the moon." Krill paused.

      Hollister raised an eyebrow, "And?"

      "It's going to strike the moon a glancing blow. The moon will then ricochet into the Earth. The Earth...and all life as we know it...will cease to exist."

      "That'll be the day," Hollister barked. "What's its ETA?"

      "We have just over 74 hours, Admiral."

      Hollister thought very hard. Then he commanded, "I want to see Singer and Salek!"

      "Aye, sir! Ensign Nguyen, you heard the admiral! Get 'em up here pronto!"

      "Already on their way, sir," the petite Asian calmly replied.

      Krill smiled. "I knew there was a reason I hired you."

      Singer, Salek and Krill were all seated in front of the Admiral.

      "Lieutenant Laura Singer. Graduate of Starfleet Academy, majored in celestial mechanics. Graduated cum laude. Impressive! It says here, your expertise is in orbits and trajectories."

      "I seem to have a flair, Admiral." Her modesty was genuine.

      "Commander Salek. Graduate of Vulcan Science Academy. Long on achievements. We'll settle for your knowledge of geology and metallurgy for now. What can you tell us about the object?"

      "It is a planetesimal sized stellar core. Its mass is not much greater than that of the Earth. Its gravity poses no appreciable threat. It radiates a temperature of approximately 9000 degrees Kelvin, which renders it unapproachable by conventional means. It's composition is the anomaly, Admiral. It is metal, a very dense metal, yet it has properties of plastic. It is solid, yet it is liquid. It is a super-saturated solution."

      "What's the bottom line, Salek?" Hollister was growing impatient.

      "Its very existence is illogical. It should never have formed in the first place. I am astonished that it has not already exploded. It is most assuredly unstable. The bottom line, Admiral, is that there are at present no known countermeasures for it.

      "Right! Singer, what's the rest of the bad news?"

      I studied the dynamics of the motions involved several times. I even ran the data on two different computers. I came to the same conclusion every time. The timing and location of the moon in it's orbit is the critical factor. The moon will have come around from behind the earth when the object encounters it. A few hours either way, and the object would pass by harmlessly. As it is, collision is imminent."

      "And if the object explodes," interjected Salek, "the shock wave and a fractured moon will shatter the Earth. Either way..." His voice trailed off.

      "Terrific!" Hollister despised the apparent inevitability. "Krill, can we evacuate the Earth?"

      "Admiral, you know as well as I do, there are not enough ships in all of Starfleet to accomplish such a task in less than three months, even under ideal conditions."

      "I know. Salek, can we do anything to the object at all?"

      "It's too hot to approach, sir, and to try to alter it could cause it to explode. It would be similar to an explosion of your own sun. It is better left alone, Admiral."

      "It's going to kill us all and we can't touch it!" Frustrated, Hollister was fuming.

      Ensign Nguyen entered with a tray of beverages. As she was passing them around, She said, "Why can't you just give the moon a push?"

      Everyone's eyes lit up simultaneously. Hollister boomed, "Of course!"

      The Admiral gave the order. Within two and a half days, twenty-seven starships were assembled in the moon's orbit trail. Shields were raised and twenty-seven ships began pushing against the surface of the moon.

      A few hours in, "Singer?"

      "Not quite fast enough, Admiral."

      "Then use every shuttle from every starship," he barked.

      The moon was soon sent far enough forward in it's orbit that the stellar core passed by harmlessly.

      Later, Hollister, Krill, Singer and Salek all raised glasses of champagne in toast.

      Krill proclaimed, "Here's to Lieutenant J. G. Nguyen!"

      "Here, here," three more voices chimed in.

      Starfleet's newest lieutenant junior grade blushed as she smiled.